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The essentials
Many people believe that without a job contract in Spain on the expiry date, the renewal is lost. That is not the case. The Immigration Regulation approved by Royal Decree 1155/2024 lists several grounds for renewing a residence and work permit, and only the first requires you to stay with the same employer. Someone who has had a string of short contracts or a period of unemployment may still have a valid route; the challenge is choosing it well and proving it.
Before filing anything, we reconstruct with you what has happened since the permit was last granted: months registered with Social Security, contracts, unemployment, benefits. With that picture we decide under which ground of article 80 (or article 86 if you are self-employed) to request the renewal and what supporting evidence to add. We then file the application online and follow the case until the new card is issued.
If your permit comes from a roots residence permit (arraigo), the procedure is not a renewal in the strict sense but an extension or a change to a residence and work permit; we explain this below. For the earlier step, obtaining the permit, see our pages on the employment-based roots permit (arraigo sociolaboral) in Madrid and the rest of our team of immigration lawyers in Madrid.
People say they need to «renew the card», but these are different procedures, each with its own office and deadline. Everything below applies to citizens of non-EU countries: if your partner is from the EU or the European Economic Area, your document is the EU family member residence card and it follows other rules (Royal Decree 240/2007).
Is your residence permit about to expire and you are not sure you meet the requirements to renew?
These are the figures in the rules currently in force, the same ones in the information sheets of the Ministry of Inclusion; many forums still quote the previous regulation.
2 months before
the expiry date, the ordinary period opens to request renewal; filing extends your permit until the application is decided
source: arts. 64.1, 80.1 and 86.1 of Royal Decree 1155/2024
3 months after
expiry, the application is still accepted and the extension is kept, but a penalty procedure may be opened
source: art. 80.1 of Royal Decree 1155/2024 and art. 52.b of Organic Law 4/2000
500 euros
is the maximum fine for a minor infringement, such as filing the renewal up to three months late
source: art. 55.1.a of Organic Law 4/2000
3 months
is the time the authorities have to decide; if they do not notify you within that period, the renewal is treated as granted by silence
source: arts. 80.9 and 87.2 of Royal Decree 1155/2024
This is the renewal process, from the first call to the new card.
1
We review your previous resolution, your employment record and your current situation, whether or not this is your first renewal, to see whether you meet the ordinary ground or need another one.
2
We gather the documents for the chosen ground and, if needed, request the integration effort report from the Community of Madrid.
3
We submit the application through the Mercurio online portal within the two months before expiry and give you the receipt, which proves your permit remains extended.
4
During the procedure, the Immigration Office checks your Social Security and criminal record data and may ask for additional documents; we provide them on time.
5
If it is favourable, the notification starts the one-month period to apply for the TIE; if three months pass without an answer, the application is treated as approved and you can request a certificate confirming it.
6
You book an appointment at a National Police station, submit form EX-17 (the application for the foreigner identity card) with the fee paid and, later, collect the card.
This is the most common situation: successive temporary contracts or a dismissal halfway through the permit. To renew an employed residence and work permit, these are the alternatives to the ground based on continuity with the same employer.
If you have worked at least three months for each year of the permit, you can renew with a contract with another employer while registered with Social Security, with a new contract starting when the renewal is granted, or by showing that you lost your job for reasons beyond your control and registered as a jobseeker without interruption (art. 80.2.b).
It is enough to have worked and been registered with Social Security for at least nine months within a twelve-month period (art. 80.2.d). This route is for people who have had an irregular year but enough contributions.
If you receive contributory unemployment benefit, or a public assistance benefit aimed at your social or employment integration, the law allows you to renew even without a contract at that moment (art. 38.6 of Organic Law 4/2000).
You can also renew if your spouse, partner or another sponsoring family member has sufficient financial means to bring you over under family reunification. If that is your case, see also our page on family reunification in Madrid.
When you do not fit any of these grounds, the Immigration Office may assess your integration effort. In Madrid it is proved with a report from the regional government, which requires you to be registered at a local address in the region (empadronamiento) and to have completed the course «Conoce tus leyes». Debts to Social Security do not, on their own, prevent renewal if you show that you work on a regular basis (art. 80.7).
The sooner you tell us, the more room we have
If on the expiry date you already have five years of legal, continuous residence in Spain, what applies is not another temporary permit but long-term residence: a permit of indefinite duration that lets you live and work on the same terms as a Spanish citizen. It is also granted, among others, to residents receiving a contributory retirement pension from the Spanish system.
There are two types of long-term residence. The national one requires those five years; EU long-term residence also asks for stable, regular resources and health insurance. The application for long-term residence is filed in the same window of two months before or three months after expiry, and the applicant then has one month to request the card. From then on, the holder only renews the foreigner identity card, every five or ten years, not the permit, although an absence of twelve consecutive months outside the EU territory may lead to its loss.
With these documents we can study your application and prepare it without surprises:
Booking an appointment at the police station does not renew anything: first the permit is renewed with the Immigration Office and only then does the TIE follow. Someone who waits for a police appointment while the deadline runs ends up outside the extension.
That margin exists, but late filing is penalised. And if it is exceeded, the permit is lost and another route will have to be found, such as second chance roots (arraigo de segunda oportunidad), with its own requirements.
Requesting renewal based on continuous employment when your contract ended months ago leads to a request for more information or a refusal. You have to choose the ground you can prove.
1
2
3
Yes, in several cases: if you have nine months registered in a twelve-month period, if you receive contributory unemployment benefit, if you lost your job for reasons beyond your control and are still registered as a jobseeker, or if a family member has the means to bring you over. It has to be proved with documents.
If you filed the renewal application on time, your permit remains extended and you can keep working with the filing receipt. What expires is the plastic card, not your residence permit, while the case is open.
The law gives the Immigration Office three months to decide. If it does not answer within that period, the renewal is treated as granted. After that comes the TIE procedure at the police station.
An arraigo social permit is extended for one year by showing active job-seeking and registration with the public employment service, except for illness, disability or retirement. The application is filed within the same deadlines: two months before or up to three months after.
Four years for a residence and work permit, employed or self-employed, and for family reunification; two years for non-lucrative residence (arts. 81, 87, 71.6 and 64.7 of Royal Decree 1155/2024). Once you reach five years, long-term residence applies.
The first renewal of the card comes at five years; after that, every five years until the holder turns 30 and every ten from that age (arts. 178 and 185 of Royal Decree 1155/2024). A long-term residence permit is not renewed.
The Immigration Office takes Spanish criminal records into account, but it is not automatic: it considers whether you have served the sentence, whether it was suspended and whether there was a pardon (art. 80.5 of Royal Decree 1155/2024). We review this before filing.
With an expired card and the renewal in progress, leaving Spain for your home country may cause problems on your return. If you have to travel, talk to us first: there is a return authorisation for these cases (art. 5 of Royal Decree 1155/2024).
We have six offices in Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Málaga, Córdoba and Palma de Mallorca) and we also work with clients online.
