How to check the status of an immigration application in Spain

Once the application has been filed, the expediente (application file) is in the hands of the Oficina de Extranjería (immigration office), and the daily question begins: «¿cómo va lo mío?» (how is my case going?). The administration answers it on its Sede Electrónica, with the service «Información sobre el estado de tramitación de los expedientes de extranjería» (inside it, «Información sobre el estado de expediente / solicitud de extranjería»), which shows the status of an autorización de extranjería (immigration permit).

Three ways to check it

Checking with your NIE, or without it

With your NIE you can check in two ways. By SMS, typing NIE, a space and the number, nothing else. On the form, the NIE goes with the date the application was filed and the year of birth. If you don't have a NIE yet, the form lets you search by application ID («ID de expediente/solicitud»): the button says «Si no conoce su NIE, puede realizar la consulta directamente con su número de expediente/solicitud» (if you don't know your NIE, you can check directly with your application number).

Type the NIE the way the website asks for it: X, Y or Z in capitals, eight digits (with leading zeros if needed) and the final letter. And a practical warning: the status check points out that the electronic certificate of a legal entity (persona jurídica) does not work when acting on behalf of third parties. To check a client's application, the direct route is the form, which only asks for the application details.

«¿Cómo va lo mío?» belongs to the Ministry of Justice

Many people search for «cómo va lo mío» for their immigration application, but «¿Cómo va lo mío?» is a service on the Sede Electrónica of the Ministry of Justice: signing in with Cl@ve, it shows the status of ongoing applications handled by that ministry. An arraigo (residence through social ties), a family reunification or a renewal is not handled by Justice: you check it on the Administraciones Públicas website, with the link at the top.

Spanish nationality by residence, however, is handled by Justice, and it has its own status check, with no certificate needed: the «Consulta telemática de expedientes de nacionalidad española por residencia». It asks for your NIE, the application number and year (such as R00009 and 2016) and your date of birth, tells you what stage the application is at and, as Justice warns, it does not count as a notification.

What the status check says, and what it doesn't

The website itself warns: these are «datos de carácter meramente informativo» (information only). The status check does not notify you of anything. Neither a requerimiento (request for documents) nor a resolución (decision) starts counting from when it appears there, but from its notification, electronic or on paper (who receives it and the 10 days). What it does do is tell you where to look:

If your application does not show up

With your details typed correctly, «No se ha encontrado la información solicitada» means, according to the Madrid Oficina de Extranjería, that you have to wait for the application to be entered into its computer system. If it was filed through Mercurio (the online filing platform) or at a registry office, that data entry is not automatic. When it is filed through Mercurio, the application ID exists once the office receives it (how to get it).

«En trámite»: how long it can take

«En trámite» only says that the application has been entered and not yet decided. What counts is the maximum time limit for a decision (plazo máximo de resolución) on your procedure, which runs from the day after the application reaches the registry of the competent office. If it expires with no answer, silencio administrativo (administrative silence) applies: as a general rule, new applications are deemed refused; renewals and long-term residence, deemed granted (Ley Orgánica 4/2000, first additional provision). When do they have to answer you? The administrative silence calculator works it out from your procedure, the day the application was received and any requerimientos.

If yours is a renewal filed on time —in the two months before expiry or, with a possible fine, in the three months after— your previous authorisation is extended until a decision is made (RD 1155/2024, arts. 64.1 and 80.1, among others). The Madrid office reminds employers of this: someone who renews a residence and work authorisation this way remains in a regular situation and can work.

«Trámite-requerido»: the deadline runs from the notification

«Trámite-requerido» means that documents are missing before a decision can be made. The letter saying what is missing, the requerimiento (request for documents), is notified to whoever is named in the «domicilio a efectos de notificaciones» (address for notifications) box of the form or, if nobody is, to the applicant: by post or, if the «CONSIENTO» (I consent) box was ticked, in the DEHú (the government's electronic notifications inbox) or the Carpeta Ciudadana (citizen folder), where it stays for ten calendar days and can only be opened with an electronic certificate. The status check saying «requerido» does not start any deadline; the notification does.

You reply within ten working days (Ley 39/2015, art. 68.1). For arraigo and other authorisations based on exceptional circumstances, within the period set in the notification, never more than fifteen days (RD 1155/2024, art. 130.3). With no reply, the application is treated as withdrawn and the file is closed. What they ask for is submitted through the Sede Electrónica, at a public registry office or at Correos (the post office), addressed to the office handling the application; how to count the days and what to reply, in the requerimiento step by step.

«Resuelto»: approved or not, wait for the notification

«Resuelto-favorable» means it has been granted, but there is no paper yet: the resolución is notified through the same channel as the requerimiento, and it is the resolución that sets out the next steps (registration with Social Security, fingerprinting…). If it is favourable and comes with a card, the next step is the appointment to have your fingerprints taken for the TIE (foreigner identity card), with the EX-17 form and the tasa 790-012 (fee) already paid. You apply for the TIE in person within one month of the grant or, if the authorisation depends on Social Security registration, from when it takes effect (RD 1155/2024, art. 209.1).

«Resuelto-no favorable» is a refusal. The notification gives the reasons and the appeal available, with its deadline. Decisions of the Delegaciones and Subdelegaciones del Gobierno end the administrative route (RD 1155/2024, ninth additional provision): you can file a recurso de reposición (appeal to the same office) within one month (Ley 39/2015, art. 124.1) or a recurso contencioso-administrativo (court appeal) within two months (Ley 29/1998, art. 46.1), counted from the day after the notification.

If the notification does not arrive

If the status check says documents requested or decided and you can't see anything, first look where it should be: the DEHú or Carpeta Ciudadana of whoever is named in the domicilio a efectos de notificaciones, or the letterbox at that address. A paper notification that could not be delivered is published as a notice in the «Boletín Oficial del Estado» (Spain's official gazette) (Ley 39/2015, art. 44), on its Tablón Edictal Único (single notice board).

The Madrid office lets you ask for a duplicate through the queries form, with the «Duplicados» query; if electronic notification was chosen, it does not send it until ten calendar days have passed since the notification was made available. And it points out something that saves you a trip: for renewals of residence and of residence and work, extensions of stay for studies, family members of EU citizens (initial or permanent) and long-term residence, once the status shows resolved favourable, you do not need the duplicate for the fingerprint appointment.

What you cannot check here

• Nationality by residence, which has its own status check on the Justice website (see «¿Cómo va lo mío?», above). Justice also gives information by phone (902 007 214 and 91 837 22 95) and on Telegram (nationality time limits and fees).
• Citizens of the European Union. The service is not available to them: they check the status at the office where their card was processed.
• Cita previa (appointments), which is a different service on the same website.