What is a TIE?

What it is

The police page for the initial card, or for renewal of residence or of residence and work (opens in a new tab), states the definition in one line: a document intended to identify the foreigner for the purpose of proving their legal situation in Spain. It says that once the person has entered Spain, they must request the Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero, and that when a residence authorisation is renewed, once the favourable resolution has been notified, they must request it again. The people it names as concerned are residents in Spain. The period of validity it gives is the period of validity of the temporary residence authorisation. The procedure is in person. The application and the documents that go with it are presented at any Oficina de Extranjería or the corresponding police station. The documents it names are the application for a TIE (form EX17) and proof of payment of fee 790, code 012. The body competent to resolve it, by its own competence, is the Dirección General de la Policía. The page cites Organic Law 4/2000 and Royal Decree 1155/2024.

Article 209 of the regulation approved by that royal decree (opens in a new tab) says that every foreigner who has been issued a visa or an authorisation to stay in Spain for more than six months has the right and the duty to obtain the tarjeta de identidad de extranjero. They must request it in person within one month of entering Spain or of the authorisation being granted or taking effect, depending, where that applies, on their registration in the relevant Social Security scheme. The article repeats the police definition: the card is the document intended to identify the foreigner in order to prove their legal situation in Spain. It says the card is personal and non-transferable, and that it is for the holder to carry out the steps set for obtaining and collecting it, and to keep it. It says the card has the same period of validity as the authorisation or the recognition of the right that justifies it, and that it loses validity when that authorisation does. It also says that loss, destruction or a change in the holder's legal or work situation leads to a new card. Those are the article's rules. This page does not turn them into instructions for a renewal or a replacement. That procedure is Renew your permit.

The number printed as the identifier is not a second document. Article 205 (opens in a new tab) says the NIE is the personal, unique, exclusive, sequential number that is the foreigner's identifier and that must appear on the documents issued to them. What is a NIE? is that definition. Article 206 lists the tarjeta de identidad de extranjero as one of the documents that can prove a foreigner's situation, alongside the passport, the visa, the administrative resolution, and the certificate of resident and non-resident.

The police page's title is the initial card or the renewal of residence or of residence and work. Its meta title on this site is the question "What is a TIE?", not a request form. The request, the office and the fee stay on The TIE card. Office addresses are on Offices.

What is different in Euskadi

The TIE is issued by the national police under the regulation and the police page above. Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa do not issue their own TIE. The police page says you present the application at the corresponding Oficina de Extranjería or police station. It does not change what the card is. Addresses are on Offices. This answer does not add a Basque variant of the card.

Where to read the steps

The application, the documents and the fee are on The TIE card. Renewal is on Renew your permit. Addresses and phones are on Offices.