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BREXIT: How many Britons in Spain have a TIE residency card in 2022?

New government data reveals just how many UK nationals in Spain have applied and received their post-Brexit residency documents as of early 2022, a rate that’s slowed down considerably over the past months.

Published: 26 January 2022 17:08 CET

Less than half of Brits in Spain - 180,000 out of 400,000 - have a TIE residency card. Photo: Jose Jordán/AFP

How many?

A year and a half since Spanish authorities started to issue non-EU TIE residency cards to Britons residing in Spain, 180,000 UK nationals have applied and received this document.

That’s according to a report published on January 24th by the Specialised Committee on Citizens’ Rights, established under the Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and the European Union (EU).

According to their data, the 180,000 figure means that less than half of Spain’s British resident population have the new biometric card, as they estimate there could be as many as 430,000 UK nationals residing in Spain.

Fewer applying recently

Last summer, the UK Embassy in Madrid reported how “at the beginning of June (2021) more than 150,000 UK Nationals had applied for their Withdrawal Agreement TIE”, which represented a jump of around 100,000 new cards over the previous five months.

The rate of Britons applying for this new residency document has slowed down over the past half a year, with only 30,000 new TIE cards issued from June to December 2021.

TIE in a nutshell

The TIE (Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero) is a credit card-sized biometric ID card for foreign residents in Spain from outside of the EU, which can either be valid for five years (temporal) or ten (permanente) depending on the length of residence in Spain.

Spain issues two different types of TIEs to British applicants, which look practically the same except for some different wording.

One is for Brits who were residents before Brexit came into force in 2021 and are therefore protected under the Withdrawal Agreement, and another for Britons who have successfully applied for residency post-Brexit, which is harder overall as it’s dependent on financial resources, work or other requirements.

As things stand, it’s not compulsory for British residents who have the old green residency certificate to exchange it for a TIE card, although UK and Spanish authorities strongly encourage Britons to do so as it will help with border crossings and other official matters.

Conclusions from latest figures

Firstly, there’s the estimated number of British residents in Spain – 430,000 – which is higher than the last estimate by Spain’s Ministry of Inclusion in July 2021, as they put the total at 400,000.

However, this is probably explained by the fact that the 430,000 estimate also includes other third-country nationals residing in Spain with their British family members, as they are also affected by Brexit and have to consolidate their residency status in Spain.

Secondly, there’s the steep drop in new TIE cards issued to Brits over the last six months: 30,000 in the second half of 2021 compared to 100,000 in the first half.

Less than half of Brits in Spain – 180,000 out of 400,000 – have a TIE, and the majority of the remaining 220,000 that don’t have it are likely long-term residents with the green residency certificates who don’t want to exchange their old paper ID for the new biometric card (we assume this as since July 6th 2020, all new British residents in Spain get a TIE).

It’s not compulsory for these pre-Brexit residents to exchange, and even though the TIE card is a more durable, versatile and modern photo ID, many appear to remain unconvinced about getting it.

One of the reasons mentioned by Britons on forums is that most of the old green certificates don’t have an expiry date and therefore don’t have to be renewed, whereas TIEs do have to be updated.

And finally, there’s a difference of 7,200 between the number of TIE applications received and those concluded, as published by the UK’s Specialised Committee on Citizens’ Rights. This doesn’t necessarily mean that 7,200 TIE applications have been rejected as the figure can also include applications that were withdrawn, incomplete or void in other ways.

In October 2021, the total number of refused TIE applications from Britons was 2,400.

The UK’s Specialised Committee on Citizens’ Rights monitors the implementation and application of citizens’ rights, protecting UK nationals in the EU and EU citizens in the UK, including their family members. Their latest figures were published by the European Commission.

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ML Test for millions of Ukraine refugees

The number of refugees to enter Europe from Ukraine could reach around four million, the EU announced at a news conference in Brussels.

After interior ministers gathered for a special meeting of EU member states to discuss the crisis, leaders indicated that the need to intervene was becoming increasingly urgent.

“We are witnessing what could become the largest humanitarian crisis on our European continent in many, many years. The needs are growing as we speak,” said Janez Lenarcic, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management.

OPINION: This is Russia’s war, but we Europeans need to learn fast from our mistakes

He said the number of Ukrainians affected by the conflict in humanitarian terms could be 18 million within Ukraine itself, while seven million people are at risk of being internally displaced and four million could flee the country as refugees.

That’s a figure also echoed by the UN refugee agency.

More than 368,000 refugees, mainly women and children, have fled Ukraine into neighbouring countries so far based on data from national authorities, the agency said on Sunday.

A large number of those escaping have crossed over into Poland, where the authorities have counted some 156,000 crossing since the invasion started early Thursday.

Romani people fleeing Ukraine arrive at facilities of the local Roma community after Ukrainian refugees crossed the Ukrainian-Hungarian border in Tiszabecs, Hungary, on February 27, 2022. (Photo by Attila KISBENEDEK / AFP)

Border guards counted some 77,300 arrivals from Ukraine on Saturday alone. The refugees have arrived in cars, in packed trains and even on foot.

Germany’s rail operator said it will offer free train rides from Sunday to Ukrainian refugees travelling into the country from Poland.

Up to six trains are running daily from Poland to Germany at the moment, Deutsche Bahn said, but it was preparing to increase that capacity “at short notice”.

Also on Sunday neighbouring Austria announced that its state railway company OeBB would offer free travel to those escaping the conflict.

Austrian Transport Minister Leonore Gewessler said in a tweet that she had agreed with OeBB that “Ukrainians who are fleeing will be able to use OeBB trains without tickets”.

“In these times it is important to help quickly and simply. That it exactly what we are doing,” she said.

Meanwhile, Italy is receiving its first refugees, Italian broadcaster Rainews reports.

Around fifty people made their way by bus, mainly women and children, as their husbands are said to be in Ukraine to fight.

After arriving at the Fernetti border in Trieste, police forces and guards carried out the border controls.

They are reportedly heading to friends’ or acquaintances’ homes, mainly in the north of Italy between Brescia, Vicenza and Milan. Some are also going to Rome.

Some 236,000 Ukrainians have residence in Italy – around 80 percent of those women, according to data from Italy’s national Institute of Statistics (ISTAT).

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