EX-26 Form: How to Switch from One Residence Authorization to Another Without Leaving Spain, Box by Box (2026)

The EX-26 is the official form for switching from one authorization to another without leaving Spain and, with one exception, without a visa (the exception, Article 191.6.a, is the seasonal worker whose new authorization is granted after the year's activity period ends and who has already returned to their country of origin in fulfillment of their return obligation): moving from student to worker, from a residence permit that didn't allow work to one that does, from employment (cuenta ajena) to self-employment (cuenta propia), or changing occupation or province during the first year. It's signed by the foreign national or, in many cases, by the hiring company. It's a free, three-page form filed in original and copy, and what decides the case isn't the paperwork: it's which box you check, because each box leads to a different article of the regulation, with different requirements, deadlines, and fees.

What the EX-26 Is and What Changes It Covers

The form (the version the ministry serves today, editable file with an internal date of August 28, 2025, in the list of official forms with its pinned link) has the heading «Modificaciones de autorizaciones» (Authorization modifications) · LO 4/2000 and RD 1155/2024. Its section 5 lists every possible change and, next to each one, the article of the Immigration Regulation (Reglamento de Extranjería) that governs it:

Each row is a different procedure. What follows covers the three groups that account for nearly all applications.

From Student Status to Residence and Work (Article 190)

This is the route for a student who finishes their studies and has a job offer. The entry condition is having obtained the degree or certificate for the studies or training, and not having received a scholarship or grant «from public or private bodies within cooperation programs for sustainable development or humanitarian action», whether Spanish or from the home country. From there:

• As an employee: the requirements for an initial authorization (Article 74) minus the one in its section 1.a), the national employment situation test: a signed contract with continuous activity for the length of the authorization, terms matching the collective agreement, the company being current with the Tax Agency and Social Security and having the means to fulfill the contract, and the qualification required for the profession. The application can be filed by the employer or by the student, and «in every case, the employer shall bear the cost of the corresponding fee» (Article 190.2).
• Self-employed: the requirements of Article 84: meeting what the law requires of a Spaniard to open that activity, having the qualification or experience, and proving that the planned investment is sufficient and, where applicable, creates jobs.
• Residence with a work-authorization exemption: proving that you fall under one of the exemption cases (Article 89.2).
• Your family members on a stay permit (those in Article 56) who live with you when you apply: you can request a family-reunification residence for them in the same application, if you prove sufficient means and housing (Article 190.5). Their authorization is tied to yours: «its validity shall be conditioned on that of the main authorization and its term shall be linked to it» (Article 190.8).

Once admitted for processing, the stay (and, where applicable, that of the family members) becomes a provisional authorization «of residence and work as an employee, self-employed, or of residence with a work exemption», and the admission notice states this «with express mention of the authorization to work full time». If denied, the provisional authorization automatically lapses (Article 190.7). The final authorization lasts one year and its effects are «those provided for each type of authorization when renewed, or extended in the case of the residence authorization with a work exemption» (Article 190.9); the residence-and-work authorization's validity depends on registration with Social Security, and within the month after it takes effect you must apply in person for the TIE, the foreign national ID card (Article 190.8).

If you've completed higher education studies at Level 6 or above of the European Qualifications Framework, the same EX-26 box also opens the residence permit for job search or entrepreneurship under Law 14/2013 (its seventeenth additional provision; Article 190.10).

Where and how much: information sheet 58 from the Ministry of Inclusion states that this modification must be filed online only, through the Mercurio platform on the sede electrónica (online portal) of the Ministry of Territorial Policy. Fees become due once the application is admitted for processing and must be paid within ten business days: modelo 790 (the official fee-payment form), code 052, item 2.5.1, €10.94; and if it's an employee case, the work fee under code 062, item 3.2.1, paid by the company: €203.84 if the salary is below twice the SMI (Spain's minimum wage) and €407.71 if it's equal to or above that (Order PJC/617/2025).

