British citizens say goodbye to the EU style residency card

Yesterday we were informed by the National Police that as of the 1st of July 2020, British citizens will no longer be issued with the EU style residency card (little green card) known as the Certificado de
registro de ciudadano de la Union and in future will be able to apply for the Tarjeta de Identidad Extranjero also known as the TIE card. What they couldn’t as yet inform us was any information surrounding the change in the application process. The introduction of the TIE card isn’t a new thing, we have been expecting it since the beginning of February but have been enjoying constant extensions to the green EU style card since then. What has changed is in June the Spanish government changed the wording on their website from,  the TIE will be introduced at some point during the transition period  to it will be introduced at some point at the beginning of July.  This means that for a short period while the new process is put in place, Malaga has suspended all residency appointments for British citizens.

Don’t panic!

There is currently very little information from the Spanish authorities, as they are understandably under pressure after lockdown and running behind. We haven’t been informed (yet) what the new process will look like and as of yesterday when we spoke to the Extranjeria offices in Marbella and Fuengirola they didn’t know either. There have been some outlandish headlines on social media which need to be taken with a pinch of salt until we know the new process, please try and ignore the scare stories until we have the correct information from the Spanish authorities. We feel that at the moment there is no need to panic.

British Citizens are still protected by the Withdrawal Agreement

The British Embassy has published that the rights enshrined within the Withdrawal Agreement are still in place and stay the same, although the application process will be different.

They have also stated: Whether you have the green A4 certificate, the green credit card-sized version or whether you are issued directly with the TIE – all remain equally valid in demonstrating your rights as a beneficiary of the Withdrawal Agreement, even after the end of the Transition Period

We’ll let you know as soon as there’s any new information

Be assured that we’ll be publishing as soon as the new process is confirmed and booking Appointments for our current and new clients as soon as they reopen. If you need the new TIE you can book a call to discuss your options with us using this link.

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