Tarjeta Comunitaria (5 year renovation)

So your tarjeta comunitaria is about to expire after 5 years, what are the next steps?

Luckily this time around, it’s not quite as complicated to get the paperwork in order. You can make your appointment with extranjería to apply for your next tarjeta comunitaria from 1 month before to 3 months after the expiry date of your TIE (Tarjeta de identidad de extranjero).

The Process

Step 1

Make your appointment with extranjería.

Note that you must make an appointment to turn in the paperwork. You can do this online by getting a cita previa from your extranjería office. I made an appointment online and was assigned to come in a few weeks later, but there are much longer waits in larger cities like Madrid and Barcelona. I would go to that website and go through the steps without confirming anything just to see the wait time to get an appointment.

After clicking on the link above, select your provincia from the first dropdown menu. Click Aceptar. 

You’ll be brought to another page where you’ll need to choose from the dropdown menu FAMILIARES DE RESIDENTES COMUNITARIOS. Then, click Aceptar.

Next, you’ll be brought to a page where you’ll fill in your information. At the top, you’ll need to click SOLICITUD DE RENOVACIóN as this is a renewal of your card. Then, choose from the dropdown menu what your relationship is to the EU resident (Pareja de hecho, spouse, etc). As I have PdH, I chose that. Again, click Aceptar to continue.

Here is where you’ll then click Solicitar Cita to choose what date and time for your appointment with extranjería.

Once you choose an appointment, the site will generate a PDF. SAVE AND PRINT THIS PDF. Remember to PRINT out the paper with your appointment information on it once you finish the process! You will need to bring this to extranjería for your appointment. The PDF will look like this.

Step 2

Gather Documents

Once you have your appointment, it’s time to start gathering documents. These are the documents that I needed in Málaga in January 2020. As is always the case, it’s best to go over prepared as sometimes different offices will ask for more or less paperwork with no rhyme or reason. It can also change from one worker to the next in the same office (believe me, it has happened to me!) so I always go in with extra copies and documents I may need just in case!

1. Passport (Note that if you’ve renewed your passport in the previous 5 years, you will also need your old passport and copies)
2. Your TIE (I also took copies just in case but they weren’t needed)
3. Copy of every page of your current passport from front to back.
4. Two (2) copies of Modelo EX-19 which you can download off Spain’s government website and fill in. (One copy they will take and the other you will keep. They will stamp both copies.)
5. Copy of your partner’s DNI front and back (I also brought in the original DNI just in case but the copy was sufficient)
6. Situación Laboral of your partner – My partner had his boss print this out for him showing that he was employed and on a contract. In the end, I didn’t need to use the copy of this as the woman in extranjería just looked this up on her computer with his DNI, but she did take the paper and put it in the file though so I’d bring it just in case!
7. Empadronamiento colectivo – This document I was able to print off online. On the document I have saved from when we went to the town hall to do our empadronamiento, there is a barcode on the bottom right of the document with a URL and a long code (Cód. Validación). If your document is the same, you can type in the URL, find the option on that page (which is usually your town hall’s page) that says Validación de documentos and click in there.

It’ll then take you to a page where you’ll type in the long code, and your document will pop up. I downloaded the PDF and printed a copy from there.

7. Copy of your marriage certificate or pareja de hecho that is up to date. When I went in, I brought the original copy with the date stamp from 5 years ago. She didn’t actually ask me for this document, but she took it when I asked if she needed it. She said that technically it should be up to date (aka have a stamp from the last 3 months to show it’s still valid), but that it wasn’t a problem. This document also has a code that you can verify and print the document with online, but you will need to get it stamped if your extranjería asks for this document as there’s no timestamp on the document you can download off the government site.

Step 3

Extranjería appointment

Don’t forget to bring the CITA PREVIA document you got when you first scheduled the appointment. The front desk will ask for that when you come in. Bring some snacks and a book, because you know it takes forever to get any government paperwork done! I think I waited around an hour before my number was called (and that was after the appointment time they gave me). As you’ve been in Spain for 5 years already, you know the drill!

You pay NO TASA for this part of the process. They inputted all the data and printed me off a document basically summing up what I had applied for. Check this document. Because for some reason the date and address on mine were incorrect the first time. You will keep this document as you’ll be able to check the progress of your solicitud online with the code on this paper.

You should have a reply in the next 3 months tops. (If you don’t have a resuelto in 3 months, then it’s a silent approval). Unfortunately, I did this paperwork in January 2020 right before COVID-19 hit Spain hard. The foreigner paperwork was put on hold, so I didn’t get my reply within 3 months, but my resuelto favorable came in about 4 months after my appointment. I was checking the website every few days to see if there was update.

Now that I have my resuelto favorable, I had to wait on my local policía nacional to start taking appointments again in order to apply for the actual physical TIE itself.

Step 4

Apply for the TIE

You’ll need to make an appointment at your local comisaría de policía nacional to apply for the physical card (TIE). The documents you need to prepare for this appointment are very quick and easy to get together.

1. A printed copy of your resuelto favorable
2. EX–17 (2 copies one for you and one for them) You can download and fill this in online before printing at home.
3. Passport sized photos (They only took 2 from me). You can get these done at any local photo shop for a few euros.
4. Current TIE (the one you are renewing that has just expired). I took a copy of the front and back of that card just in case but they didn’t take it.
5. Your passport and a copy of each page of your passport. (I think you could get by with just a copy of the photo page, but as always, I try to go in with things they may just ask for. They ended up taking copies of all the pages of my passport.)
6. The tasa paid – Modelo 790 Código 012 – You can download this off the policía nacional website filled in and take it to any bank to pay in cash. Print 2 copies! For my specific situation, I had to select the box stating “Certificado de registro de residente comunitario o Tarjeta de residencia de familiar de un ciudadano de la Unión” and the tasa was only 12€. You can also take it to your bank and pay through your account. Note that if it’s not your bank, you will have to pay in cash. Other banks won’t take a card that’s not theirs to pay the tasa. At the bank, they’ll stamp the printed model and that’s what you’ll need to bring to your appointment to show that you’ve paid the fee.

The actual appointment took all of 10 minutes. They took all the paperwork, entered it into their system, had me sign a paper that will put my signature on my new card, took my fingerprints on the scanner, gave me a printed resguardo de solicitud, and sent me on my way! I was told the card will be ready within 30-45 days, so they told me to make an appointment in about 30 days to come pick the card up. With all the COVID-19 stuff going on, an appointment is required to pick up the card. I can’t just walk in.

To pick up the card, I have to bring my passport, old TIE, and the resguardo. This is all stated on the bottom of the resguardo document. Then, they will give me my new TIE which is valid for 10 years.

Once this is all finished, I will officially be a permanent resident of Spain! (Which is so crazy to even type as I never thought I’d be here this long). The great news is that after this, there are no more appointments with extranjería EVER! The next renewal of my TIE (10 years from now), I can just pop into my local policía nacional and renew my TIE just like Spaniards renew their DNIs. (insert flamenco dancing emoji)

I hope this post has been useful to anyone else in the same situation! Feel free to leave comments or questions below! And as always, buena suerte!