EXPATS in Spain looking to obtain or renew their TIE cards could face further delays after Pedro Sanchez’s controversial migrant regularisation scheme swamped the systems used to process foreign residency documents.
The Policia Nacional are expected this year to issue well over the 1.73 million Tarjetas de Identidad de Extranjero (TIE) processed in 2025.
The uptick comes after almost 1.2 million applications for residency were submitted under the extraordinary regularisation scheme, creating what officials have described as a major administrative challenge for Spain’s immigration system.
By the end of May, the Policia Nacional had already issued more than 720,000 TIE cards for the year.
An ‘emergency plan’ has now been activated to deal with the surge in applications.
To cope with the extra influx, authorities are expanding the number of staff and converting some DNI appointment desks to handle TIE applications.
Officers will also open during afternoons and on Saturdays, with staff working overtime to clear the growing backlog.
In most provinces, a pilot scheme is also automatically assigning appointments once an applicant receives a favourable immigration decision.
The regularisation scheme, which closed to new applications on June 30, is expected to be the main driver behind the rise in TIE applications this year, with each successful application requiring a new identity card.
However, officials have sought to reassure applicants that every application will receive a decision.
The government has three months to resolve each application, although this period can be paused if further documentation is required.
Officials have also stressed that a lack of a decision within that period will not automatically count as a rejection.
However, the backlog is likely to be frustrating for thousands of British expats who are facing TIE renewals this year, five years after Brexit was finalised.
The TIE was issued to UK nationals who were legally resident in Spain before January 1, 2021, protecting their rights to live, work and access services under the Withdrawal Agreement.
Most of those initial cards were issued in 2020 and 2021 with a five-year validity period, meaning a significant number are now up for renewal.
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