UK nationals residing in Spain under the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) will be aware that many of you will soon have to renew your Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero (the Foreign Identity Card), most often called TIE.
Spain began issuing these biometric, hard plastic, photo-based residency documents to British residents in July 2020. They are in fact almost the same as the residency documents other non-EU nationals get, but they specify the Acuerdo de Retirada (Withdrawal Agreement). Prior to Brexit, Brits were issued green paper residency certificates just like all other EU nationals.
Brits who had been residing in Spain for less than five years when they applied for the new document were issued with a temporary TIE which had to be renewed after five years, while those that had lived here more than five years were given a permanent TIE, which only has to be renewed after 10 years.
READ ALSO: How to your renew your Spanish TIE residency card
That means that tens of thousands of UK nationals (and their non-EU family members) with temporary WA TIEs now have to renew and get permanent WA TIEs.
There has been a lot of confusion surrounding the renewal process, as well as problems getting cita previas (appointments) at extranjería offices (foreigners' offices) which The Local has reported on extensively.
READ MORE: 'Never been this bad': your problems booking residency appointments in Spain
One of the major doubts is when you are able to renew your card. Officially, according to the Spanish Ministry of Migration in a document last updated in May 2025, you are able to renew your TIE up to 60 before it expires and 90 days after it expires.
It reads: "Application period : within two months prior to the expiration date of the authorization. Applications may also be made within three months after the expiration date of the authorization, without prejudice to the possibility of initiating the corresponding sanctioning procedure."
The problem is that many sources have been saying that in practice you are now no longer allowed to renew the card before it expires, only afterwards.
Many Brits have also reportedly been turned away from some immigration offices when trying to renew beforehand.
The Local Spain contacted The UK Embassy in Madrid, which confirmed that they were "aware that some British nationals in Spain are having difficulty booking appointments to obtain or renew their Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero (TIE)" , adding that they "continue to raise this issue with Spanish authorities and have asked them to improve appointment availability."
But regarding "specific questions about the variation of procedures at the extranjería offices, this would best be addressed to the Spanish authorities".
We already know the official advice from the Spanish government (see above), which means that as is so often the case with bureaucratic matters in Spain, the rules are interpreted differently by different civil servants and police officers.
According to the head of popular Facebook group Expat Support in Spain (Brexpats), Richard T Hill: “As of May the system was changed by central government in Madrid. It [the renewal] now HAS to be done from the moment your current TIE is expired but within the next 3 months. It cannot be done before as the police system will not recognise you as permanent resident before your TIE expires”.
“I strongly suggest you start looking for appointments way in advance your expiry date, but for a date that is AFTER the TIE expires. We are aware that as of July onwards the system is going to be under considerable strain and have via the embassy, asked the Spanish government to increase staffing levels. That doesn’t seem to have happened,” he continued.
On May 20th, Spain made changes to its Immigration Law, but the bill doesn't mention Withdrawal Agreement TIE residency cards specifically, and for other temporary residency documents it maintains the option of renewing two months before expiry.
READ ALSO: Brits in Spain face appointment nightmare for residency card renewals
Keith Barry Spanish News page on Facebook, run by Costa Blanca Solicitors, specifically wrote about the Alicante province, saying: “You cannot renew a 5 year card BEFORE the expiry date!... The Police know there’s no appointments and the 60-day rule is not in play now, but they couldn’t confirm how long after expiry date it must be done!”
Despite this, there is a lot of conflicting information, and some readers have confirmed that they have successfully renewed their TIE cards before the expiry date.
Someone on the Keith Barry Spanish News page said that they managed to exchange their card before the expiry date with no problems. Two other readers in Granada and Getafe (Madrid) also confirmed that they renewed theirs before the expiry date too.
Another confirmed that they were able to do so in Fuengirola in Málaga, while another said that in Málaga city this is also possible.
The city of Cádiz also reportedly allows for renewal before the expiry date, but in La Línea de la Concepción you have to wait until it’s expired.
Someone in Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands also said their extranjería office turned them away for trying to renew before the card expired.
Several readers on the Expat Support in Spain Brexpats Facebook group said they had renewed their card before the expiry date in Orihuela.
Therefore, it seems that officially in the central government nothing has changed, but local policies may have changed in different regions, provinces or even just individual cities.
The best advice is to call up or visit your local police station or extranjería office in advance and ask them what their policy is and what they will accept.
If you want to ask this in Spanish, you would say: ¿Puedo renovar mi tarjeta de residencia temporal antes de que caduque? (Can I renew my temporary residency card before it expires?)
Alternatively, you could ask "¿Es posible renovar mi tarjeta de residencia temporal durante sus últimos 60 días de vigencia como marca la ley?" (Can I renew my temporary residency la during its last 60 days of validity as the law stipulates?)
Comments