Registration of the asylum application

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The Asylum Regulation provides that the authorities responsible for the lodging of asylum claims on the territory are: the Office of Asylum and Refuge (OAR), any Aliens Office under the General Commissariat for Aliens and Borders (Comisaría General de Extranjería y Fronteras) of the Police, Detention Centre for Foreigners (CIE), Spanish Embassies and Consulates, or police station.^[1] In practice, “registration” and “lodging” of asylum applications entail different procedural steps.

Rules on making (presentación), registering and lodging (formalización)

Persons willing to seek international protection in Spain must make a formal application during their first month of stay in Spain.^[2] When this time limit is not respected, the law foresees the possibility to apply the urgent procedure.^[3] In practice however, the competent authority will reject any asylum application that does not comply with the 1-month deadline when it considers that no valid justification exists for the delay.

The process begins with the presentation (“making”) of the application, which the applicant shall present in person or, if this is not possible, with representation by another person. For persons disembarking in ports, the intention to apply for international protection is registered by the police, usually following the intervention of NGOs.

Upon the registration of the intention to apply for asylum, the applicant receives a paper-form “certificate of intention to apply for asylum” (Manifestación de voluntad de presentar solicitud de protección internacional).

After registration has been completed, the applicant is given an appointment for the formalisation (“lodging”) of the application, which consists of an interview and the completion of a form, and shall be always be realised in the presence of a police official or an officer of the OAR. Upon the lodging of the application, the person receives a “receipt of application for international protection” (Resguardo de solicitud de protección internacional), also known as “white card” (tarjeta blanca). This document is later replaced by a “red card” (tarjeta roja), issued after the asylum application has been deemed admissible by the OAR.

According to the Asylum Law, all registered asylum applications are communicated to UNHCR, which will be able to gather information on the application, to participate in the applicant’s hearings and to submit reports to be included in the applicant’s record.^[4] UNHCR shall receive notification of an asylum application within a maximum period of 24 hours, which is applied in practice.^[5]

In a decision issued in November 2024, the Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo) established that the return procedure must be suspended as soon as the intention to apply for international protection is expressed before any public authority, such as the police, border guards, immigration authorities and staff of detention centres, even if they are not the competent authorities to process the application.[6]

Obstacles to registration in practice

Due to the increase in asylum applications in Spain in recent years, which slowed down the functioning of the Spanish asylum system, applicants have to wait long periods of time before getting an appointment to be interviewed by the OAR. In 2021, a telematics system to request an interview was put in place at the Aluche police station in Madrid; some problems affecting such system were reported, due in particular to the limited places available for interviews, and to technical problems encountered when operating such system.^[7] As mentioned below, the same problems persisted in 2024.

To shed light on the situation, the Spanish Ombudsperson opened an investigation looking into the measures taken by the General Commissariat for Aliens and Borders (Comisaría General de Extranjería y Fronteras) of the Police to avoid long queues. The investigation further assesses the conditions to which asylum seekers in Madrid are confronted to when lodging their application.^[8] In February 2023, the Minister of Interior informed that the national Ombudsperson had started to examine new internal coordination mechanisms aiming at reducing the waiting time between the lodging and the registration of the asylum application.^[9]

The average waiting time for an appointment varies depending on the province. In certain provinces, waiting times could range from 8 months to more than 1 year in practice. Detailed statistics on the average waiting time per province is not available, but practice suggests that they can vary from one month to another or even one week to another, depending on the workload for asylum interviewers have.

In order to reduce timeframes, the administration was set to increase the personnel in charge of registering asylum applications at police stations. However, no significant changes have been observed in this respect.

