In every neighbourhood there is one house from which somebody left on “dunki”. In some houses his photograph hangs on the wall, and the mother sits beneath it and prays that the phone will ring. In some houses the phone did ring, and all that was said was: “Send more money, or these people will not let him go.” And in some houses nobody talks any more, because the last news came months ago.
All of this happens on the same street, and even so, when the next boy sets out he is told: “But so-and-so got there, didn’t he?” The agent’s whole business runs on that one sentence — he counts out for you the ones who arrived, and never the ones who did not.
We are not here to frighten anyone, nor to paint a rosy picture. We are only writing down the part the agent never tells, so that the person making the decision can see the full picture before he decides.
The first truth: the price is not paid in money alone
It does begin with money. The agent asks for lakhs of rupees, and this sum is often raised by selling land or by borrowing at interest. The family is told that this is all it will be. But the experience of the families of those who set out on this road is that the agreed sum is never the final sum — in every country a new “fare” appears, and every time the demand is made of the house that has already sold everything it had.
The second price is heavier. Throughout this journey the man is continuously in the hands of agents, in a region where his language is of no use, where he knows nobody, and where no police force comes to help him. Beatings, hunger, being locked in closed rooms, and ransom demands made to the family — these are not accidents of this trade, they are its method. Nobody has to pay any price for raising a hand against a man who has neither papers nor a way back. The agent knows this.
And then there is the sea. The boat route across the Mediterranean, or the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands, takes thousands of lives every year. This is not a figure of speech; these are counted deaths, and of those who are lost at sea, not even the body reaches home. If an agent calls this journey “completely safe”, just ask him this one thing: why does he not sit in that boat himself?
And even if someone does arrive, the price does not end there. Years of uncertainty, distance from family, and the debt the family is paying off at the very time when you yourself are still earning nothing.
The second truth: “once you get there the papers are certain” — this is half the story
An agent usually builds a wholly false picture on the support of one true fact. The true fact is that in Spain the legal route of Arraigo really does exist, and after two continuous years of residence an application for a residence permit can be made. The details are in our article on Arraigo.
What the agent does not tell you is what those two years look like. The man spends those two years without the legal right to work — that is, in the weakest condition of his life, where wages being withheld and work being taken without payment become ordinary things. The day the papers come is being waited for by a man who has no protection at all until that day arrives.
The second point is that the route itself can close off the destination. If fingerprints are registered in another European country, or an expulsion order (expulsión) is issued, the matter becomes far more complicated than anyone had imagined before setting out. And the third point — a small criminal record, one fight, one theft, repeated fines — closes the door of Arraigo forever. That is, the whole hardship of two years can be wasted by one night’s mistake.
And finally, the thing nobody can guarantee: the law keeps changing. Whether the concession that exists today will exist in the same form two years from now is known neither to the agent nor to anyone else. You are staking your life on a promise that is not even in the power of the one who makes it.
For someone already in Spain — your rights and the right next steps
If you are reading this and the journey has already happened, there is no use in looking back. What is done is done. Only one thing matters now: that the next step should not do further harm. And here the greatest harm comes from fear and from not knowing, not from any government office.
- Do not panic and go into hiding. Being in Spain without papers is not in itself a criminal offence; it is an administrative violation. In everyday life, not every encounter with the police ends in deportation. Yes — if an expulsion order does come, get a lawyer without wasting a day. There is a right of appeal and there are fixed deadlines, and this is exactly the chance that people lose by sitting quietly.
- The very first task is Empadronamiento. Registering at the town hall is your right, even without papers, and the town hall does not even ask about your immigration status. The count of your two years begins from that document, so every day you have delayed is a day cut from your own account. We have a separate article on this.
- Medical care and the children’s school. Emergency medical treatment is everyone’s right, and children going to school is not conditional on papers. Keeping the children at home is one of those losses that cannot be made good later.
- An asylum application — only on a truthful basis. For a person who genuinely faces persecution or danger to life in his own country, asylum is a legal right, and during the application there is protection from deportation. But a false story made up by agents comes apart in the interview, and a rejected case makes the routes ahead harder. Before applying, be sure to have your case looked at by CEAR or by some organisation that gives free legal help.
- Keep your record clean and keep collecting evidence. Keep every dated document, learn the language, and move towards Arraigo with two years of proper preparation. This is the route by which people reach legal status — and the most valuable asset of the person walking it is his clean record, not money.
Help is available free, and going to it is not used against you
The most expensive habit of our people is that they pay somebody they know for work that is being done in their own city for free and to a better standard. The organisations listed below are official and well known, you do not need anybody’s recommendation to go to them, and they are not sitting there to report you to anyone.
- Cruz Roja (Red Cross) — basic help for new arrivals, guidance and courses: cruzroja.es
- CEAR — free legal help in asylum cases: cear.es
- Cáritas — food, help with housing and social guidance: caritas.es
- Your own town hall’s Servicios Sociales — meeting a social worker is never used against you
Always check the official immigration procedures and conditions at the original source: inclusion.gob.es. Information going around on WhatsApp is often years out of date.
Before you decide — a word for the family
This part is for the father or the brother who is sitting right now with the land papers taken out, thinking that the boy’s future will be made.
Do the sum once. Suppose that same amount is lying in front of you and two roads are open. On one road that money goes into the hand of a man of whom you have nothing but a phone number, who will give you no receipt, and from whom you will be able to ask nothing if something goes wrong. On the other road the same money goes into a study visa, proper training in a skill, a language course or a legal application — where at every step you have a document, and an office you can demand an answer from.
The second road is slow. It can take years, and it can also end in refusal. But on that road there is no sea, there is no ransom call, and no mother has to wonder in which room of which country her son is locked up.
Read these articles of ours — all the legal routes to Spain, the study visa, and the work visa — and then decide. At the very least, let the decision be one made with full information, and not on the hearsay of a man whose profit lies in your haste.
Important note: This piece has been written to warn and to inform. It is neither legal advice, nor does it contain any encouragement or guidance towards illegal travel or illegal stay — its purpose is exactly the opposite. Everyone’s circumstances are different; before taking any step in your own case, consult a qualified lawyer or the organisations named above.
