How to move to Spain from Ukraine: temporary protection, ordinary residency, and rights in 2026
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If you are Ukrainian and considering moving to Spain, your legal situation in 2026 is shaped by three key facts that are worth getting clear from the start. The first: the temporary protection activated in March 2022 has been extended until March 4, 2027 by Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/1460, and the TIEs issued to beneficiaries remain automatically valid until that date (Order INT/96/2026). In other words, you do not need to do anything to maintain your status during this year. The second: Spain has recognized more than 265,000 Ukrainians under this regime, one of the highest figures in the EU. The third, and the most important for planning the future: temporary protection is by its nature temporary, and even though it is currently extended, it is advisable to start thinking now about the transition to ordinary residency that does not depend on its renewal.
This article is not structured like the others in the cluster (“how to immigrate”), but rather as a practical guide for Ukrainians who are already in Spain and want to understand what options they have now, what will happen when temporary protection expires, and what steps they can take to consolidate their situation. It also covers the options for Ukrainians who are still abroad and need updated information about the available visas, documentation from war zones, and access to rights.
Ukrainians in Spain in 2026: current situation following the start of the war
Since March 2022, Spain has been one of the main host countries for people displaced by the war in Ukraine. The official figure exceeds 265,000 individuals with valid residency documentation at the end of 2025, distributed mainly in Catalonia, the Valencian Community, Madrid, and Andalusia. Some less populated provinces (Teruel, Asturias, Santa Cruz de Tenerife) have registered the largest relative increases, reflecting the reception effort in areas with less real estate pressure.
The dominant profile is that of complete or fragmented families: mothers with minor children whose partner remains in Ukraine due to the restrictions on the departure of men of military age, elderly people, and, to a lesser extent, young professionals alone or with a prior family network in Spain. The presence of Ukrainian companies or large investors in Spain is marginal, and that is why this article does not include a business block, unlike other countries in the cluster: the Ukrainian migratory reality in Spain is that of people displaced by a conflict, not voluntary economic migration.
As of December 31, 2025, according to data from the Ministry of Inclusion, 61% of authorizations were of the extension type of the initial temporary protection, while the rest corresponded to other forms of residency. This reflects that most of the Ukrainian community continues to depend on the temporary protection regime, and is therefore exposed to whatever happens with its renewal or eventual suspension.
Temporary protection for Ukrainians in Spain: current status and validity
Temporary protection is an EU emergency mechanism regulated by Directive 2001/55/EC, transposed in Spain through Royal Decree 1325/2003. It was activated for the first time in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine through Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/382 of March 4, 2022, and has since been extended year after year:
- Initial period: March 4, 2022 to March 4, 2023.
- Automatic extension (article 4.1 of the Directive): until March 4, 2024.
- Council extension (Decision 2023/2409): until March 4, 2025.
- Council extension (Decision 2024/1836): until March 4, 2026.
- Current extension (Decision 2025/1460, of July 15, 2025): until March 4, 2027.
Order INT/96/2026, of February 12 (BOE-A-2026-3712), automatically extends the validity of the Foreigner Identity Cards issued to beneficiaries of temporary protection until March 4, 2027, without the need for physical renewal of the card. That is, if you have a temporary protection TIE, it remains valid as is, without you having to request an appointment or change documents.
What rights does temporary protection grant
- Legal residency in Spain for the duration of the regime.
- Authorization to work as an employee or self-employed, without the need for an additional permit.
- Access to the National Health System on equal terms with nationals.
- Access to education for minors on the same conditions as Spaniards.
- Access to social services and benefits from reception systems.
- Possibility of reunifying family members who have also been affected by the conflict.
- Recognition of the Ukrainian driver’s license under Regulation (EU) 2022/1280.
What will happen if temporary protection is suspended
The EU Council itself has indicated that it is working on a progressive exit strategy from temporary protection when the conditions are met for a gradual and safe return to Ukraine. This is not imminent, but it is worth taking seriously: temporary protection is not indefinite, and beneficiaries who want to consolidate their lives in Spain should start thinking about the transition to ordinary residency before the regime is deactivated.
Do you want a expert consultation? Contact us and we will help you.
