Since our recent Zoom meeting on Friday 16 October, EuroCitizens has received a reply from one of the two Brexit leads in the Spanish government whom we deal with. Last week, after consulting with the Interior Ministry, she replied to our detailed queries. These were the result of a survey on registration that EuroCitizens carried out amongst our members in September. Our thanks again to everyone who participated in that.
A. Information from the Spanish government on registration of UK citizens under the Withdrawal Agreement:
1. UK citizens who have received an erroneous Tarjeta de Identidad para Extranjeros Brexit (Spanish third-country-national ID card for UK citizens):
- these TIE cards are valid despite the erroneous reference to 'family member of an EU citizen' (familiar de un miembro de la UE).
- if you have received one of these TIE cards, you can ask for a duplicate (and correct) copy at no extra cost at any national police station in Spain which has a documentation unit (unidad de documentación). A duplicate will be issued and no appointment is needed.
2- Problems in getting an
appointment for a TIE Brexit:
- due to the Covid pandemic, the demand for appointments has gone up, thus extending waiting times. The government has announced an increase in staff at a series of national police stations around Spain (see below the list below).
- you can apply for a TIE Brexit at any national police station which has a documentation unit and which is in your province of residence. In Madrid, appointments are available at Padre Piquer and the team dealing with UK citizens there has been reinforced.
- currently 6,000 TIEs
are being issued daily, of which 500 are for UK citizens.
3- Variations in procedures for receiving a TIE Brexit (documentation required, handing in of EU green cards, appointments to collect the TIE Brexit):
- you can find the documentary requirements for applying for a TIE Brexit on the appointment website (see the website for UK citizens in Alicante: https://www.consultorga.com/section.asp?sec=207)
- Civil servants can require extra documentation in certain cases, such as where the applicant has changed domicile recently.
-There are two phases to the process: issuing and collecting the document (as TIEs have to be printed by the official organism (La Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre).
-The Spanish government had been unaware of cases where UK citizens have been asked to hand in their green EU card before receiving their TIE Brexit. The procedure is for this to happen at the same time as they are given their new cards, and for the old EU green card then to be destroyed.
4- Other issues related to UK citizens in Spain:
Some of queries which we have raised with the Spanish authorities are still pending, such as how UK citizens can combine more than one status (eg TIE Brexit + EU family member), the exchange of temporary TIEs Brexit for permanent cards after five years residence, possible administrative problems as a result of the handing in of EU green cards and the coordination of TIE and Spanish nationality applications.
B. News from the UK Embassy:
EuroCitizens and other BiE groups such as ECREU and BHOV have also been in close contact with the UK Embassy.For newly arrived Britons who are registering for the first time, it seems that the best policy is to keep trying to get an appointment and, at the same time, to gather evidence of residence before the end of the year (e.g. rental contracts, healthcare insurance, utility bills).
The Embassy has updated its page on driving licences:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/living-in-spain#driving-in-spain-
The Spanish authorities
have agreed that applications received before the end of the year can be
processed after the deadline.
C. List of national police stations in Spain with extra staff to deal with Brexit TIE registration:
