Summary of developments regarding T.I.E. cards for British nationals
David Wilde • 7 July 2020
Where are we with the new T.I.E. system?
OK, to summarise developments over the past four days regarding T.I.E. cards for British nationals. On Saturday, the government published a new decree in the B.O.E. (Official press release from the government). This stated that those holding a green residency card would have the OPTION to change it for a T.I.E. card (with a 10 year validity for those who have been resident for over 5 years already and 5 year validity for those who have been residents for less than 5 years). We have received no clarification as to what the benefits of changing to the T.I.E. will be and until we are told something different, I will personally not be changing my green residency card (which doesn't have an expiry date).
For British nationals who are applying for residency/T.I.E. for the first time. The B.O.E. states that they must follow the current system of application. The current T.I.E. application system involves a two part process. Firstly, applicants must submit an initial application that is considered by the immigration office (extranjería), this can take up to 3 months. Secondly, once approved, they must make an appointment to go to collect their T.I.E. card (presenting more paperwork (modelo ex-23 etc)). Regarding this process, we met with the 'extranjería' (immigration) office yesterday in Benidorm. They had no real idea as to how this will work and referred us to another department in typical fashion.
It is our understanding that the citizens advice bureau Spain have mounted a legal challenge to this process and have also written to the European commission. Their case is that while Britain is still in Europe, the residency process should be similar to as it is now and make it as easy as possible to become resident. The T.I.E system suggested by the government seems to make things quite difficult (especially with the 3 month wait).
We are following events closely. We really need the British Embassy to get involved and to clarify the procedure. No statement has been issued by the British authorities regarding the matter since 2nd July when they stated that it wasn't compulsory/necessary to change our current residency cards.
Click 'like' on our facebook page HERE to follow developments.
Many Thanks!