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SPANISH LAW

Spain to offer non-binary gender option on foreigners’ residency cards

Spanish migration authorities are set to allow non-binary foreign residents in Spain the option of choosing an 'undefined' X category on their ID cards, something not currently available to Spaniards.

Published: 18 January 2024 15:48 CET
Updated: 18 January 2024 16:49 CET
Spain to offer non-binary gender option on foreigners' residency cards
Spain will soon become one of only a few countries in the world that officially recognise non-binary people on identity cards. Photo by Josep LAGO/AFP.

Spain’s Ministry of Social Inclusion and the Ministry of the Interior confirmed to El Diario that the Directorate General of Migration will incorporate the change and include a third gender option, something which will then be available on foreigners’ residency documents such as TIE cards.

This option is not currently available on Spanish DNI cards, the ID cards used by Spaniards, because Spain’s civil code does not allow it.

In practical terms, TIE cards (residency cards for non-EU nationals) already have a section on the front stating the “sexo/sex”, but these will now include a third ‘X’ option for non-binary people rather than just ‘M’ or ‘F’.

According to ministerial sources, the option will be available for foreigners whose non-binary identity is recognised in their countries of origin.

The change follows the case of Andrea Speck, a German born non-binary person who successfully won a legal case allowing them to be identified as gender ‘X undefined’ in Spain’s central register of foreigners, as ruled by the judgement of the High Court of Justice in Andalusia (TSJA) in May 2023.

READ ALSO: German becomes first person in Spain with non-binary status on ID

Speck, 58 and a Seville resident, had been fighting in the courts since 2019 because the EX18 form, which is used for records in the Central Register of Foreigners of EU Citizens, only contained male and female options, neither of which they identify with.

Foreigners’ residency card showing the “sexo/sex” category, which until now could only be “M” or “F”.

At a meeting held in mid-January 2024, Spain’s Directorate General of Migration also decided to modify 24 official forms used to apply for identification in Spain to include the third non-binary ‘undefined’ gender option. However, the exact details are still unclear, and will be further analysed “in the draft reform of the regulation,” according to sources from Spain’s Social Inclusion Ministry.

What is clear is that ‘gender X’ or ‘undefined’ will appear on the identification cards for non-binary foreigners issued in Spain for people who want it. “What it says on the documentation of their countries of origin will be inscribed,” Ministry sources told El Diario.

According to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), there are 14 countries in the world that officially recognise non-binary people on identity cards.

In February 2023, Spain’s world-leading trans law was approved by the government, allowing anyone 16 and over to change their gender on their ID card with a simple declaration.

READ ALSO: What is Spain’s ‘Trans Law’ and why is it controversial?

But despite aiming to help trans people, the law did not legally recognise non-binary people or give them the opportunity to select no gender.

However, activists like Speck see this latest development as progress: “With this step, for the first time a Ministry recognises that we, non-binary people, exist, and we have the right to be legally recognised,” Speck explained, adding there she hopes her case has served to “break the gender binary system” in Spain.

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For members

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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