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RESIDENCY PERMITS

EXPLAINED: How to renew your long-term residency card in Spain

If you have a long-term Spanish residency card, this has to be renewed every five years. This step-by-step guide explains the process.

Published: 2 July 2024 12:40 CEST
EXPLAINED: How to renew your long-term residency card in Spain
It is possible that some police stations will ask you for proof of continuous residence for the last five years to renew your card, but not always. 

Spain’s long-term residency card is known as the Tarjeta de Larga Duración in Spanish.

It is not quite the same as the Tarjeta de Residencia Permanente (permanent residency card). 

The difference is that those who apply for a long-term residency card rather than a permanent one didn’t initially get five years of temporary residence. Instead they have had to renew shorter temporary one or two-year visas and residency cards that add up to five years. This may include non-EU nationals with the non-lucrative visa or the digital nomad visa.  

Permanent residency card holders on the other hand were granted five full years of temporary residency from the beginning and after that period elapses they can apply for a tarjeta permanente, which has to be renewed every ten years. People who are a family member of a Spanish or EU citizen and UK nationals in Spain with Brexit Withdrawal Agreement residency rights can have permanent residency cards.

READ MORE: The differences between Spain’s permanent and long-term residency cards

For the purposes of this article, we are only looking at renewing the Tarjeta de Larga Duración.

The long-term residency card has to be renewed every five years.

Thankfully, renewing the card is a relatively straightforward process.

This will not renew your status as a legal resident in Spain, but only the physical card, as you will already have the right to stay.

When to renew your card

Long-term residence is renewed once your current card has expired. It’s important to note that you cannot renew it a month before it expires.

The trick is that when you see your expiry date approaching you must apply for an appointment online at the immigration office. Ideally, choose the date the day after the card expires, to avoid being left with an invalid card for a long period of time.

Of course, if you’ve lived in Spain for five years already, you’ll know that applying for these appointments is notoriously difficult and most of the time you will just have to take the date you’re given.

READ ALSO: How to get a ‘cita previa’ (appointment) in Spain when it seems impossible

How to renew your card

You will need to apply for your appointment via the following link. 

You need to make sure your appointment is at the police station closest to your usual place of residence. You can find a list here. 

Generally, in order to be able to renew, you shouldn’t have stayed outside of the EU for more than 12 months, unless you have a valid reason, and you should not have committed a crime.

When it’s time for your appointment you must take the following documents:

  • EX-17 application form
  • Padrón certificate (in the event that you have changed address)
  • Your long-term card such as TIE which has expired and a photocopy of it
  • Original passport and photocopy
  • Proof that you have paid the corresponding fee via form 790-012
  • A recent photo

You need to fill out the EX-17 form. Source: Spanish Government 

It is possible that some police stations will ask you for proof of continuous residence for the last five years, but not always. 

If necessary you could also bring proof that you have been living in Spain in recent years, such as stamps in your passport if you have entered or left, purchase receipts, invoices, etc.

READ ALSO: Can I get my padrón online in Spain?

What happens at the appointment and how long will it take?

At the police station, they will take all your documents plus your fingerprints.

Around one month after everything has been processed you will be able to go and pick up your new card. Be aware that some places require you to get another appointment to pick it up.

While you’re waiting for your new card to be issued, your residence is still fully valid and you can continue to live and work in the country; although if you are going to travel outside of Spain you must request a return authorisation.

READ ALSO: Why is it so hard to get an appointment at some of Spain’s foreigner offices?

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RESIDENCY PERMITS

The differences between Spain’s permanent and long-term residency cards

Spain’s permanent residency and long-term residency cards are not the same. They have several aspects in common, but there are also some key differences foreign residents should be aware of. 

Published: 3 July 2024 14:51 CEST
The differences between Spain's permanent and long-term residency cards

Spanish legalese is notoriously convoluted and when it comes to residency matters, it definitely applies. This unfortunately has the unintended consequence of confusing the general population, and foreigners even more so.

We’ve seen this in action with the common mix-up surrounding the terms NIE and TIE, the foreigner ID number and the ID card for non-EU residents. 

READ MORE: The differences between Spain’s NIE and TIE

This time round we’ll be looking at the differences between long-term residency (residencia de larga duración) and permanent residency (residencia permanente). 

In the majority of cases, both the long-term and permanent residency cards are granted to foreigners who have lived legally and continuously in Spain for five years. 

During these initial five years of residency, they have had either one or several temporary residency cards.

Both long-term and permanent residency cards give holders the right to live and work in Spain (same rights as Spaniards), but not across the EU. In both cases, they also grant the right to apply for Spanish citizenship after ten years of residency in Spain.

As for the actual biometric cards – the Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero (TIE) – permanente and larga duración look exactly the same except for what’s written under the tipo de permiso (type of permit) section.

So what are the main differences? Who is eligible for the long-term card and who gets the permanent one?

Long-term residency cards

Tarjetas de Larga Duración are issued under what’s called the Régimen General, which generally refers to migration rules applicable to non-EU nationals. 

Foreigners who get long-term residency cards rather than permanent residency ones will have had more than one temporary card over their initial five years of residency in Spain. 

For example, non-EU nationals who during a period of five years were issued one-year and two-year temporary residency cards (usually 3 cards total) as a result of having a work visa, a non-lucrative visa, a study visa or a digital nomad visa.

As stated above, long-term residency gives the same rights to work and live in Spain as permanent residency, but the long-term card has to be renewed every five years rather than every ten, as in the permanent card’s case.

You will also have to prove you are working and have healthcare coverage when applying for the long-term card, whereas for the permanent card there’s more of an emphasis on proving financial means. 

When it comes to the risk of having your long-term residency rights revoked due to time spent outside of Spain, an absence of 12 continuous months from the EU could cause this, whereas with a permanent residency card it’s two years outside of Spain.

Permanent residency cards

Tarjetas Permanentes are issued under what’s called the Régimen Comunitario, which generally refers to migration rules applicable to EU nationals and their family members. 

Foreigners who get permanent residency cards are often non-EU family members of Spanish or EU nationals as well as UK nationals who were living in Spain prior to Brexit and therefore have Withdrawal Agreement rights (including for their family members).

Under the TIE card’s section on tipo de permiso (type of permit) on the front, it may read “RÉGIMEN COMUNITARIO FAMILIAR CIUDADANO UNIÓN” or “PERMANENTE ARTICULO 50 TUE”. 

After five years of temporary residency, these people can apply for a tarjeta permanente, which lasts ten years and can then be renewed again for another ten years, and so on.

Proving financial means, even those of the EU family member through which you got residency, is enough proof to apply for the permanent card, and in some cases they won’t even ask for this. 

You can spend two years outside of Spain without risking losing your permanent residency status, whereas with long-term residence it’s 12 consecutive months outside of the EU. 

Conclusion and one other residency card 

Overall, the long-term and permanent residency cards are very similar, but the fact that the permanente lasts ten years and time spent outside of Spain can be longer makes it slightly more beneficial.

There is however one other residency card that’s worth mentioning, the Tarjeta Larga Duración UE (Long-term EU card).

Much like the other two, it can be applied for after five years of residency in Spain and gives full work and living rights (card renewal after five years, absences of up to 12 consecutive months). 

However, in return for showing a stable income of at least 150 percent of Spain’s IPREM index for a family of two (approximately €900 a month, 50 percent extra for each family member) you can be given access to a residence permit or residence and work permit in any other country of the European Union. Neither the larga duración or the permanente cards offer that.

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