Spain temporary protection after 2027 is still an open question: the TIE cards are valid until 4 March 2027. Children on temporary protection (Ukraine), however, can already request a residence permit: it is an ordinary 5-year permit, filed with form EX-25 and signed by one of the parents or the guardian. SEM Instructions 2/2026, from June, allow it, and the Supreme Court judgment that the BOE published on 22 September annulled several conditions in the articles that govern this permit. Adults on temporary protection also have routes, each with its own guide.
What changes for you today
Nothing changes on its own: the child's permit has to be requested, and temporary protection stays in force until it is renounced, after the permit is granted. The TIE cards for temporary protection are valid until 4 March 2027 (Orden INT/96/2026) and the EU has extended the protection until 4 March 2028 (Decision (EU) 2026/1912). The steps, documents and fee for the child's permit are in the guide to residence of a child on temporary protection (EX-25). For adults, the starting point is the guide to the SEM Instructions 2/2026.
What happened
There are two official texts. The first is the SEM Instructions 2/2026, which the State Secretariat for Migration signed on 22 June 2026. They explain how the Immigration Regulation (RD 1155/2024) applies to people on temporary protection, after RD 316/2026 allowed them to apply for the permits that can be started from within Spain. The third instruction deals with minors.
The second is Supreme Court judgment 868/2026, dated 8 July and corrected by an order of 1 September, which the BOE published on 22 September. It annulled several parts of the Regulation, among them conditions in the two articles for this permit: art. 159, for a child born in Spain, and art. 160, for a child born abroad or under guardianship, the typical case of a child who came from Ukraine.
How it works now
These are the general rules, the ones in the official information sheets 41 and 42 (from May 2025):
- Born outside Spain or under guardianship (art. 160): under 18 on the day of the application and with a parent or guardian. The rule asks for 2 continuous years in Spain and the economic means and housing required for family reunification.
- Born in Spain (art. 159): child of foreigners who hold a residence permit. It is requested within 6 months of the birth or of a parent obtaining residence.
- The permit: form EX-25, 5 years from the date of the decision, fee of 10.94 € (form 790, code 052; check the current amount), a decision within 1 month and, if the office does not answer, it counts as a refusal.
- Those sheets have not been updated since May 2025 and include neither the Instructions nor the judgment.
What changes
With temporary protection, the third instruction changes this:
- Art. 160: the 2 years of prior stay, the economic means and the housing are not required. The rest stays: age, being accompanied by the parent or guardian, a valid passport, the birth certificate, school enrolment if the child is of school age, and the fee.
- Art. 159: it can be requested at any time while the parents remain on temporary protection. The 6 months only start to run when a parent obtains a permit other than temporary protection.
- Both articles: they can be used even if no parent has changed permit.
The Supreme Court judgment changes three things in those articles:
- The word "solteras / solteros" (unmarried) disappears from articles 159.1 and 160.1.
- The condition of not having left Spain since birth (art. 159.1) is now read as effective and habitual residence: temporary and justified absences are not, by themselves, enough to stop applying the article.
- It is no longer required that the guardianship be established under Spanish law (art. 160.2).
The 6-month deadline in art. 159.1 stands: the Supreme Court did not annul it.
What happens next
The application can already be filed. Four points remain open:
- If a parent changes permit, for example to residence and work, the 6-month deadline of art. 159 starts to run for a child born in Spain. The Instructions ask that the parent or guardian hold temporary protection and do not say what happens if they have already left it.
- As of 3 October 2026 there is no Spanish order extending the TIE cards beyond 4 March 2027, although the protection continues at EU level until 4 March 2028.
- There are no public results: we have found no grant, request for documents or refusal of an EX-25 for a child on temporary protection since the Instructions. We do not know the real processing times or whether every office applies the Instructions.
- EX-25 is not in the published list of procedures in Mercurio. Sheets 41 and 42 mention electronic filing through the sede, but the exact electronic route is not confirmed. Sheet 42 also asks for the other parent's consent, unless there is sole custody or a court authorisation; we have not found an official template, and the form of the consent is not specified. Renouncing for the child alone has no official clarification either.
What you can do
First, the children:
- Check in the guide to EX-25 whether your child's case falls under art. 159 or 160, which documents are needed and how to file.
- If your children are not on temporary protection, the general rules are in the guides to the residence permit for a child born in Spain (art. 159) and the residence permit for a child not born in Spain (art. 160).
- Check early that the child's passport is valid and that the Ukrainian birth certificate has an apostille and a sworn translation (how to get the apostille).
- If the office asks you for 2 years, means or housing based on sheet 42, you can cite the third instruction of SEM 2/2026 in writing. It is not an official requirement: it just makes clear what you rely on.
Then, adults on temporary protection, who also have routes. None is automatic:
- Residence and work (EX-26, art. 191): with 1 year or more of temporary protection, art. 191 provides for a 4-year permit if the requirements of art. 80 are met. Guide.
- Arraigo (EX-10): time on temporary protection counts toward the 2 years of stay. The criminal record certificate from Ukraine is needed, unless you have 5 continuous years in Spain (how to get it). Guide.
- Family member of a Spanish citizen (EX-24). Guide.
- Long-term residence (EX-11): time on temporary protection counts in full toward the 5 years, and with temporary protection alone they are not reached before March 2027. Guide.
- Renouncing temporary protection: it is filed only after the new permit is granted. Guide.
Official source: SEM Instructions 2/2026 (PDF) · Supreme Court judgment 868/2026 (BOE-A-2026-19632) · RD 1155/2024, consolidated text.
Informational only; check the official source and a professional for your specific case.