I used to have residence in spain, can I get it back?
It is quite common to encounter people, who at one point in their lives were in Spain, obtained their residence permit and for one reason or another, returned to their countries, went to another country, or lost their cards.
This can be common at times of economic crisis, where many people can become unemployed and being faced with the impossibility of finding a job, they decided to return to their countries of origin, choose another destination with alternative opportunities, or in the worst case, remained illegally in Spain.
But the question here is, if I had reidence in Spain, can I recover it and can I return to Spain?
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In this post we cover the following: (click any section to see its content)
I used to have residence in spain, can i get it back?:
- RECOVERING THE RESIDENCE CARD IN SPAIN »
- RECOVER A LONG TERM RESIDENCE CARD »
- PROCESS TO RECOVER LONG TERM RESIDENCE CARD IN SPAIN »
- GET ADVICE ON ALTERNATIVE PERMITS »
- ALL TYPES OF RESIDENCY AVAILABLE IN SPAIN »
- SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT WITH A SOLICITOR »
RECOVERING A RESIDENCE CARD IN SPAIN:
If you were previously in Spain with your residence card and decided at some point to return or go to another country, or you have lost it for any other reason, the fact of being able to recover your card or not will depend on the card in question that you came to have in the past.
Here it must be remembered that no temporary residence or residence and work card can be recovered.
You can start a process from the beginning, yes, you can look for other alternatives or other ways to have that same or another card, yes, but recovering a Temporary Card as such, cannot be done.
The recovery process is only enabled for long-term residence. Therefore, if you had a temporary card and did not become a holder of Long-Term Residence, you will not be able to recover it.
Long-Term Residence is a card that is obtained in the following cases:
- Having resided legally and continuously in Spanish territory for five years. Continuity will not be affected by absences from Spanish territory of up to six consecutive months, provided that the sum does not exceed ten months within the five years. If it is for work reasons, it cannot exceed a total of one year within the five years required.
- Having resided for five consecutive years as a holder of an EU Blue Card in the European Union, provided that the two years immediately preceding the date of application said residence has occurred in Spanish territory. Continuity will not be affected by absences from the European Union of up to twelve consecutive months, provided that the sum of these does not exceed a total of eighteen months within the five years of residence required.
- Being a resident beneficiary of a contributory retirement pension, included within the protective action of the Spanish Social Security system.
- Being a resident beneficiary of an absolute permanent disability or great disability pension, in its contributory modality, included within the protective action of the Spanish Social Security system or similar benefits to the previous ones obtained in Spain and consisting of a life annuity, not capitalizable, sufficient for their maintenance.
- Being a resident and having been born in Spain and upon reaching the age of majority having resided in Spain legally and continuously for at least the three consecutive years immediately prior to the application.
- Having been Spanish by origin and having lost Spanish nationality.
- Being a resident who, upon reaching the age of majority, has been under the guardianship of a Spanish public entity for the five immediately preceding consecutive years.
- Being stateless, a refugee or beneficiary of subsidiary protection, being in Spanish territory and having been recognized the respective status in Spain.
- Having contributed in a notorious way to the economic, scientific or cultural progress of Spain, or to the projection of Spain abroad. In these cases, the holder of the Ministry of Employment and Social Security will be responsible for granting the long-term residence authorization, after a report from the holder of the Ministry of the Interior.
Here the most regular method to access Long-Term Residence, is to have maintained continuous and legal residence Spain for at least five years.
This way, a residence authorization of a permanent and not temporary nature is obtained.
Once this permanent or Long-Term residence has been obtained, in certain cases, it can be recovered.
RECOVER A LONG TERM RESIDENCE CARD:
The Recovery of Long-Term Residence can be processed in any of these cases:
- When the long-term residence authorization has been extinguished due to absence from the territory of the European Union for 12 consecutive months.
- When the long-term residence authorization has been extinguished due to the acquisition of long-term residence-EU in another Member State.
- When the long-term resident foreigner returns to Spain after the end of the period of their non-return commitment.
The recovery process can be carried out using our legal services, click-here » to initiate this process.
PROCESS TO RECOVER LONG TERM RESIDENCE IN SPAIN:
Like any other legal process, you must manage and provide documentation in the Long-Term Residence Recovery process.
Our legal services can accompany you throughout your residency application process in Spain.
To this end, we partner our clients throughout the preparation and submission of their residence petition, where our experience and legal knowledge allows them the best opportunity to obtain their permission in the shortest possible time.
Long-Term Residence can be recovered, on the other hand, Temporary Residence cannot be recovered, meanwhile in certain cases one may have certain benefits such as the elimination of the requirement to pass the National Employment Situation, for example.
With this in mind, it is important that you seek advice from an expert to assess your situation and establish the best way for you to return to Spain, click-here » to do this.
GET ADVICE ON ALTERNATIVE RESIDENCE PERMITS:
At SpainResidency.com, we understand the complexities of Spanish residency and citizenship. We are here to provide you with valuable information and resources to help you navigate the process.
We are a solicitor and can provide full legal advice, we encourage you to further explore our website for more details on residency permits, required documentation, and other essential information.
ALL TYPES OF RESIDENCY AVAILABLE IN SPAIN:
- Digital-Nomad visa Spain (Remote worker in Spain)
- Non-Lucrative visa Spain (Spanish visa non lucrative)
- Student-Visa Permit (Student-Visa & up-to 30 hours work per week)
- Self-Employed visa Spain (Self employed expats in Spain)
Please see-here our video-blog with options and legal-advice to obtain residency in Spain.
Remember that immigration procedures and immigration regulations change regularly, so it’s crucial to stay updated with the latest information from reliable sources. If you have specific questions or concerns about your situation, it’s advisable to consult with immigration authorities or legal professionals specializing in immigration matters, to do this, please click-here »
DO YOU REQUIRE ASSISTANCE TO APPLY FOR RESIDENCE OR CITIZENSHIP IN SPAIN?
We are a Spanish Solicitor and assist our clients with all types Spanish legal processes.
Permanent residency is obtained after 5 years of Spanish Residency through Digital-Nomad, Student-Visa, Non-Lucrative Residency or Self-Employed Residency. This followed by 5 years as a permanent resident in Spain and means you can then obtain Spanish Citizenship with a Spanish Passport.
