If the Generalitat does not respond to your application, you have four tools: ask for the file to be moved forward, file a formal complaint, rely on administrative silence or appeal, and go to the Síndic de Greuges, the Valencian ombudsman. They are not mutually exclusive and work best in that order. Before you start, find your registration receipt: the submission date is the starting point for every deadline.
1. Check the administration’s deadline
Spain’s administrative procedure law (Law 39/2015) requires the administration to issue and notify an express decision in every procedure. The deadline depends on each procedure and is usually shown on its page in the e-office; if the rules do not set one, it is three months.
The Valencian Community also has shorter deadlines. Law 9/2016 on citizen emergency procedures halves the deadlines for certain social procedures: for example, disability ratings must be decided within three months. Other examples covered in dedicated guides:
- Dependency care: six months from application to care plan (PIA) decision.
- Disability assessment: three months.
- Large family certificate: three months, with positive silence.
2. Ask for information and for the file to be moved forward
You have the right to know the status of your procedures at any time. Submit a short letter through the registry, ideally via the Generalitat’s e-office using the general application procedure, or at a PROP office (book on 012). Include:
- Your details and the file or registration number.
- The application date and the legal deadline that has passed.
- A clear request: “I request that an express decision be issued and notified, and that I be informed of the status of the file.”
It takes five minutes and proves you have tried to resolve the matter with the administration, which the Síndic will ask about later.
3. File a formal complaint
The Generalitat has a complaints, suggestions and compliments system regulated by Decree 41/2016. Complaints are intended precisely to report delays, neglect or conduct reflecting a deficiency in the service. There are separate forms for general administration, health and social services, all on the e-office.
- Response time: one month.
- If there is no reply: you can contact the General Inspectorate of Services about the failure to respond.
- Important: a complaint is not an appeal. It does not annul or change a decision; it reports poor service.
4. Use administrative silence to your advantage
When the deadline passes without a decision, administrative silence applies:
- Positive silence: in most procedures started at your request, no reply counts as approval unless a law says otherwise. You can request a certificate confirming the silence, which the administration must issue within fifteen days.
- Negative silence: where the law provides for it, no reply counts as a refusal, but only so that you can appeal. The administration is still obliged to decide.
Against a refusal by silence you can lodge an administrative appeal (alzada or reposición) at any time from the day after the silence takes effect. If you receive an express decision you disagree with, the deadline to appeal is one month and is stated at the bottom of the document.
5. Go to the Síndic de Greuges
The Síndic de Greuges is the ombudsman of the Valencian Community. It oversees the Generalitat and local councils, and delays in deciding applications are among the most frequent complaints it handles.
- How to file: through its e-office (seu.elsindic.com), by email to consultas@elsindic.com, by calling the free number 900 210 970 or in person at its Alicante office (Calle Pascual Blasco, 1).
- What you need: your personal details, DNI or NIE, a phone number and address, a short explanation of the problem and the steps you have already taken with the administration. Anonymous complaints are not accepted.
- What happens next: if admitted, the Síndic asks the department for a report, which it must provide within one month, and issues a decision published on its website. When the administration fails to cooperate, the Síndic can make that public.
- Limits: a complaint does not suspend appeal deadlines or the enforcement of decisions. If an appeal deadline is running, lodge the appeal anyway.
Template letter requesting a decision
You can adapt this text for step 2 (submit it in Spanish or Valencian):
[Full name], with DNI/NIE [number] and address for notifications at [address], STATES: that on [date] they applied for [procedure], registration number [number]; that the maximum period of [deadline] for a decision has passed without a decision being notified. REQUESTS: that an express decision be issued and notified in accordance with Article 21 of Law 39/2015, that they be informed of the status of the file and, where applicable, that a certificate confirming the administrative silence be issued.
Frequently asked questions
How long does the Generalitat have to answer me?
Whatever the rules for each procedure set. If they say nothing, three months. Some social procedures have shorter deadlines under Law 9/2016.
Does complaining to the Síndic cost money?
No. Filing a complaint with the Síndic de Greuges is free and you do not need a lawyer.
Can I go straight to the Síndic?
The Síndic asks you to explain what you have already done with the administration, so it is best to send the letter requesting a decision or a complaint first.
What is the difference between a complaint and an appeal?
A complaint reports poor service, such as a delay. An appeal challenges a specific decision so it can be changed, and has strict deadlines.