Return Authorisation to Travel from Valencia

The basics

The autorización de regreso, or return authorisation, is a document that lets a foreign resident leave Spain and enter again while their own card cannot do the job. It is regulated in article 5 of Royal Decree 1155/2024. It covers two situations: a residence or stay authorisation that is going through renewal or extension, provided the renewal was started within the legal deadline (art. 5.1), and a valid TIE that has been stolen, lost, destroyed or damaged, provided a duplicate has already been requested. A third, narrower case applies when an initial permit has been granted but the card is not yet issued: the trip must answer a need and there must be exceptional reasons (art. 5.3).

How long it lasts depends on timing. Requested before your permit expires, it runs for up to 90 days from the expiry date; requested afterwards, for up to 90 days from the day it is granted (art. 5.2). During those 90 days you may leave and return as many times as you need (art. 5.5), and the document exempts you from a visa to come back (art. 7.3). The same article gives that exemption to a TIE in force, so if your card is valid and in your hands you simply travel with it and your passport; this page is for the gaps, when the card has expired, is pending or has gone missing. One limit catches people out: it is only valid for entering through Spanish border crossings (art. 5.6), so the return flight must land in Spain.

It is granted by the Government Delegation or Subdelegation or by the National Police (art. 5.4). In Valencia the request is handled at the foreigners’ office of C/ Joaquín Ballester 39, by prior appointment only. If your renewal is still to be filed, start with our residence renewal service; if the card is lost, the duplicate comes first, see our TIE card page.

Who it is for

• Residents whose renewal was filed on time and is still pending.
• Students waiting for the extension of their stay.
• Card holders whose TIE was stolen, lost or damaged.
• People granted a first permit who must travel urgently before the card exists.
• Anyone with a family emergency abroad during a pending renewal.

Paperwork checklist

• Passport in force, with a copy.
• Your current or expired TIE, if you still have it.
• Receipt showing the renewal or extension was filed within the legal deadline.
• For a lost or stolen card: the police report and the duplicate request.
• Proof of the reason for the trip if you ask for priority, such as a medical report.
• Form 790, code 012, paid.

The office decides on the papers in front of it, so the renewal filing receipt and its date matter most. We check those dates, and the expiry date on your card, before booking anything.

Step by step with us

1. Eligibility. We check which of the article 5 situations fits you, whether your renewal was filed in time and whether you need the authorisation at all or can travel on your current card.
2. Paperwork. We fill in the application and the 790 fee form and gather the proof of urgency, if any.
3. Appointment. We request the prior appointment at the Valencia office and send you a short checklist of what to bring on the day, with originals and copies.
4. Trip plan. We check your outbound and return dates against the 90-day validity and make sure the way back enters Spain through a Spanish border crossing.

Waiting times in Valencia

Article 5 does not set its own deadline for deciding. It does say that when the trip answers a situation of need, the request is handled with priority (art. 5.2). Otherwise the general rule for immigration requests applies: three months to notify a decision, after which the request may be treated as refused (Organic Law 4/2000, additional provision 1.1). That is why we recommend asking as soon as you know you may have to travel, and gathering the proof of need from the start if the trip is urgent.

Plan around the validity rather than the decision date: up to 90 days from your permit’s expiry if you apply before it, or 90 days from the grant if you apply later (art. 5.2). If your card has already expired when you apply, the 90 days start on the grant date instead, and we match that to your trip. Once you are back, the renewal carries on as normal and the new card is collected as usual. If you need to travel while a student extension is pending, see our student visa page too.

Living outside Valencia city? We handle this for the whole region: see our local pages for Gandia, Alicante and Castellón, or the Valencian Community overview.

Fee for our help

Ask for a quote. We confirm a fixed fee in writing before we start, and the State fee is paid separately.

The State fee for the return authorisation is 10.72 € (form 790, code 012), as shown on the National Police fee form on 14 November 2026.

A typical case

Imagine a Colombian engineer living in Russafa whose residence renewal was filed online two weeks before the card expired. While the office is still deciding, a parent in Bogotá is taken into hospital. We confirm that the renewal went in on time, collect the medical report as proof of need so the request can be handled with priority, fill in the application and the 790 form and request the appointment at Joaquín Ballester. Before the trip, we check that the return flight lands in Spain and falls within the 90 days.

Frequently asked questions

Source: Royal Decree 1155/2024, articles 5 and 7 (BOE), Organic Law 4/2000, additional provision 1 (BOE). Last checked against the BOE on 14 November 2026. Laws and fees change, so we confirm the current ones for your case before you pay.