Spain and the United Kingdom strongly recommend that British citizens resident in Spain obtain a Foreign National Identification Card (Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjeros: TIE) to facilitate their international travel once the new Schengen border control system comes into operation next autumn, according to a press release received by the Bulletin this morning.
This issue was one of the items on the agenda of the meeting held yesterday between the Spanish Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and the UK Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, at the department's headquarters.
At that meeting, Grande-Marlaska and Cooper agreed on the importance for British citizens who are beneficiaries of the EU Withdrawal Agreement and who have not yet applied for it to ensure that they obtain the corresponding TIE - known as TIE art. 50-, as the current EU Citizen Registration Certificate (known as a 'green card') that many still use will not provide exemption from registration once the new Entry/Exit System (EES) comes into operation next autumn.
The EES will register the border crossing of citizens who identify themselves with the 'green card', which will limit their time of stay in the Schengen area to a maximum of 90 days in 180 days. In order to exceed this limit, these citizens will have to go to a National Police station to prove their resident status and ask for the rectification of the EES registration, otherwise they could face problems at the border when leaving and returning to the Schengen zone as they will be identified by the EES system as "overstayers".
The TIE, a biometric card that includes fingerprints and a facial image, will be the only document that allows British citizens residing in Spain to be exempt from registration in these systems and avoid the 90-day limit applying to them. This card "is the identification document for non-EU citizens resident in Spain that gives them access to all the rights recognised by current legislation", said Grande-Marlaska.
Dispatch reinforcement
Between 2020 and June 2025, the Spanish authorities have already issued 138,106 permanent residence cards for beneficiaries of the Withdrawal Agreement and 1,890 for their family members, as well as 101,094 temporary residence cards and 3,665 for their family members.
Estimates suggest that some 50,000 British citizens resident in Spain have not yet applied for their TIE. To speed up the process of issuing these cards, whether temporary or permanent, the National Police has increased the number of staff in Spain, particularly in areas with a strong British presence, such as the Valencian Community, Andalusia and the Balearic Islands.
However, because of the time needed to process the applications and issue the cards, Ministers Grande-Marlaska and Cooper encouraged British citizens residents in Spain to start the TIE application process as soon as possible to avoid difficulties and setbacks when the EES system comes into force.