Your residence card is about to expire. And you are wondering what to do to continue living in Spain legally as you were doing until now. You don’t need to worry: it’s an easier process than you think.
In this article, we will explain, step by step, how to renew your NIE or residence permit in Spain.
We will explore the main requirements according to your specific type of card, and a series of very useful tips that will undoubtedly help you out.
The first thing you should keep in mind is that you don’t really renew your NIE, but your TIE or foreigner’s ID physical card.
Once you have been in the country for one year with your initial residence permit, you will most likely have to renew it (although there are some permits, such as the golden visa, which require that on the second one).
Although a few months ago the usual process was to make get an appointment at the immigration office, prepare all the documentation, attend in-person to submit all the paperwork and then wait for the resolution; now everything is much easier.
The vast majority of residence permits can be renewed online.
After the coronavirus crisis and the lockdown in the country, the government has expanded the list of procedures that can be done online, speeding up the situation for foreigners.
Thus, you can now submit your renewal online, and you will get an answer much faster than before.
All you need is a digital certificate. In case you do not possess one, you can contact our team of lawyers and we will submit the documentation for you.
Do you have any doubts? Get in touch with our immigration lawyers and receive personalized legal advice and all your doubts solved:
In order to renew your NIE, you must basically meet all the requirements that you met when you initially obtained your residence card.
Hence, the exact requirements will depend largely on the type of authorization you possess. It won’t be the same for an investor visa than for a non-lucrative one.
And that is what we will analyze next.
However, there are a series of general requirements that, no matter what your specific card is, must be present.
If you want to renew your residence permit, you will have to comply with them:
Let’s see what the specific requirements in each particular case.
The first case is that of the work permit as an employee (“por cuenta ajena”). How can it be renewed?
The first thing is that you need to have a job and offer valid for the duration of the renewal.
However, unemployment or welfare benefits are also valid.
Unless it is already the time for your permanent residence, this renewal will be for two years.
But there is another requirement that must be met. And in that sense, We encounter three different cases:
If you have been working for a minimum of 6 months, you are set to go.
Having a job offer or keeping your contract will be enough to renew.
But what happens if you’ve only worked for three months a year? The renewal is still possible.
But in this case, it will be essential that during the time you have not worked, you can prove that:
Finally, If a foreigner is not working but meets the requirements for reunification, then it is also possible to renew the card, even if she does not meet the requirements for renewal.
In those cases, the renewal is done by proving that the spouse can regroup him/her.
Here the requirements are more straightforward.
To renew a self-employed work permit (“por cuenta propia”, as an autónomo), you must maintain the same employment relationship that gave rise to this residence permit in the first place.
In other words, you must continue to operate as a self-employed individual.
In order to do so, you must be up to date with the payment of taxes as an “autónomo” and not have any debts with the Tax Agency or Social Security. This is done by submitting your VAT, income tax, or corporate tax returns.
Finally, and as in the previous case, there is also the option of the spouse being able to demonstrate that he/she has sufficient economic resources to support you. Therefore, continuing with the professional activity would not be necessary for the renewal.
However, in that case, he or she would only obtain a residence permit, and not a work permit, when renewing.
To renew this type of work permit, you will need to demonstrate and present the same requirements that were necessary for the initial application.
Firstly, the foreigner must provide the contract signed by the company or employer, guaranteeing his or her employability for the duration of the renewed card’s validity.
The salary established in the contract must be high enough. This is at least 1.5 times the average salary of the profession to be carried out. In this case, as the position is usually a manager or other technical position, this will be around 40,000 or 50,000 euros per year.
Again, submitting the documentation referring to the academic background of the worker, demonstrating that he or she has the experience and knowledge necessary to perform the job.
The foreign worker must be registered with the social security system.
As for the company, not only must it be up to date with its payments to the Tax and Social Security Agency, but it must also be able to demonstrate sufficient economic solvency to keep the worker on payroll during the established renewal period.
As we have mentioned, the documentation to be provided will be the same as in the initial application, with the difference that if the worker changes his company, he will have to provide the details of the new one. We are talking about tax identification data as a self-employed person/company (NIF, CIF, DNI), income tax declaration, VAT, company tax, or working life of the company.