To improve access to the asylum procedure through prior appointment, and to ensure that the waiting time does not exceed 1 month, the Commission of Internal Affairs of Congress approved a legislative proposal at the end of 2022.^[10]

Despite the authorities’ efforts, UNHCR observed that the absence of a uniform system at the state level for accessing a procedure that is efficient, accessible, secure and sensitive to all individuals seeking asylum in Spain continued. UNHCR also observed that challenges to access the asylum procedure continued to negatively impact the rights of persons who wished to apply for international protection, and in particular access to reception, leaving asylum seekers, including those with specific needs, at risk. In a context of high numbers and reduced capacity, accessing the asylum procedure remained challenging in 2024. A fast-track channel established in a specific centre (CREADE) located in Madrid was used to conduct asylum interviews of people transferred to the mainland from the Canary Islands, facilitating access to the procedure for around 10,000 applicants, particularly Malians. An average of 14,000 applicants were registered monthly despite existing challenges. The newly established General Directorate for International Protection and the increase in staff numbers at the Office for Asylum within the Ministry of the Interior, along with expedited processing channels, resulted in a total of 96,000 decisions taken by year’s end. The international protection rate increased to 20% from 12% in 2023.[11]

UNHCR promoted triaging of cases and quality decision-making for people with specific needs, unaccompanied children and family reunifications. Despite persistent procedural and quality issues, gender-related cases and applicants from conflict-affected countries like Mali, Central African Republic and Palestine, were assessed and granted subsidiary protection. Some challenges related to obtaining or renewing documentation for applicants and beneficiaries of international protection and to the notification of asylum decisions also persisted in 2024.[12]

Difficulties in accessing the asylum procedure remained one of the main challenges in the Spanish asylum system in 2024[13] and at the beginning of 2025.[14] In March 2024, around 100 asylum seekers and 20 NGOs lodged a joint claim in front of the Spanish Ombudsperson.[15] During the same month, around fifty persons in need of international protection started a hunger strike in Chiclana de la Frontera (Andalucía) to ask for their access to the asylum procedure.[16] The same month, a young Moroccan asylum seeker died while in hunger strike to protest against the lack of access to asylum appointments. The Spanish Ombudsperson asked information about the incident to the Public Prosecutor and the State Secretary of Migration.[17] The General Council of Spanish Lawyers denounced the violation of the right to asylum due to the impossibility to obtain an appointment via Internet.[18] In April, it was reported that, in Murcia, asylum appointments were sold for up to €500 also on Wallapop.[19] In May, 31 persons were detained in Vitoria for selling asylum appointments.[20] In June, the Spanish Ombudsperson urged the police in Valencia to guarantee the right to access asylum, following thousands of reports made for the impossibility to book appointments to register asylum applications in the city.[21] In July, the National Police detained seven persons in El Ejido (Almería) for forging and selling asylum documents.[22]

In September, the Archdiocese of Burgos expressed concerns on the selling of the asylum appointments, and about what migrants are obliged to do in order to gather the money necessary to buy them.[24] The same month, the Police arrested two persons in Valencia for fraud and for committing cybercrimes, including digital fraud[25] Similarly, two persons were detained for fraud for selling appointments in Valladolid .[26] In October, the political party EAJ-PNV criticised the Ministry of Interior alleging that the right of asylum is not guaranteed in Spain due to the long times necessary to obtain an appointment throughout the country.[27] The backlog in the appointments in Barcelona led the police to double the shifts.[28] The impossibility to obtain an appointment in a short span of time in the city leaves 20% of migrants and asylum seekers in a legal limbo.[29] In order to avoid cyber-attacks aiming at monopolising the appointments and to illegally resell them, the police in Cataluña decided to come back to the previous system by using in person, phone and email means.[30]  In December, the Police arrested a woman selling asylum appointments near Alicante.[31]

During 2024, UNHCR worked with the police’s training division, organising regular sessions on asylum interviewing techniques. It also trained lawyers from bar associations and NGOs in various provinces, enhancing the quality of legal assistance and judicial engagement.[32]

In 2023, in the context of its collaboration with the Ministry of the Interior, UNHCR supported the Spanish Office for Asylum (OAR) with a specialised consultancy to improve access and quality of the asylum procedure. During its development, multiple support documents and proposals were produced to improve access to the asylum procedure and to support the management and processing of asylum cases and decisions with improved quality, efficiency, and greater fairness. Through this consultancy, different tools were also designed to facilitate prompt and safe identification of persons with specific needs and support them through the asylum procedure in conformity with national and EU law, including enhancing coordination with asylum reception authorities to guarantee their referral to adequate reception spaces.[33]

Gender-based violence prevention and response in the asylum reception system has been strengthened with the adoption of a protocol supported by UNHCR, which includes an identification and data collection tool, a risk assessment map and referral pathways, enhancing the capacity of multidisciplinary teams to detect, refer, assist and protect GBV survivors in the reception system. UNHCR has observed that the protocol has also improved access to asylum for GBV survivors, reversing the previous trend which saw most women preferring to continue their journey to other countries.

