Article 3 of Royal Decree 514/2020 of 8 May last, which extended the state of alert declared by Royal Decree 463/2020 of 14 March, the Spanish Government established a series of measures to make the progressive lifting of the restrictions more flexible in four stages.

This process of de-escalation will involve, among other things, the reactivation of the services of attention to the public and of the procedures for foreigners that are carried out in the Territorial Units of Aliens and Borders.

For this reason, the Directorate General of Police and the Spanish Ministry of the Interior have adopted a series of measures to provide legal certainty to foreign citizens affected by the health crisis, enabling them to meet their documentation needs in an orderly manner, to avoid, as far as possible, an accumulation of requests and the collapse of police activity in this particular area.

The following is a summary of the measures included in Instruction 9/2020 of the Directorate-General of Police:

  • White receipt of application for international protection: If you were given this receipt before the beginning of the State of Alarm, this document is understood to be extended by 9 months, starting from the date on which this document expires and provided that there has not been a decision on the application for international protection.
  • Red Card (applicant for international protection) or Green Card (applicant for statelessness): If you have been issued one of these cards before the beginning of the State of Alarm, its validity is extended for 7 months, counting from the date on which the document expires, provided that there has not been a decision on the main application.
  • Letter of Invitation: If you have requested a letter of invitation and it could not be used due to the beginning of the State of Alarm, can you ask for a refund? Yes, and you must return the original letter of invitation to the National Police.
  • Registration card: If your registration card expires between 14 December 2019 and the end of the State of Alarm (in principle 7 June, but it can be extended), it is understood that it is extended for 6 months from the date of expiry of the document.

Other news:

  • The white receipt for an application for international protection, as well as the red card for an asylum seeker, will carry with it, from 6 months after its issue, the right to work, even if they do not incorporate the legend "authorizes work" in the document itself. This is provided that there has been no decision on the application for international protection.
  • Proof of willingness to apply for international protection (i.e. appointment for interview), which has expired, is understood to be extended by 3 months. Persons in this situation should request a new appointment as soon as possible.
  • The travel documents of persons with recognised international protection or statelessness status, which have expired during the State of Alert or in the previous 90 days, are understood to be extended by the same time as the foreigner's identity cards of their holder.

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