From temporary protection to ordinary residency: how to make the transition
Here is one of the most relevant points of this article. The Nineteenth Additional Provision of the new Immigration Regulation (RD 1155/2024, in force since May 20, 2025) expressly provides for a “bridge” to be regulated, through a Ministerial Order, that would allow modification of the authorization of persons with temporary protection toward other types of ordinary residency. As of today, this specific Order has not been published, but the regulatory framework is ready for when it is activated.
In the meantime, the routes that a Ukrainian with temporary protection can use to start building a more stable residency are the following:
Modification to residency and work as an employee
If you have a stable job offer from a Spanish employer, you can apply for the modification of your authorization to an ordinary residency and work as employee permit. The major advantage: you are already in Spain legally, you already have a TIE, you can already prove legal stay. The file is processed before the Immigration Office of your province and, if favorable, grants you an initial authorization of one year, renewable. Our service of work permit as an employee in Spain coordinates the entire operation, including the drafting of the pre-employment contract and the employer’s documentation.
Modification to residency and self-employment work
If you have started a professional activity or a small business in Spain during the period of temporary protection, you can apply for the modification to a residency and self-employment work permit, presenting a business plan, justifications of real activity, and, where applicable, tax declarations from the period in which you have operated.
Residency due to exceptional circumstances (humanitarian reasons)
For cases in which, due to the personal situation of the applicant (serious medical reasons, special family situation, proven personal risk), the previous routes do not fit, there is the possibility of applying for a residency authorization on humanitarian grounds. It is a residual but useful route in specific cases. You can consult the details in our guide on benefits of residency on humanitarian grounds in Spain.
Application for international protection (asylum)
It is a different and exclusive route: if you apply for asylum, you become an applicant for international protection and stop being under the temporary protection regime while your file is resolved. It is worth carefully evaluating with legal advice before opting for this route, because the resolution times are long and the substantive requirements are different.
For an overall view of the new Regulation provisions applicable to Ukrainians, our guide on the new residency rules in Spain and what has changed is required reading.
Work permit for Ukrainians with temporary protection: rights and limits
One of the most generous features of Spanish temporary protection is that the TIE directly authorizes work, both as an employee and as self-employed, without the need for an additional work permit. This means:
- You can be hired by any Spanish company in the general regime of Social Security.
- You can register as autónomo in the RETA and issue invoices on your own.
- You can combine work as an employee and self-employment.
- You have access to the flat rate for autónomos (€80/month during the first 12 months).
- You can collect unemployment benefits and other aid if you have contributed enough.
The only real limit is that of the regime itself: if temporary protection is suspended, that authorization to work also disappears, which reinforces the incentive to make the transition to ordinary residency as soon as possible.
To understand in detail how to manage your temporary protection TIE, the timelines, and the administrative steps, our specific guide on how Ukrainians in Spain can request and register their card covers the procedure from day one.
Ukrainians without temporary protection: ordinary visa options
Not all Ukrainians in Spain (or who want to come) are beneficiaries of temporary protection. Temporary protection is designed for people displaced because of the conflict who meet specific requirements (residents in Ukraine as of February 24, 2022, refugees in other countries, etc.). For those who fall outside that scope, the ordinary routes are the following:
- Work visa as an employee with a pre-employment contract from a Spanish employer (standard route).
- Highly qualified professional visa for profiles with a university qualification and a qualified job offer.
- EU Blue Card for highly qualified professionals with a vocation for European mobility.
- Digital nomad visa for remote professionals with clients or employers outside Spain.
- Entrepreneur visa for innovative projects with a favorable report from ENISA.
- Student visa for university or training programs longer than 90 days.
- Family reunification if you have a spouse, children, or ascendants with legal residency in Spain.
- Non-lucrative visa for persons with sufficient financial means.
The processing timelines in the current context are reasonable, although the war situation complicates the obtaining of some documents at origin, as we will see later.
Family reunification for Ukrainians residing in Spain
Family reunification is a particularly sensitive tool in the Ukrainian case, given the restrictions that the Ukrainian government maintains on the departure of men of military age (18 to 60). Some relevant cases:
- Reunification under temporary protection: the regime allows reunifying family members who can also prove the situation of displacement by the conflict.