In addition, UNHCR provided training on the prevention and response to GBV and gender-related persecution to government officials and NGOs assisting women and girls arriving by sea or seeking asylum. UNHCR also worked with communities to raise awareness on gender-based violence, providing key information through brochures, posters and videos. To address the needs of newly arrived women and girls, UNHCR translated its awareness-raising video into Soninke and Wolof. UNHCR facilitated local roundtable discussions on GBV, bringing together strategic actors to promote coordination, networking and safe referrals, conducted information sessions for women arriving by sea and worked in collaboration with women-led refugee organisations.

UNHCR supported the police in developing an online course on asylum interviews, including a module on interviewing GBV survivors. UNHCR also collaborated with the Office for Asylum to ensure proper support for survivors of GBV. Many of these asylum applicants, particularly from Sub-Saharan African countries, have suffered female genital mutilation, domestic violence and forced marriage.

UNHCR’s efforts to promote coordination among stakeholders, have led to the enhancement of procedures for detecting and referring potential victims of human trafficking at Spanish airports. UNHCR, IOM and the Spanish Network Against Trafficking have developed recommendations to ensure that asylum-related issues are included in the future comprehensive law on trafficking, as well as to implement the relevant EU Directive and the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum.[34]

In February 2025, the Minister of Interior has informed that the Ministry is working on the implementation of a system allowing for the possibility to present online applications for asylum.[35]

According to practices observed by Accem, asylum seekers have to request an appointment to express their intention to apply for asylum; only after the appointment, they can register their asylum application. Obtaining an appointment resulted however extremely complicated in practice, especially for what concerned long waiting times.

In 2024, the delay in obtaining an appointment to express the intention to apply was especially serious in Cartagena and Murcia, where it exceeded one year. In other provinces such as A Coruña, Álava, Alicante, Almería, Burgos, Castellón, Cáceres, Gijón, Huelva, Jerez de la Frontera, León, Málaga, Sevilla, Toledo, Valencia and Zaragoza, the estimated time to obtain an appointment was between six months and one year.[36]

Source: Accem, February 2025.

Source: Accem, February 2025.

Source: Accem, February 2025

Access to the procedure in Ceuta and Melilla

Beyond the mainland, most shortcomings concerning the registration of asylum claims in Spain relate to the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, due to the difficulties in the Access to the Territory. Since November 2014, the Ministry of Interior established asylum offices at the borders’ crossing points in Ceuta and Melilla,^[37] and UNHCR guaranteed its presence starting from mid-2014.

Since its establishment, the border checkpoint in Melilla became one of the main registration points for asylum applications in Spain. ^[38] Conversely, there has been virtually no asylum claim made at the Ceuta border point. This is mainly due to the impossibility faced by migrants and asylum seekers to exit the Moroccan border due to the severe checks performed by Moroccan police, as mentioned in Access to the territory and push backs. This issue also affects Melilla but mainly impacts on the nationalities that can access the Spanish border rather than on the number of asylum claims overall. In fact, most of persons on the Moroccan side are stopped following racial profiling, meaning that nationalities such as Syrians cross the border more easily than persons from Sub-Saharan countries (see section on Access to the Territory).^[39]

In July 2024, the Bar Association of Melilla opened an office at the CETI with the aim of assisting migrants and asylum seekers accommodated in the centre.[40]

Access to the procedure from detention

Shortcomings have also been reported concerning the possibility to claim asylum from administrative detention due to the difficulties faced by detained persons in accessing legal assistance.^[41] In this regard, the Spanish Ombudsperson recommended the General Commissariat for Foreigners and Borders to adopt instructions to establish an appropriate system for registration of asylum applications in CIE in accordance with the law.

