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BREXIT

BREXIT: Why UK and Spain now strongly recommend exchanging green residency document for TIE

It remains optional for Brits in Spain to exchange their green residency certificates for TIE cards, but now both UK and Spanish authorities are urging that UK nationals do so anyway. Here's why.

BREXIT: Why UK and Spain now strongly recommend exchanging green residency document for TIE
Screenshot of British Ambassador to Spain Hugh Elliott speaking about the new advice for exchanging the old green residency documents (pictured) for a TIE card.

Since the early 2000s, Britons in Spain who registered as residents were issued a green residency document, first it was an A4-sized paper version and later a smaller version, also green and made of paper (which could not be laminated).

Since July 6th 2020 however, Spanish immigration authorities started issuing the biometric TIE (Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero) cards, in accordance with Britons’ new status as non-EU nationals following Brexit.

Those who had the green residency certificates have since been given the option of exchanging the green document for a TIE card, but Spanish authorities and the UK Embassy in Madrid have stressed that this is “optional” and that the green documents will still be valid after the end of the transition period, so it was up to you if you exchanged or not.

On May 26th however, UK and Spanish authorities have officially adopted a change of stance and are now recommending that everyone exchange their green residency document for a TIE and have outlined several reasons why.

British Ambassador to Spain Hugh Elliott said: “We know that some of you have been having difficulty using it to access services. As was always said, the green certificate is a valid document to prove your residency and your rights under the Withdrawal Agreement in Spain, and that’s not changing. However, both we and the Spanish government would now strongly encourage you to take steps to exchange the green certificate for the new biometric TIE.”

Why are the authorities advising this? Elliott has outlined three main reasons as to why British residents should do this:

  • “Firstly it explicitly states your rights,” he said. Elliott refers to Britons’ rights under the Withdrawal Agreement which protect the rights of Brits who were living in Spain before the end of 2020. These are not explicitly stated on the green certificates.
  • “Secondly it will make some day-to-day administrative processes including border crossings, if you’re travelling, easier. It’s got your photo on it and it’s just more recognisable,” Elliott continued
  • “Thirdly, it’s actually a lot more durable than the green paper certificate. I’ve seen some pretty tatty ones of those!” he added.

So the message is that having a TIE could actually save Brits in Spain time and trouble, especially as not all authorities outside of Spain are necessarily familiar with the old, green residency documents.

Many Britons have been complaining about the lack of appointments available to exchange their cards in places with a high volume of UK nationals such as Alicante.

Some groups fighting for Briton’s rights in Spain have called on UK nationals wanting to process the “optional” exchange to hold off until their fellow countrymen and women registering for the first time as residents get their TIE first, as a means of not clogging up the system.

“The Spanish authorities have recently dedicated more resources to help UK nationals through this process – for example specifically in Alicante, Benidorm and in Torrevieja,” explained Elliott.  

He went on to say the exchange process is very quick and that you’ll need to use an online portal you make an appointment at a National Police station in your province.

“Go to your appointment with your documentation,” Elliott continued. “You’ll also have fingerprints taken, then you’ll be given a receipt, a resguardo in Spanish, with a date to collect your new TIE card”. The cost for the exchange is just €12.

In some regions however, such as in Catalonia, it may be necessary to apply for a second appointment in order to collect your card, these could also take a long time to become available. 

If you’ve been a resident for less than five years, you’ll receive the TIE valid for five years, while if you have been a resident for more than five years, you will be given a larga duración (long-term) TIE which lasts for 10 years initially.

“You don’t need to prove your income when exchanging a green certificate or when updating from a five to a 10-year TIE, although you may have to prove your continuous residence in Spain”, Elliott explained.

According to the British Embassy, many Brits in Spain who have already done the exchange process have been surprised about just how quick and straightforward the whole process is.

“I would encourage anyone who has not exchanged to take steps to do so now,” concluded Elliott.