- Ordinary family reunification: if you have ordinary residency in Spain (not temporary protection), you can reunify your spouse, children under 21 (extended to 26 in some cases by the new Regulation), and dependent ascendants over 65.
- Cases of men of military age: these need to be reviewed case by case. The Ukrainian authorities may deny departure; the Spanish authorities cannot replace this authorization.
For complex situations (family members in temporarily occupied territories, incomplete documentation, unaccompanied minors already in Spain), individualized legal support is highly recommended.
Do you want a expert consultation? Contact us and we will help you.
Ukrainian documents for Spain: problems with the civil registry in war zones
Here is one of the most exclusive and practical points of the article. Ukraine has been a party to the Hague Apostille Convention since 2003, and under normal conditions Ukrainian documents are apostilled before the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine (Civil Registry documents), notaries (notarial documents), or the Ministry of Education (academic documents). However, the war situation has caused three types of problems that complicate documentation:
Problem 1: documentation destroyed or inaccessible in war zones
Many Ukrainian individuals come from regions that have suffered severe damage to administrative infrastructure, or that are under occupation. In those cases, local civil registries may be destroyed, inaccessible, or unable to issue certifications. The available options are:
- Centralized civil registries: Ukraine maintains a centralized Civil Registry database that allows reissuing certificates from other offices in controlled territory, especially in Kyiv and other western cities.
- Ukrainian consular services in Spain: the Consulates of Ukraine in Madrid and Barcelona can issue copies of records and other documents by accessing the centralized registries.
- Registry reconstitution: in extreme cases where the original documentation has been lost, there is a procedure for reconstructing civil status before Ukrainian authorities in controlled territory.
Problem 2: expired passports or those that cannot be renewed
It is common for Ukrainians in Spain to have passports close to expiration or already expired. The issuance and renewal of Ukrainian passports is processed before the Consulates of Ukraine in Spain (Madrid, Barcelona) or before the State Migration Service of Ukraine in Ukrainian territory. Timelines can be long. For procedures in Spain, the authorities accept in many cases consular certifications that replace the passport to prove identity, especially for beneficiaries of temporary protection whose situation is known.
Problem 3: documents issued during the exceptional period
In March 2022, due to Ukraine’s operational inability to comply with all the obligations of the Hague Convention, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs applied an exceptional partial reverse diplomatic channel for Ukrainian documents. That exceptional channel is no longer the general rule: today, the Ukrainian apostille is issued and accepted normally, but it is advisable to review any old document that may have followed that alternative procedure, because it may require additional verification.
Sworn translation
Regardless of the apostille, all documents in Ukrainian (or in Russian, in some cases) must be accompanied by a sworn translation into Spanish performed by a translator authorized by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The official list of sworn translators of Ukrainian and Russian is available on the MAEUEC website. It is an indispensable step for any procedure before Immigration, Civil Registry, the Tax Agency, or any other administration.
The Spanish Embassy in Ukraine: current situation and consular alternatives
The Embassy of Spain in Kyiv (Joriva Street 46, 04071 Kyiv) has reopened after the temporary evacuation at the start of the conflict. The Consular Section continues to perform functions on a limited basis, with part of the services relocated to Warsaw. The consular contact email is emb.kyiv.cons@maec.es, and the consular emergency telephone numbers remain fully operational.
For Ukrainians who want to process national visas (work, studies, digital nomad, entrepreneur), the operational options are:
- Embassy of Spain in Warsaw (Poland): it is the usual destination for Ukrainians with residency or stay in Poland, and where many of the consular procedures are concentrated at this time.
- Other Spanish consulates in EU countries where the applicant is legally residing: Berlin, Prague, Bratislava, Budapest.
- Embassy of Spain in Kyiv, for those who remain in Ukrainian territory and the specific procedures allow it.
The situation is changing and depends on the evolution of the conflict. It is advisable to confirm the actual availability of the procedure with each consulate before initiating the procedure.
Access to healthcare, education, and social services for Ukrainians in Spain
Ukrainians who are beneficiaries of temporary protection have full access to the Spanish welfare state, on equal terms with Spaniards for most services:
- Public healthcare: with the temporary protection TIE and padrón registration, you access the National Health System and your health card. To understand how it works, our guide on how the Spanish healthcare system works is required reading.
