The autorización de regreso: travelling between two cards

Request it before you leave, if you are a non-EU resident who must travel while your TIE has expired under renewal or gone missing before its duplicate arrives. In Valladolid both the police brigade on C/ Gerona s/n and the Oficina de Extranjería on Arzobispo José Delicado list it: book the procedure for the province and go where your confirmation sends you. Autorización de regreso means return authorisation: it bridges the time between one card and the next, so that you can come home to Spain on your residence.

Prepare this step with us

The lock

From low water to high water

Who passes through this lock: Non-EU residents whose card has expired under renewal, or was lost, and who must travel.

Before

What you need first

Evidence that a renewal or a duplicate is in progress, and a booking for this procedure.

Low water

The gate

Forms, office, papers

Forms to fill in: Modelo 790 código 012
Where: Printed on your cita previa confirmation, which follows from the procedure you book
In your folder: Passport (original and photocopy)
Expired card, or the loss report
Renewal or duplicate receipt
Receipt for the 790-012 (bank stamp or online proof)
Your travel dates

High water

After

What you hold at the end

A return authorisation, valid for the dates printed on it.

Situations that call for it

Your TIE has run out, and you asked for its renewal in time
Your card was lost, stolen or damaged, and a duplicate is on its way
In some cases, your first card is not yet ready
A family emergency or a work trip that cannot wait for the new card

When your card still does the job

If your TIE is valid on every day of the trip, you travel with it and your passport, and none of this applies. The return authorisation is for the stretch of time when the card cannot be shown: a renewal ends with new fingerprints for the TIE and a fresh card, and this paper covers the weeks in between.

Requesting it in Valladolid

Here, two offices list it. policia.es includes “autorizaciones de regreso” on the brigade’s list for C/ Gerona s/n (983 456 553), and the Delegación del Gobierno puts “autorización de regreso” on its Oficina de Extranjería’s list for Calle Arzobispo José Delicado 7. Book it through the cita previa for Valladolid the moment a trip looks likely, then go to the office the confirmation names, with evidence that the renewal or the duplicate has been requested.

Passport (original and photocopy)
The expired card, or the police report of the loss
Receipt of the renewal application, or of the duplicate request
Your travel dates, ideally with the booking
Receipt for the 790-012 (bank stamp or online proof)

Planning the dates

The authorisation has its own validity, printed on it: leave and come back within it. Book early, because the trip has to fit around the appointment you obtain, not the other way round, and pay the 790-012 fee form before the day.

Questions on A trip while your card is renewed

Can I leave Spain without it?

Usually, yes: departure is seldom the hurdle; re-entry is. Without a valid card or this authorisation, an airline or the border may not accept your residence for the journey back.

Which office do I book in Valladolid?

Both the brigade on C/ Gerona s/n and the Oficina de Extranjería on Arzobispo José Delicado 7 list it. Book the procedure, and follow the office printed on your confirmation.

Does it carry a fee?

It does, paid on the Modelo 790 código 012, which works out the amount for you.

Benchmarks: the official pages behind this guide

Levelled against these pages in October 2026.