Ukrainian Displaced Persons in Spain Received New Opportunities for Legalizing Residence
Spain has changed the rules for legalizing foreigners: the period of residence under temporary protection status will now be counted towards the required length of stay to obtain long-term residency. The innovation also applies to Ukrainian citizens who received protection due to the war.
The decision was made by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration of Spain on June 22. The changes are enshrined in SEM 2/2026 instructions prepared by the Secretariat of Migration Affairs.
Previously, the time spent under temporary protection status was effectively not counted when switching to another type of residence permit. A person changing status had to start counting the required period anew.
Now, the years of legal residence in Spain under temporary protection will be taken into account to meet the five-year residence requirement necessary to obtain national long-term residency.
The new rules provide that Ukrainian citizens will be able to transition from temporary protection status to other grounds for residence without leaving the territory of Spain.
Among the possible grounds are:
- official employment;
- starting their own business;
- studying;
- family reunification;
- other grounds provided by Spanish migration legislation.
After obtaining a new residence permit, a person must officially renounce the temporary protection status. At the same time, it is not necessary to do this in advance — the transition occurs only after a positive decision regarding the new status.
As previously reported by the "Judicial and Legal Newspaper", the leader of the Czech political movement SPD, Tomio Okamura, stated that the Czech Republic is allegedly negotiating within the European Union about the possible termination of temporary protection for Ukrainian men of conscription age. According to him, the support of other EU countries is needed to implement such an initiative.
Okamura also stated that he advocates for the earliest possible termination of temporary protection for all Ukrainians in the Czech Republic. Among his arguments, he mentioned that some Ukrainian citizens allegedly regularly travel home "on vacation."
He associates the termination of temporary protection primarily with the end of the war in Ukraine. The politician believes that after the end of hostilities, this mechanism will lose its relevance, and Ukrainians will have to either return home or apply for standard residence permits in the Czech Republic.
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