Travelling Before Your TIE Arrives

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The short answer, stage by stage
Renewal pending: the autorización de regreso
First application pending
Approved, but the TIE is not issued yet
With a TIE: Schengen travel
Long absences
Sources
Who can do this for you

The short answer, stage by stage

Renewal or extension pending: Spain issues an autorización de regreso (return authorisation) for exactly this.
First application pending: the return authorisation is not written for this case, and we found no official source on leaving. See below.
Approved, TIE not yet issued: the approval letter proves your status inside Spain, but it is not on Spain's list of residence permits notified to the EU. Treat travel in this gap as unconfirmed.
Holding a valid TIE: you can enter Spain without a visa, and use it to travel in other Schengen countries, for up to 90 days in any 180.

Renewal pending: the autorización de regreso

Article 5 of Real Decreto 1155/2024 (the Reglamento de extranjería, in force since 20 May 2025) says someone whose residence or stay authorisation is "en periodo de renovación o prórroga" can be issued a return authorisation that lets them leave Spain and come back, provided they show they started the renewal or extension within the legal deadline.

Validity. No more than 90 days from the expiry of your authorisation if you ask before it expires. If you ask after it expired, no more than 90 days from the day it is granted. During those days there is no limit on entries and exits with the one document.
Where and how. In person, at any Oficina de Extranjería or police office. The police page lists two documents: form EX13 and proof of payment of the fee, modelo 790 código 012. It does not state the amount, and links to a separate fee page. It adds that you apply with "la documentación que debe acompañarla", without listing more, so ask your office what proof of your pending renewal it wants.
Who decides. The Delegado or Subdelegado del Gobierno, the Comisario General de Extranjería y Fronteras, or the heads of police stations and border posts.
Entering. The text says that, under EU law, it is valid only to enter through Spain's authorised border crossing points. It does not explain further, so plan to come back through a Spanish airport or port and confirm any land route first.
Urgent trips. If the trip answers a situation of need, the request is handled with priority.

This is an article of the Reglamento, so it is not written only for one regime. We found nothing in Ley 14/2013, the law behind the digital nomad route, that deals with return authorisations, and nothing that carves those holders out of article 5. We could not confirm whether a renewal handled by UGE is processed at an ordinary Oficina de Extranjería for this purpose, so ask before assuming. For the renewal itself see the renewal guide.

First application pending

Article 5 speaks of renewals and extensions. Its only mention of an initial application is the exception in the next section, which applies once that application has been resolved in your favour. So for a file still waiting for a first decision, the return authorisation does not obviously apply.

Filing from inside Spain extends your stay while the file is decided, as that guide explains. It also notes that nothing we read says how to prove that stay at a border if you leave and come back. That is still the case: we found no official source saying what happens to a pending first application if you leave Spain, for or against.

One piece of EU text is relevant. The Schengen Borders Code defines a "residence permit" so that it excludes "los permisos temporales expedidos en espera del examen de una primera solicitud de un permiso de residencia". That is about temporary permits, and we do not know that Spain issues one here. It does show that a pending first application is not treated as a residence permit for crossing the external border.

Practical consequence: do not book an international trip during a first application on the assumption that you can return freely. Get your lawyer's written view first.

Approved, but the TIE is not issued yet

Inside Spain, the approval resolution counts. Article 206 of the Reglamento lists the documents that prove a foreigner's situation in Spain, including "la resolución administrativa que autorice su permanencia en España". You then have one month to request the card in person (article 209.1), covered in the TIE order guide.

Crossing a border is a different question. The Commission publishes a list, built from what each country notifies, of the documents that count as residence permits for the Schengen Borders Code. Spain's entry (OJ C/2026/3745, 10 July 2026) lists the uniform-format card for third-country nationals, plus some other cards such as the EU family-member card and the student card. An approval letter is not on it.

The narrow exception. Article 5.3 lets a return authorisation be issued, for up to 90 days from its grant, when the initial application was resolved favourably, the trip responds to a situation of need, and there are exceptional reasons. It is not a general right to a holiday before the card.
If you came on a visa. Article 208 says a visa proves the situation it was granted for until you obtain the TIE. That is about proving status. It does not say a visa lets you leave and re-enter, so do not read it that way.

Our reading: until the card exists, a trip abroad rests on documents that the EU list does not name. We found no official page that says it is fine. Book the TIE appointment first, and if you must travel, ask the police office in writing.

With a TIE: Schengen travel

Article 7.3 of the Reglamento says a TIE holder needs no visa to enter Spanish territory, as long as the authorisation is in force when you ask to enter. The card has the same validity as the authorisation behind it (article 209.7), so an expired card is a problem, and that is when the return authorisation above applies.

For other Schengen countries, the Commission's FAQ answers the question directly:

"A long stay visa or a residence permit issued by a Schengen State allows you to travel or stay in other Schengen States, while respecting the maximum duration of a 'short stay' (a stay of '90 days in any 180 day period')."

Carry your passport as well. Article 6(1)(a) of the Code requires a valid travel document, and a visa is not required only if you hold a valid residence permit or long-stay visa (article 6(1)(b)).
Time spent in Spain under your permit does not count toward that 90 days: article 6(2) says stays authorised by a long-stay visa or residence permit are not counted.
Border checks now use the Entry/Exit System for short-stay travellers. Whether it touches you is in the EES guide.

We are quoting the Commission's FAQ and the Code here. We did not retrieve the text of article 21 of the Schengen Convention, the usual legal basis, so we do not cite it.

Long absences

The Reglamento says residents may leave Spanish territory and return during the validity of their authorisation, subject to the limits in the law and to the possible lapse of the authorisation after a long absence (article 90.2). For the five-year routes to long-term residence, continuity is not broken by absences of up to six continuous months, with a total of no more than ten months in the five years (articles 176 and 183, with a higher eighteen-month total for work-related absences). Other goals, such as nationality, use their own tests. See the nationality guide, and ask a lawyer how a planned absence fits your own permit.

Sources

Who can do this for you

A lawyer can tell you whether your file is a renewal or a first application for this purpose, ask the office in writing about travel, and file the return authorisation request. A gestor can book the appointment, pay the fee form and attend with you.

This page is general information, not legal advice. It was checked against the sources above on the date shown. Border and immigration practice changes, and the Schengen Borders Code has been amended since the text we cite, so confirm the current position before you travel.