Roots residence
I believe we are all very familiar with the term “residence by root or arraigo” One of the requirements to apply for a roots residence permit is that the applicant must have no criminal record. The immigration office is very strict in this regard and if there is a criminal record, the application will be rejected directly. Nevertheless, in a society where everyone makes mistakes, what can you do if you are not allowed to apply for a residence permit because you have committed a crime before?
Cancel the criminal record in Spain?
According to the Spanish Penal Code, if a person has committed a crime in Spain and has been sentenced, he or she will have a criminal record (called “antecedentes penales” in Spanish). However, the criminal record in Spain is not “lifelong”, because the offender can apply for the expungement of the record if he or she does not commit any more crimes within a certain period of time after serving the sentence.
For example, if the offense was a minor one (for example, a beating that did not result in injury or death), the offender can apply to have his or her record expunged as soon as six months have elapsed since the completion of the sentence.
Note: A criminal record will not be kept if you are questioned, filed, or detained by the police. The criminal record will only remain after a formal court trial.
According to the above, if you have committed a crime in Spain, you will have to apply for the cancellation of your record before you can apply for a residence permit.
For more information, please read the article: Spanish criminal record cancellation
What should I do if I have a criminal record in your origin country
Unlike in Spain, in some countries, there is no way to cancel a criminal record. A criminal record is may be lifetime.
Given this situation, what do I have to do to apply for a residence permit?
In fact, Article 124 of the Alien Statute states that to apply for Rooted Residence, all you need to do is to prove that you have not committed a crime in the country where you have lived within the past 5 years.
For example, if the applicant has been in Spain for 3 years and wants to apply for roots residence, unless there are other documents showing otherwise, then the immigration office will default to the fact that the applicant has previously lived in your origin country and that is why he or she needs to provide a certificate of no criminality from tha country.
If, say, the applicant has a criminal record in China, then what can be done is to stay in Spain for 5 years and then apply for a roots residence, so that there is no need to submit a certificate of no criminality from other country.
Note: There are some local immigration offices that are tougher on criminal record checks. If, for example, some immigration offices, even if the applicant has been in Spain for 5 years, still require a certificate of no criminal record of your origin country, this situation can only be solved through a lawsuit. In this case, the court will be on the side of the applicant. Of course, the prerequisite is to have enough documents to prove that you have lived in Spain for 5 years.