From Temporary Residence to Residence and Work (Article 191)

This covers anyone already residing in Spain under another authorization: a non-lucrative permit, an arraigo (settlement) permit, a residence for exceptional circumstances not excluded by Article 191.7 (see below), or a family member of a Spaniard or an EU citizen who loses that status. The general rule is simple: you can apply for another residence-and-work authorization «without needing a visa, if they meet the requirements set for the authorization requested, with the special rules set out in the following sections» (Article 191.1). What changes is how long you've been residing and whether your current authorization allowed you to work:

• Under one year as a resident (Article 191.2 boxes): you must prove all the Article 74 requirements, including the national employment situation test: the occupation being on the hard-to-fill list, or a certificate from the Public Employment Service that there are no candidates for the position, or one of the cases in Article 40 of the Immigration Law. The new authorization lasts one year and counts as an initial one.
• One year or more, and your authorization already allowed you to work (Article 191.3): you're required to meet renewal requirements (Articles 80 or 86), not initial ones. The new authorization lasts four years; its effects are backdated to the day after the previous one expired, «if it has already expired, or otherwise it shall take effect from the date it is granted».
• One year or more, and your authorization did not allow you to work (Article 191.4): the requirements of Article 74 without the national employment situation test (or Article 84 for self-employment). It lasts one year, and it only takes effect once you're registered with Social Security within one month of being notified of the grant. Once you're registered, its term is backdated to the day after the previous authorization expired; if the previous one hadn't yet expired, the new one takes effect from the date of registration.

Seasonal workers have their own path (Article 191.6.b): after four years of meeting all the requirements, including the commitment to return, they can move to a two-year residence-and-work authorization, meeting the requirements of Article 74 except 1.a) (for employees) or Article 84 except c) (for self-employed); it's requested within the three months before the seasonal authorization ends, without a visa, or within the six months after returning home, and it counts as an initial authorization.

The application can be filed by the employer or by you (Article 191.5). It's filed at the Immigration Office (Oficina de Extranjería) of the province where you reside or plan to reside, or online through Mercurio. Fees, due once admitted for processing and payable within ten business days: 790-052, item 2.5.2, €10.94, paid by you; and for employees, the 062 fee paid by the company, item 3.2.1 (€203.84 or €407.71) when the new authorization is initial, or item 3.2.2, €81.54, when you've had one year on an authorization that already allowed you to work. For self-employment, the work fee is under item 3.3 (€203.84 for the initial one).

Holders of an EU-citizen family card or a family-member-of-a-Spaniard authorization who have lost that status have their own box (Article 191.8): they can switch to non-lucrative, employee, self-employed, or work-exempt status, without a visa and «if they meet the requirements set for that purpose» for the target authorization, «for whatever term corresponds, based on the length of the document they previously held».

Changing Occupation, Territorial Scope, or from Employee to Self-Employed (Article 192)

During the first year of an initial residence-and-work authorization, you can request a change to its scope: occupation, sector of activity, or geographic area. It is decided by «the competent body based on the place where» the new employment relationship or activity is to begin, always at your request, and for employee cases the national employment situation test is checked again. It's the only modification with a one-month deadline and positive silence: «once that period has elapsed without an express decision, it shall be deemed granted» (Article 192.1). Moving from employee to self-employed is also requested under this article (section 2), which says only two things: that you must file the corresponding application, and that «the new authorization shall not extend the term of the modified authorization». Fee: 790-052, item 2.5.3, €10.94.

Box by Box

1) Foreign National's Details

Passport and NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero, the foreign national ID number), surnames and first name, sex, date and place of birth, nationality, marital status, father's and mother's names, address in Spain, phone number, and email. If a legal representative acts on your behalf (for example, a minor's parent), their document and the title under which they represent you. And a box almost no one notices: dependent children of school age; if you check «yes», be ready to prove they're enrolled in school.