In particular, the Ombudsperson highlighted the difficulties faced by detainees in applying for asylum at CIEs. In particular, in Madrid, individuals are instructed to put their written intention to apply for asylum in a mailbox and to wait until the mailbox has been opened for the asylum procedure to start, and the fact that many persons have been expelled without having had access to the asylum procedure.^[42] In July 2018, the General Commissariat for Aliens and Borders of the Police issued instructions to all CIE to adapt their systems for registration of asylum applications to the existing law, following a recommendation made by the Spanish Ombudsperson.^[43] This included establishing a register and providing applicants  with a receipt of their application for international protection. The Ombudsperson thus reiterated its recommendation to the General Commissariat for Aliens and Borders of the National Police. It seems that the access to the procedure has slightly improved since then, and that detainees are provided information on the right to asylum by the Spanish Red Cross. Despite that, in its 2023 annual report on the situation of CIEs, the Jesuit Migrant Service underlined the obstacles that inmates face in accessing legal counselling in some CIEs.[44]

Access to the procedure on the Canary Islands

As already explained in the Arrivals by sea section, the Canary Islands were under significant pressure also in 2024 following the increase of arrivals and the lack of available resources. This hindered the access to registration and to the asylum procedure.

^{[1] Article 4(1) Asylum Regulation.}

^{[2] Article 17(2) Asylum Law.}

^{[3] Ibid.}

^{[4] Articles 34-35 Asylum Law.}

^{[5] Article 6(4) Asylum Regulation.}

^{[6] Tribual Supremo, Sala de lo Contencioso-Administrativo, Sentencia núm. 1772/2024, 6 November 2024, available here.}

^{[7] Information provided by the legal service of Accem in March 2022.}

^{[8] Defensor del Pueblo, ‘El Defensor del Pueblo investiga las dificultades para acceder a la cita previa para solicitar protección internacional en Madrid’, 15 November 2018, available here.}

^{[9] Cope Melilla, ‘Grande-Marlaska anuncia que Interior estudia «nuevos mecanismos internos de coordinación» para reducir el tiempo que media entre la solicitud y la formalización de la petición de asilo’, 15 February 2023, available here.}

^{[10] Cope, ‘El Congreso pide reformar la cita previa para las solicitudes de asilo’, 19 December 2022, available here.}

^{[11] Information provided by UNHCR in March 2025.}

^{[12] Information provided by UNHCR in March 2025.}

^{[13] 20 minutos, ‘El negocio alrededor de las citas de asilo en España: “Sin pagar, no consigues una”’, 4 May 2024, available here; El País, ‘Conseguir una cita de asilo en España: más de 8.000 llamadas al día y algo de suerte’, 16 December 2024, available here; Cadena Ser, ‘La población migrante de Castellón denuncia la “gran dificultad” para conseguir cita en las Oficinas de Extranjería’, 18 December 2024, available here.}

^{[14] 20 minutos, ‘Las peticiones de asilo y un retraso de cuatro meses en su trámite colapsan los centros de acogida de Madrid’, 17 March 2025, available here.}

^{[15] El País, ‘La desesperación de quienes quieren pedir asilo en España: “Es frustrante poner tu vida en pausa porque no te responden al teléfono”’, 5 March 2024, available here.}

^{[16] Canal Sur, ‘Medio centenar de migrantes en Chiclana se declaran en huelga de hambre para pedir asilo’, 8 March 2024, available here.}

^{[17] El Diario, ‘Muere un migrante en un centro de acogida de Madrid tras la huelga de hambre por la falta de citas de asilo’, 15 March 2024, available here; 20 Minutos, ‘El Defensor del Pueblo pide investigar la muerte de un migrante en un hostal madrileño’, 16 March 2024, available here.}

^{[18] Consejo General Abogacía Española, ‘La Abogacía denuncia la vulneración del derecho de asilo ante la imposibilidad de obtener una cita por internet’, 26 March 2024, available here.}

^{[19] Alfa e Omega, ‘500 euros por una cita en la oficina de asilo’, 18 April 2024, available here; Onda Regional Murcia, ‘Conseguir cita en la Oficina de Extranjería de Murcia es misión “casi imposible”’, 26 May 2024, available here.}

^{[20] El Correo, ‘Identificadas 32 personas por vender citas para trámites de asilo en Vitoria’, 3 May 2024, available here.}

