Recover Long-Term Residence.

What is long-term residence?

Before it was called permanent residence. This residential allows you to live and work in Spain indefinitely. It can be obtained after having lived in Spain legally and continuously for 5 years.

In other words, at the time you get your first residence permit for one or two years, and renew it until you have 5 years in Spain in a legal and continuous manner, you can already apply for long-term residence.

Once your long-term permit is authorised, you are already guaranteed the right to live and work in Spain forever.

The physical card (T.I.E.) must be renewed 5 years after obtaining it, but that does not mean that your right to live and work in Spain expires, that right never expires.

In which cases can the Long Duration card be recovered?:

It can be recovered when:

– When the foreigner has remained outside the European Union for more than 12 months in a row.

– When the foreigner has accepted the voluntary return and has completed his commitment not to return to Spain.

– When the foreigner has acquired a long-term residence issued by another country of the European Union.

What happened before to be able to recover it?

Before 2019, the Immigration offices required that, before the foreigner returned to Spain, the cancellation of the card be requested. After the card expired, it was mandatory to return to their country of origin to request a long-term recovery visa in order to re-enter Spain.

This has changed. At Abogadosextranjeriaenalicante.com we are always up-to-date and aware of the latest news on immigration, and we have come to tell you about the new way to recover your long-term card.

New criteria to recover the long duration card:

As of 2019, the Spanish immigration law has updated the way in which a foreigner can retrieve their long-term card. Now it is much simpler.

A foreigner who has been abroad for more than a year and who returns to Spain as a tourist, and as long as he is within the legal term as a tourist (3 months), can go directly to the Immigration Office and request recovery, without the need to extinguish it. already previously.

The documents required for the recovery request are:

– Criminal record.

– Medical certificate.

– Valid passport and full photocopy.

– Previous long-term residence card.

– Form EX 11, in duplicate.

– Fee 790,052 paid.

– 3 ID photos.

Where can I process the recovery of the card?

– If you are in Spain: you can do it at the Immigration Office of the province where you wish to establish residence.

– If you are outside of Spain: you can do so at the Spanish diplomatic mission or consular office in which you reside.

How long does the authorization take?

Since the file is sent, the administration has a legal period of 3 months to resolve. If you do not do so within that period, it is understood that the request is authorized (positive silence).

The month after submitting the renewal, you must return to the police station to pick up the new T.I.E. long-term, which is valid for another 5 years. If you want to leave Spain in the period of time that you are waiting for the new T.I.E., you must request a return authorization.