In short: Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1912, adopted on 30 July 2026 and published on 4 August 2026, extends temporary protection for people displaced from Ukraine until 4 March 2028; from its entry into force (5 August 2026) a new condition on military obligations in Ukraine applies, but only to anyone submitting a new application for temporary protection from that date on.
What is extended (Article 1): the temporary protection granted to people displaced from Ukraine is extended until 4 March 2028. If you already have temporary protection recognised, this extension itself does not require any action from you.
New condition on military obligations (Article 2): from now on, temporary protection "shall only be granted to persons who have fulfilled their military obligations in Ukraine, upon presentation, where applicable, of evidence to that effect." Key exception: this condition does NOT apply to people who already benefited from temporary protection in a given Member State before 4 August 2026 (inclusive) and keep it uninterrupted in that same Member State. In other words, it only affects new applications submitted from the Decision's entry into force (5 August 2026) onwards. That date comes from the corrigendum DOUE-L-2026-81267, published on 5 August 2026: the initial text of Article 2 said "30 July 2026" and Article 3 applied Article 2 from "31 July 2026"; the corrigendum replaces them with 4 August and 5 August 2026 respectively.
Who should pay particular attention: recital 20 of the Decision notes that Ukrainian nationals who are not subject to conscription may nonetheless still have outstanding military obligations, regardless of their age or gender. The burden of proof for having fulfilled these obligations falls on the applicant (recital 18).
Why it was extended: recital 11 states it is not expected that the high number of displaced people will decrease while the conflict in Ukraine continues.
Only one Member State at a time: recital 5 recalls that a person can only benefit from rights linked to temporary protection in a single EU Member State at a time (citing CJEU case C-753/23).
About the TIE card in Spain: this Decision governs the EU-level framework of temporary protection, not the physical validity of the TIE card in Spain. The previous extension (to 4 March 2027, Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/1460) required a specific Spanish order to extend already-issued TIE cards: Order INT/96/2026. As of this entry, no equivalent order extending TIE cards to 2028 has been identified yet — check the official source before assuming your physical card is valid until that date.
For the full application procedure for temporary protection (personal appearance, documents, CREADE), see Temporary Protection: how to apply.
Official source: Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1912 (DOUE-L-2026-81261).
Informational only; check the official source and a professional for your specific case.