- Education: Ukrainian minors have the right to enrollment in primary and secondary education on equal terms with Spaniards. Public universities are applying specific facilities for Ukrainian students in the process of homologation of degrees.
- Social services: regional minimum income, rental aid, specific reception programs managed by entities such as the Red Cross, ACCEM, or CEAR.
- Professional recognition: the procedures for homologating foreign university degrees have received specific facilities for Ukrainians in sectors such as medicine, nursing, and engineering.
A complex situation: Spanish citizenship by residency. Ukraine does not have a Dual Nationality Convention with Spain, so the general regime of article 22.1 of the Civil Code applies: 10 years of legal and continued residency (not 2, as is the case with Latin Americans). And here a relevant legal debate arises: time under temporary protection counts as legal residency for the purpose of computing the period, but the files that will reach the Civil Registry will be new and the doctrine is still being consolidated. For Ukrainians who have already been under temporary protection for more than 4 years and have the intention to stay, it is advisable to start documenting that time well and to plan the consolidation with an ordinary permit.
The legal situation of Ukrainians in Spain in 2026 combines a high level of short-term protection (TIE valid until March 2027, full work, healthcare, and education rights) with the structural uncertainty of a regime that is, by definition, temporary. The recommended strategy for those who want to consolidate their lives in Spain is not to wait for temporary protection to be suspended: start exploring the transition routes (modification to residency and work as employee or self-employed, residency on humanitarian grounds, ordinary visa routes for new cases) before the regime is deactivated. At ILLAY Legal, we accompany Ukrainian individuals and families through 100% online management, reviewing each case individually and designing the safest possible legal transition. Tell us your situation and we’ll tell you exactly what steps you can take now.
Frequently Asked Questions: Move to Spain from Ukraine
Can Ukrainians vote in Spanish municipal elections?
No. The right to vote in Spanish municipal elections is reserved for Spanish citizens, EU citizens residing in Spain, and nationals of countries with which Spain has signed a bilateral electoral reciprocity agreement. Ukraine has not signed this type of agreement, so Ukrainians residing in Spain, even if they are beneficiaries of temporary protection or have ordinary residency, cannot vote in municipal elections until they acquire Spanish citizenship.
How does the conflict affect unaccompanied Ukrainian minors who arrive in Spain?
Unaccompanied Ukrainian minors (MENA) who enter Spain under the temporary protection regime are immediately placed under the guardianship of the public child protection agencies of the corresponding autonomous community, in application of article 35 of Organic Law 4/2000. They receive a specific temporary protection TIE for minors, immediate enrollment in school, healthcare, and, when possible, a procedure is initiated for their reunification with family members already residing in Spain or other EU countries. Ukrainian and Spanish authorities maintain specific coordination channels for these cases.
What happens if a Ukrainian with temporary protection travels to Ukraine for a short period?
Temporary protection is not lost due to occasional trips to Ukraine, since its purpose is to protect persons who cannot establish themselves stably in their country of origin, not to prevent them from traveling. However, prolonged trips or the establishment of habitual residency again in Ukraine can be interpreted as an indication that the protection circumstances have ceased. Beneficiaries must maintain their padrón registration and effective residency in Spain. For long trips, it is advisable to document the reason for the travel (family visit, administrative procedures at origin) and keep tickets and receipts that prove the temporary nature of the trip.
Can Ukrainians with temporary protection apply for Spanish citizenship?
Yes, but under the general regime. Ukraine does not have a Dual Nationality Convention with Spain, so the period of article 22.1 of the Civil Code applies: 10 years of legal and continued residency in Spain. Time under temporary protection counts, in principle, as legal residency for these purposes, which means that Ukrainians who arrived in March 2022 could begin to apply for citizenship around March 2032. It will also be necessary to pass the CCSE and DELE A2 exams of the Cervantes Institute, prove good civic conduct, and, once granted, Ukrainians will have to formally renounce their nationality of origin, unless Ukrainian law allows them to retain it in practice.
Do you want a expert consultation? Contact us and we will help you.
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