Back in December 2020, Spanish authorities began to stress that the exchanging green docs for TIEs could be advantageous, with Spain’s Secretary of State for Migration Hana Jalloul saying: “The Spanish Government would like to keep on encouraging British Nationals to exchange their green residency document for the new biometric TIE card as it may speed up administrative processes and, especially in the current situation regarding border crossings.”

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Member comments

  1. Interesting that everyone is being encouraged to get a TIE. I will lose the 4.5 hard earned years I have put in on my journey to citizenship. I will effectively start at Year Zero because the TIE will state that it’s temporary for five years from now – not from when I was first given residency in October 2016. This is extrenelt unfair, and the British ambassador should make this clear.

    1. That’s almost certainly not the case. Your TIE is not the definitive source of information about your length of residency. Do you have a padrón?

  2. No problem getting my TIE in Girona – straightforward and no delays in collecting the card

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GIBRALTAR

UK soldiers expelled from Spain after crossing from Gibraltar posing as tourists

Spain has expelled four Royal Navy servicemen who crossed the Spain-Gibraltar border on foot three times in a single day while dressed in civilian clothing, with Spanish media claiming they were checking the porosity of the border.

UK soldiers expelled from Spain after crossing from Gibraltar posing as tourists

Spanish police expelled four British soldiers from Spain on Monday night, removing them from the country and sending them back to Gibraltar after it emerged that the four Royal Navy personnel had entered Spain illegally while “posing as tourists”, as the Spanish press has reported.

The incident comes a week after the British Navy carried out military drills in the waters surrounding Gibraltar, the British overseas territory that Spain still claims sovereignty of, and amid the seemingly never-ending negotiations between Spain and the UK to finally settle a post-Brexit deal.

READ ALSO: Gibraltar Brexit deal ‘close’ as Brits crossing into Spain use fake bookings

The expulsions, now reported in the Spanish press by Europa Sur and confirmed to El Periódico de España by official sources, occurred after the four soldiers arrived in Gibraltar on a civilian flight and entered into Spain. They also had return tickets via Gibraltar.

They then reportedly passed themselves off as tourists and entered Spain on foot, staying at a four-star hotel in La Línea de la Concepción, the town in the Cádiz province of Andalusia that borders Gibraltar.

Stranger yet is that they crossed the border at La Línea on up to three occasions in the space of a few hours.

READ ALSO: What Brits need to know before crossing the border from Gibraltar to Spain

Spanish authorities detected their presence because two of the soldiers tried to return to Gibraltar at night.

At the border, Spanish police officers enquired as to the reason for their entry, to which the soldiers replied that they were on their way to work and brandished British military documentation.

The police decided that their entry into Spain had been irregular because they did not meet the Schengen Borders Code requirements demanded of non-EU citizens entering EU territory.

According to Europa Sur, Spanish police then asked the two soldiers to call their colleagues in the hotel in order to collect their luggage and return to Gibraltar, which took place at midnight on Monday 18th March.

The Spanish press has stated that it is common for soldiers to try to stay in Spanish territory by concealing their military status and entering while posing as tourists.

The motive for the soldiers’ presence, particularly their repeated trips across the border, remains unknown.

The military drills in the area seem to suggest that the soldiers may have taken part in or be due to take part in further exercises and wanted to enter as tourists.

Spanish media also suggests that they could have been testing the porosity of the border, though these claims remain unsubstantiated.

Gibraltar’s post-Brexit status still remains unresolved. The EU and UK government are now onto their 18th round of treaty negotiations after the framework agreement between London and Madrid made on New Year’s Eve 2020 essentially ‘fudged’ the border issue, leaving Gibraltar’s status within the Schengen area undefined.

Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said in late-2023 that “we are very, very close” to finalising a Brexit agreement.

“I would sign a deal with Britain over Gibraltar tomorrow,” Albares told journalists at the time. Yet no agreement was made, despite the Minister’s positivity, nor the appointment of former UK Prime Minister David Cameron as Foreign Secretary.

Albares’ comments came at a time when it was reported in the Spanish press that many UK nationals have been using fake hotel bookings in order to try and bypass the Schengen rules and trick their way through border checks.

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