Changing or recovering your residence permit in Spain: from studies to work and more

This guide brings together four immigration procedures that answer very different situations but are often confused with each other. If you have finished your studies and have a job offer, you need to change your student stay into a residence and work permit. If you held a long-term residence permit and lost it, there is a procedure to recover that status. If your card is being renewed and you have to leave Spain, the return authorisation lets you come back. And if you want to host a foreign national coming to visit, the letter of invitation proves the accommodation.

All four procedures are governed by Real Decreto 1155/2024, de 19 de noviembre (the Spanish immigration regulations), in force since 20 May 2025. In each case, Managora first checks exactly which situation is yours, gathers the documents, pays the official fees (tasas) and files the application for you at the relevant office. You can see the current price of the service on each procedure's service page.

When you finish your studies or your training, you can change your student stay into a residence and work permit without leaving Spain. There are two routes: employed (por cuenta ajena), with an employment contract (form EX-03), and self-employed (por cuenta propia), as an autónomo (self-employed worker) with a business activity project (form EX-07). The application is filed online through Mercurio, the electronic office of the Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones (the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration).

RD 1155/2024 has made this route more flexible: in the employed route you are not required to prove the national employment situation (situación nacional de empleo), so the job offer is not conditional on the occupations catalogue (catálogo de ocupaciones). In general you are asked to have held a valid student or training stay (or to be within the application period), to have finished your studies, to have a job offer or contract compatible with your training and to have no criminal record.

The window to apply runs from two months before to three months after your student or training stay ends, or after you obtain your qualification. One important advantage: from the moment the application is admitted for processing, you can work full time while it is being decided. Managora prepares the file, checks which requirement applies to your particular case and files it for you. See the details on the modificacion_tipo_autorizacion_extranjeria service page.

It is worth telling two situations apart. If what expired was the card of a temporary residence permit because you did not renew it in time, RD 1155/2024 lets you file the renewal up to 90 days after expiry, without having to start from scratch. If, on the other hand, you held a long-term residence permit (Spanish or EU) and lost that status, normally because of a prolonged absence from Spain or from the European Union, there is a specific procedure: recovery of the long-term resident status.

Recovery of the long-term resident status is applied for with form EX-11, at the Oficina de Extranjería (immigration office) of the province where you want to settle, or online through Mercurio. You must have held that permit, not be a citizen of the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland, not be in Spain irregularly and have no criminal record in the countries where you have lived in the last five years. The fee is paid with modelo 790 código 052 (the long-term recovery heading).

The decision period is three months from the date the application enters the register; if there is no answer within that period, silence is positive and the application can be deemed granted. Managora identifies whether your case is a recovery of status or a late renewal and files the correct application. See the recuperacion_residencia_caducada service page.

The autorización de regreso (return authorisation) is the document that lets you leave Spain and enter again when your residence or stay permit is in the middle of a renewal or an extension, or when you have applied for a duplicate card because it was stolen, lost or damaged. 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 applied for with form EX-13 and the tasa (official fee) modelo 790 código 012. It is filed at any Oficina de Extranjería, at police premises or through the electronic office of the Policía Nacional (the national police). The decision does not exhaust the administrative route and, as it is neither a renewal nor an extension, silence is foreseeably negative under the general rules.

It is a time-sensitive document: if you have a trip planned and your card is not valid, it is best to arrange it in advance. Managora applies for it and handles it for you. See the autorizacion_regreso_extranjeria service page.

The carta de invitación (letter of invitation) is the document by which a person resident in Spain undertakes to host a foreign national coming to visit for tourism or private reasons, covering their accommodation costs during the stay. It can be applied for by a Spanish citizen, a national of a European Union member state, a beneficiary of the EU regime or a foreign national legally resident in Spain.

It is important to understand this properly: the letter of invitation is not a visa and does not replace the requirements for entering the Schengen area. It is one of the ways to prove the visitor's accommodation at border control. The host must provide their valid identity document (DNI, the Spanish national ID card, or NIE, the foreigner identification number), the documents for the home (title deed or rental contract) and pay the tasa modelo 790 código 012.

It is applied for in person at the Comisaría de Policía (police station) of the host's address, with a prior appointment, using the official issue application form (Orden PRE/1283/2007). The decision is not immediate. Managora prepares the application and accompanies you through the procedure. See the carta_invitacion_extranjeria service page.

Each procedure has an official administrative fee (tasa) that is paid to the authorities and that is not Managora's fee. The Policía Nacional fees (modelo 790 código 012) are fixed: the return authorisation is €10.72 and the letter of invitation adds €75.05 for the authorisation plus €6.54 for the issue. The residence fees (790 052) and work fees (790 062) for the change of permit and for the recovery vary depending on the situation.

As for timing, the long-term recovery is decided within three months; the return authorisation has a maximum validity of 90 days; and in the change from studies to work you can start working from the moment the application is admitted for processing. The price of the Managora service, which covers preparing and fully filing the application, is shown on each procedure's service page.