2) Employer's Details

Only for modifications to employee status: company name, tax ID (NIF), main business activity and CNAE code, registered address, and the company's legal representative along with the title that gives them that authority (sole director, CEO…). For self-employment and the other boxes, this section is left blank.

3) Representative for Filing Purposes

Only if the person filing is someone other than the applicant: a lawyer, an administrative agency (gestoría), or the company itself when it's the one filing.

4) Address for Notifications

Who gets notified and where. The consent to electronic notification box (DEHú, the single authorized electronic address) requires you to have a digital certificate or Cl@ve (Spain's citizen digital ID system): if you check it and don't read the notification within ten calendar days, it's considered delivered anyway. Companies and representatives are required to use this channel even if they don't check the box (Article 14.2 of Law 39/2015).

5) Current Situation and Type of Authorization Requested

This is the box that sets the procedure. Check only one, the one matching your current authorization and the one you're requesting, according to the table above. Checking «under one year» when you've actually been here longer, or vice versa, changes the requirements you'll be held to and the length of what you're granted.

Signature and Recipient

Place, date, and signature of the applicant or their legal representative. At the bottom, «Addressed to» with the province's Immigration Office and its DIR3 code, which appears in the online portal's directory.

What Goes with the Form

The ministry's information sheets generally ask for copies of the documents plus the originals for inspection: full, valid passport; for employee cases, the employment contract on the official form, the company's tax ID and the document proving who represents it, proof that the company has the means to fulfill the contract (income tax, VAT, or corporate tax returns, or the company's Social Security contribution record for the last three years), and your professional qualification when the profession requires it; if you're relying on the national employment situation test, the certificate from the Public Employment Service. From student status, you also need the certificate confirming you completed your studies and certification that you weren't on a cooperation scholarship. Foreign documents must be translated by a certified translator and apostilled or legalized.

Deadlines and Administrative Silence

Except for the scope modification under Article 192 (one month, positive silence), the deadline to decide is three months from the day after the application is entered in the competent body's registry, and if that period passes without notification, the application is deemed denied by administrative silence (information sheets 55, 55 bis, and 58). Once the authorization is granted, if you're coming from a residence permit that didn't allow work you have one month from notification to register with Social Security (Article 191.4); from student status the regulation sets no deadline, but the residence-and-work authorization doesn't take effect until you register (Article 190.8). And you have one month from when the authorization takes effect to apply in person for the TIE (Article 190.8; the information sheets count this from Social Security registration instead). We explain how to check where your case stands in our tool for checking your immigration case status, and the deadlines for each procedure in our immigration deadlines tool.

Mistakes That Can Cost You the Modification

• Filing outside the two-months-before or three-months-after window, from student status: you lose the automatic stay extension granted by Article 190.6.
• Starting work before the authorization takes effect, coming from a residence permit: the authorization doesn't take effect until it's granted and, under the Article 191.4 route, until you're registered with Social Security.
• Checking the wrong box in section 5: it changes the requirements, the fee, and the duration.
• Forgetting the company's fee: the 062 fee is paid by the employer, within ten business days of the application being admitted for processing.
• Not registering with Social Security (within the month after notification, under the Article 191.4 route): the granted authorization never takes effect.
• Filing the EX-26 from an authorization that Article 191.7 excludes: family reunification, cross-border worker permits, the humanitarian permits under Article 128.1 b) and c), and those under chapters II through V of title VII. The form doesn't accept these cases.

Your Next Step

First, check which row of the table applies to you. If you're coming from student status, look at your stay's end date or your degree date, since those open the deadline window, and count from today; if you're coming from a residence permit, count how long you've been a resident and whether your current authorization allowed you to work. Our verified guides for each target authorization spell out the requirements in detail: employee work, self-employment, studies, and job search. And the rest of the official forms, with their version and pinned link, are in our immigration forms catalog.

Legal Basis and Sources