The Withdrawal Agreement TIE: British residents before Brexit and their families

The Withdrawal Agreement entered into force on 1 February 2020 and established a transition period that ended on 31 December 2020. Since 1 January 2021 the United Kingdom is a third country for all purposes. Citizens' residence rights are regulated in Title II of the Agreement.

A beneficiary is a UK national who already resided in Spain before the end of the transition period in accordance with Union law and has continued to reside here. The official guide of the Ministry of Inclusion insists on a nuance that decides many applications: it is not enough to have been physically in Spain, you must have been residing fulfilling the requirements of Union law according to your activity (employment, self-employment, studies, or sufficient resources and health insurance).

Their family members are also beneficiaries, provided they were already family members before the end of the transition period, as well as children born afterwards when both parents are beneficiaries of the Agreement, even if those children have never been residents themselves.

Spain chose the declaratory system of Article 18.4 of the Agreement, not the constitutive procedure of Article 18.1. Translated: you do not lose your status as a beneficiary for not having the card yet, but without it you will find it increasingly difficult to prove it at a border control, a bank or a public administration.

UK nationals who arrived in Spain from 1 January 2021 onwards are left out, as are, generally, workers posted to Spain by a British company, who have their own specific regime.

The exchange is not presented as an obligation with a penalty: the registration certificate continues to prove your registration in the Central Register of Foreigners. But the official guide itself says it in bold: the Article 50 TEU TIE is the only document that allows beneficiaries of the Agreement to be exempt from the calculation of their stay time in the Entry/Exit System (EES) and from the ETIAS travel authorisation. Neither the registration certificate nor the residence card for family members of Union citizens serve to avoid these checks.

There is a second very practical reason. The green certificate is a piece of paper without a photograph. The Article 50 TEU TIE is a card with a photograph and fingerprints that, together with your passport, proves your identity and has the mentions "Artículo 50 TUE" and "Artículo 18.4 Acuerdo de Retirada" printed on it.

If you already have a registration certificate (temporary or permanent) or a residence card for a family member of a Union citizen, the exchange is a 1 step process: an appointment at the authorised police station and the EX-23 form. You do not have to go through the Immigration Office.

A detail that saves an entire procedure: if you have a temporary certificate and have not yet completed 5 years of legal residence, you can exchange it now (you will be issued a 5 year TIE) or wait until you complete them and directly obtain the 10 year one with the mention "Permanente". Managora checks your registration date and tells you which of the 2 options suits you before requesting the appointment.

If you never fulfilled the obligation to register, the path has 2 parts. First, the Immigration Office of the province where you reside decides if you fall within the scope of the Agreement (EX-20 form for UK nationals, EX-21 for family members). Only afterwards, with a favourable decision, is the physical card requested at the police station.

The Spanish model is based on free proof: prior residence can be proven by any means of proof valid in law. The official guide cites as examples utility bills (electricity, water, gas), telephone bills, proof of payments in Spain, medical appointments and attendance records, contracts signed in Spain, your employment history report and study certificates.

The Ministry itself points out 2 especially qualified proofs: the receipt of payment of the personal income tax quota and bank statements reflecting the habitual activity of a resident in Spain (purchases in supermarkets, petrol stations, restaurants, cash withdrawals).

The historical empadronamiento (local town hall registration) certificate helps a lot, but it is advisable not to rely entirely on it: it proves where you lived, not that you met the conditions of Union law. That is why the application file is completed according to your profile: employment contract or registration with the Seguridad Social (the Spanish social security system), registration in the census of economic activities or in the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers, health insurance and sufficient resources if you did not work, or enrolment and insurance if you were a student.

You are not required to provide a criminal record certificate, although the competent authority can verify it and deny the documentation for public policy reasons. And a common sense warning: the more time passes since 2020, the harder the proof becomes. Managora gathers, organises and submits this evidentiary file for you, and responds to any requests from the Immigration Office.