^{[21] Valencia Plaza, ‘El Defensor del Pueblo insta a la policía valenciana a garantizar que se pueda pedir asilo’, 4 July 2024, available here; ES Diario, ‘Colapsa el sistema de petición de asilo por el aluvión de solicitudes’, 4 June 2024, available here.}

^{[22] Almería Hoy, ‘Siete detenidos en El Ejido por falsificar documentos de Protección Internacional’, 23 July 2024, available here.}

^{[23] Cadena Ser, ‘Siete jóvenes de Mali residentes en A Coruña denuncian la tardanza en la obtención de la protección internacional’, 17 June 2024, available here; El Salto Diario, ‘Burocracia para los ‘refugiados de segunda’: siete jóvenes malienses ante el bloqueo del Estado al pedir asilo’, 19 July 2024, available here.}

^{[24] Europa Press, ‘Delegación de Migraciones de Archidiócesis de Burgos avisa de la “venta” de citas para pedir protección internacional’, 19 September 2024, available here.}

^{[25] Diario Siglo XXI, ‘Detenidas dos personas en Valencia por vender citas falsas para trámites de extranjería’, 21 September 2024, available here.}

^{[26] La Voz Digital, ‘Detenidos por estafar a inmigrantes con falsas citas de extranjería en Valladolid’, 29 August 2024, available here.}

^{[27] EAJ-PNV, ‘EAJ-PNV reprocha a Grande-Marlaska que el Estado español no garantiza el derecho de asilo’, 22 October 2024, available here.}

^{[28] El País, ‘El atasco en las citas para solicitar asilo en Barcelona lleva a la Policía a doblar turnos’, 22 October 2024, available here.}

^{[29] Ara, ‘La falta de citas en Extranjería deja un tercio de los migrantes en el limbo legal’, 21 October 2024, available here.}

^{[30] El País, ‘La Policía regresa al cara a cara, el teléfono y el correo ante las mafias que acaparan citas de extranjería en internet’, 29 October 2024, available here.}

^{[31] El Confidencial, ‘Detenida una mujer en Alicante por vender citas falsas para los trámites de solicitud de asilo’, 3 December 2024, available here.}

^{[32] Information provided by UNHCR in March 2025.}

^{[33] Information provided by UNHCR in April 2024.}

^{[34] Information provided by UNHCR in March 2025.}

^{[35] La Vanguardia, ‘Interior trabaja para implantar a corto plazo un sistema online para solicitudes de asilo’, 5 February 2025, available here.}

^{[36] Information provided by Accem in February 2025.}

^{[37] UNHCR Spain, ‘ACNUR da la bienvenida a la creación de oficinas de asilo en puestos fronterizos de Ceuta y Melilla’, 6 November 2014, available here.}

^{[38] Oficina de Asilo y Refugio – OAR, ‘Asilo en cifras 2019’, July 2020, available here; Oficina de Asilo y Refugio – OAR, ‘Asilo en cifras 2018’, September 2019, available here; Senate, Reply of the Government to question 689/1339, 20 September 2017, available here.}

^{[39] El Diario, ‘Migrantes que solo pueden pedir asilo si saltan la valla en contra de lo que dice Marlaska’, 6 December 2022, available here.} 

^{[40] El Faro de Melilla, ‘El Colegio de Abogados de Melilla abre una oficina en el CETI para asistir a migrantes’, 13 July 2024, available here.}

^{[41] Human Rights Watch, Spain: Migrants held in poor conditions, 31 July 2017, available here.}

^{[42] Defensor del Pueblo, ‘El Defensor del Pueblo reclama un sistema de registro de las solicitudes de asilo para los CIE que cumpla con la normativa vigente’, 22 May 2018, available here.}

^{[43] Defensor del Pueblo, ‘Interior acepta la recomendación del Defensor para adecuar el sistema de registro de las solicitudes de asilo en los CIE a la normativa vigente’, July 2018, available here.}

^{[44] Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes, ‘Informe CIE 2023. Internamiento “muteado”. Personas cuyo sufrimiento queda oculto a la sociedad’, June 2024, available here.}