Talk Quesada forum

Hi all, sorry if this has been asked before, I’m aware that it’s not mandatory that we have to change our green residency card to TIE at the moment. The question is does the current green card have to be renewed after 5 years, there is no date of renewal on the card and I’ve had mine since 2014. Do the Police do a control check ? Any info much appreciated.

No it doesn't need updating. You can change it for a permanent card once you have had it for 5 years but there is no expiry date on the green cards. The green card you have is still valid.

Thanks Marcliff, much appreciated. Stay safe.

We got our residency in August 2016 and I believed we had to renew it after 5 years. So if it isn’t obligatory for us to renew them after 5 years are there any advantages in doing so???

When you get a residency card (for the older, green ones which are really a registration card or "registro") they are initially temporary ones, that is, up to 5 years.
Once you have had a registro card for 5 years, you could change them to one that said permanent, that means you are a permanent resident in Spain with all the advantages of a Spanish citizen.

However, there was no need to do so as, once you have had the card for 5 years, you automatically become a permanent resident whether or not you change the card. (and that is laid down in EU regulations for all EU countries).

Now, you get a TIE or foreigners' ID card. The only advantage is that you can use this as an ID document as it has your photo on it whereas you can't use the green one for ID (no photo).

The Spanish government have issued advice on what is acceptable to prove you are a resident.

I have posted this before but no harm in doing so again.

Proof of Residency

There is also a link on there for more information but note the bit that says "Registration certificates issued more than 5 years ago also remain valid, even if they do not say ‘permanente’ on them."

Thank you very much Marcliff