Yes, with conditions. Family members who resided in Spain before the end of the transition period and are still here are beneficiaries, as well as those who did not reside yet but had a direct link with the UK national that already existed before the end of the transition period and is maintained at the time of joining them. This is the typical case of a spouse or a dependent ascendant who arrives years later.

For first degree descendants, by blood or adoption, the birth or adoption can be before or after the end of the transition period, in Spain or abroad, provided that at the time of joining they form part of the nuclear family and 1 of these conditions is met: that both parents are UK nationals, or that 1 is and the other has Spanish nationality, or that the British parent has joint or sole custody of the minor.

The Agreement also covers the extended family, and it is advisable not to mix 2 different scenarios. The partner with a duly proven stable relationship (Article 10.3 of the Agreement) only needs the relationship to have existed before the transition period ended and to be maintained at the time of the application: the procedure can be initiated at any later time. On the other hand, other family members who were dependent on the holder or lived with them in the country of origin (Article 10.2) do require the procedure to have been initiated before the end of the transition period.

What is not possible: future family members do not acquire rights through the Withdrawal Agreement. A marriage celebrated after 31 December 2020 does not make the spouse a beneficiary. The only exception is future children. Those cases are resolved through the general immigration regime, and Managora also processes them.

Regarding the route: a family member who already has a residence card for a family member of a Union citizen exchanges it directly at the police station with the EX-23. Those who do not have it submit the EX-21 at the Immigration Office. If they arrive in Spain after the transition period, the deadline to apply is 3 months from their arrival; outside that period the application is accepted, but it can lead to a fine for non compliance with the administrative formality.

After 5 years of legal residence, you access the permanent residence provided for in Article 15 of the Agreement. The TIE is then issued for 10 years, automatically renewable every 10, and the word "Permanente" appears in the "Tipo de Permiso" field. Periods of residence prior to the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union are taken into account.

If you started with a registration certificate, the step to permanent is resolved at the police station, which verifies the duration of residence in the immigration application. If you never had a certificate, the application goes back to the Immigration Office. And if your actual arrival date is not recorded in the police system because you delayed registering, you will have to prove it with documents at the Immigration Office.

Regarding the renewal of the document: it is requested from 30 days before expiry and up to 90 days after. Not submitting it on time does not in any case mean the loss of the right of permanent residence, although you cease to have a valid card in the meantime.

Absences have their own rules. Before consolidating the 5 years, the continuity of residence is not broken by temporary absences not exceeding 6 months a year, nor by longer absences for military obligations, nor by a single absence of a maximum of 12 consecutive months for important reasons (pregnancy and childbirth, serious illness, studies or vocational training, or a transfer for work reasons). Once permanent residence is acquired, it is only lost through an absence from Spain exceeding 5 consecutive years.

A frequent case: a student who finishes their degree and starts working does not have to change their document. The Article 50 documents issued under the Agreement authorise you to reside and work, and no beneficiary needs an additional work authorisation.

Then you are a third country national and the general immigration regime applies to you: Ley Orgánica 4/2000 and its Regulation, or the international mobility section of Ley 14/2013 (the Spanish Entrepreneurs Act) (highly qualified professional, international teleworking, entrepreneur, intra-corporate transfer). The Article 50 TEU TIE is not available to you and your stays without authorisation are governed by Schengen rules.

Beware of 2 very repeated confusions. Having bought a house in Spain before 2021, or having spent long holiday seasons here, does not make you a beneficiary of the Agreement: the determining factor is having resided in accordance with Union law before 31 December 2020.

The second: the Withdrawal Agreement recognises the right to reside only in the host State, in this case Spain. If you want to move to another Union country for more than 3 months, the national legislation of that country will apply, and your Spanish TIE does not give you the right of residence there.

Whatever your situation (exchange of the green certificate, application from scratch with proof of prior residence, a family member joining now, step to permanent or registration under the general regime), Managora studies your case, decides the correct route, prepares the complete file, manages the appointment and accompanies you until the card is delivered. You can see the updated amount on the procedure's page and start today.