Modify or recover your residency in Spain: from studies to work and more

This guide brings together four immigration procedures that respond to very different situations, but which are often confused. If you finished your studies and have a job offer, you need the modification from a study stay to residency and work. If you held a long-term residency and lost it, there is a procedure to recover your status. If your card is being renewed and you must leave Spain, the return authorisation allows you to come back. And if you want to host a foreigner coming to visit, the invitation letter proves their accommodation.

All four procedures are governed by Real Decreto 1155/2024, of 19 November, in force since 20 May 2025. In each case, Managora first checks what your exact situation is, gathers the documentation and submits the application for you at the corresponding office. The Policía Nacional fees (form 790 code 012) are paid by you at a bank, using the form we prepare in your name: the police station only accepts the form stamped in the name of the person concerned. You can check the updated service price on the page for each procedure.

When you finish your studies or training, you can modify your study stay to a residency and work authorisation without leaving Spain. There are two routes: as an employee, with an employment contract (form EX-03), and as a self-employed worker (autónomo) with a business project (form EX-07). The application is submitted online through Mercurio, the electronic headquarters of the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration.

RD 1155/2024 has made this route more flexible: the employee modality does not require proving the national employment situation, so the offer is not restricted to the shortage occupation list. Generally, you are required to have held a valid study or training stay (or be within the application period), to have finished your studies, to have an offer or contract compatible with your training and to have no criminal record.

The application period runs from 2 months before to 3 months after the expiration of the study or training stay, or the obtainment of the qualification. An important advantage: from the moment the application is admitted for processing, you can work full-time while it is being resolved. Managora prepares the file, verifies the requirement applicable to your specific case and submits it for you. See the details on the modificacion_tipo_autorizacion_extranjeria page.

It is worth distinguishing between two situations. If the card for a temporary residency expired because you did not renew it on time, you can still submit the renewal within the 3 months following that date, without needing to start from scratch, and your previous authorisation remains valid until it is resolved. Bear in mind that submitting it outside the standard period, which is the 2 months prior to expiration, leaves open the possibility of a penalty procedure being initiated against you. On the other hand, if you held a long-term residency (national or EU) and lost that status, usually due to a prolonged absence from Spain or the European Union, there is a specific procedure: the recovery of status.

The recovery of long-term residency status is requested using form EX-11, at the Immigration Office of the province where you wish to establish your residency or online through Mercurio. You are required to have held that authorisation, not to be a citizen of the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland, not to be in Spain irregularly and to have no criminal record in the countries where you have resided in the last 5 years. The tasa is paid using form 790 code 052 (long-term recovery section).

The resolution period is 3 months from when the application enters the registry; if there is no response within that period, administrative silence is positive and the application can be understood as approved. Managora identifies whether your case is a recovery of status or a late renewal and submits the correct application. Check the recuperacion_residencia_caducada page.

The return authorisation is the document that allows you to leave Spain and re-enter when your residency or stay authorisation is in the renewal or extension period, or when you have requested a duplicate card due to theft, loss or damage. Without it, if your card has expired or is being processed, you might not be able to return.

Its maximum validity is 90 days and, within that period, there is no limit on entries and exits with a single document. It is requested using form EX-13 and the tasa form 790 code 012. It is submitted at any Immigration Office, at police stations or through the electronic headquarters of the National Police. The act does not exhaust the administrative route and, as it is neither a renewal nor an extension, the effect of administrative silence is foreseeably negative in accordance with the general regime.

It is a time-sensitive document: if you have a planned trip and your card is not valid, you should process it in advance. Managora requests and manages it for you. See the autorizacion_regreso_extranjeria page.

The invitation letter is the document by which a person residing in Spain commits to hosting a foreigner who comes to visit for tourist or private reasons, assuming their accommodation expenses during the stay. It can be requested by a Spanish citizen, a national of a European Union Member State, a beneficiary of the EU regime or a foreigner with legal residency in Spain.

It is important to understand this clearly: the invitation letter is not a visa nor does it replace the entry requirements for the Schengen area. It is one of the means to prove the visitor's accommodation at border control. The host must provide their valid identity document (DNI or NIE, the foreigner identity number), the property documentation (title deed or rental contract) and pay the tasa form 790 code 012.

It is requested in person at the Police Station of the host's address, by appointment, using the official issuance request form (Orden PRE/1283/2007). The resolution is not immediate. Managora prepares the application and accompanies you through the procedure. Check the carta_invitacion_extranjeria page.

Each procedure has an official administrative tasa that is paid to the Administration and is not Managora's fee. The National Police tasas (form 790 code 012) are fixed: the return authorisation is €10.72 and the invitation letter totals €75.05 for the authorisation plus €6.54 for the issuance. The residency (790 052) and work (790 062) tasas for the modification and recovery vary depending on the case.

Regarding timeframes, the long-term recovery is resolved in 3 months; the return authorisation has a maximum validity of 90 days; and for the modification from studies to work you can start working from the admission for processing. The price of Managora's service, which includes full preparation and submission, is shown on the page for each procedure.