EX-00, EX-01 and EX-13 Forms in English (2026 Guide)

Spain’s immigration paperwork runs on a family of forms whose names tell you nothing: EX-00, EX-01, EX-13, EX-15, EX-17. They are short documents, they are free, and picking the wrong one is one of the easiest ways to lose an appointment slot you waited six weeks for. This guide translates the forms field by field and says plainly who files each one, and where.

All of them are published by the Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones on its Modelos generales page, each in a printable and an editable version. The current versions cite Ley Orgánica 4/2000 and Royal Decree 1155/2024, the regulation in force since 20 May 2025. If the form you are holding cites RD 557/2011 instead, you downloaded an old one.

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Which Form Do I Need?

Form	Official name	What it is actually for
EX-00	Solicitud de autorización de estancia de larga duración	A long-stay study authorisation applied for from inside Spain, and the prórroga (extension) of one you already hold
EX-01	Solicitud de autorización de residencia temporal no lucrativa	The non-lucrative residence permit (NLV): initial application at the consulate, and every renewal
EX-13	Solicitud de autorización de regreso	A return authorisation, so you can re-enter Spain while your card is expired or still being produced
EX-15	Solicitud de NIE y certificados	A NIE number or a certificate, for people who need the number but not a residence card
EX-17	Solicitud de Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero	The physical TIE card: first card, renewal, or a duplicate

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The EX-00 Is Not the Student Visa Form

This needs saying first, because a great deal of published advice gets it wrong.

If you are applying for a student visa at a Spanish consulate in your own country, you do not file an EX-00. You file that consulate’s national visa application form (Solicitud de visado nacional), which the consulate publishes on its own website as a PDF. The consulates of Spain in London and New York both list it as document number one on their student visa pages, and neither mentions an EX form anywhere in the checklist.

The official information sheet for study stays (Hoja 1, updated November 2025) makes the same split explicit. Under the procedure started from outside Spain, it refers only to the visa application filed at the consular office. The EX-00 appears only under the procedure started from Spain:

Sujeto legitimado para presentar la solicitud de autorización de estancia por estudios en modelo oficial (EX-00): en estudios superiores, la persona extranjera mayor de edad que se encuentre en situación regular en España.

So the EX-00 is the form for three situations:

1. You are already legally in Spain and are applying for a study authorisation for higher education, filed at the Oficina de Extranjería of the province where you will study, or electronically.
2. You are extending a study authorisation you already hold (the prórroga), which must be filed electronically.
3. You are the family member of someone who holds a study authorisation, or you are adding work permission to your own.

Applying from inside Spain is only open to higher education, and only if you are an adult in regular status. One useful consequence: in that case the medical certificate is not required, because Hoja 1 waives it for applications made from within Spain.

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EX-00 Translated, Section by Section

The form runs to four pages: three of fields and one of instructions. Version 03 is the current one.

Section 1 — Datos de la persona extranjera (Your details)

Spanish field	What to write
Pasaporte / N.I.E.	Passport number, and your NIE if you already have one
1er Apellido / 2º Apellido	First surname, second surname. If you have only one surname, leave the second blank — do not invent one
Nombre	Given name(s), exactly as in your passport
Sexo	H (male), M (female), or X (only if your country of origin recognises it)
Fecha de nacimiento	Date of birth, dd/mm/aaaa, two digits for day and month, four for year
Lugar / País	City of birth, then country of birth
Nacionalidad	Nationality
Estado civil	S single, C married, V widowed, D divorced, Sp separated
Nombre del padre / de la madre	Father’s and mother’s first names
Domicilio en España, Nº, Piso	Your address in Spain: street, number, floor
Localidad / C.P. / Provincia	Town, postcode, province
Representante legal, en su caso	Only for a minor: the parent or guardian, their document number, and Título = the capacity in which they act, for example Padre del menor

Section 2 — Datos de institución/centro de estudios (Your school or university)

The institution’s own details, not yours: name, NIF, address, and how it is officially recognised. The Registro o reconocimiento oficial box asks which register it sits in — RUCT for universities, centres and degrees, RCD for non-university educational centres, or one of the write-in options. If you are at a university, the university fills this in or gives you the data.

Section 3 — Datos del programa de estudios (Your programme)

Denominación is the name of the course, and Código its code in the RUCT register. Then start and end dates, and Modalidad: Presencial (in person) or Híbrida/Semipresencial. For anything other than university studies, hybrid means at least 50% in person.

Section 4 — Datos del familiar estudiante al que acompaña

Only for family members. You leave it blank unless you are applying as the relative of a student, in which case you name the student and your relationship to them.

Section 5 — Datos del empleador/a

Only if the application includes work authorisation as an employee. If your programme includes an internship or part-time work under a formal employment contract, the employer completes this section.

Section 6 — Datos del representante

Only if somebody else files on your behalf, such as a lawyer or a gestor. Filing it yourself means leaving this blank.

Section 7 — Domicilio a efectos de notificaciones (Where decisions are sent)

The address extranjería will send official communications to. Tick the CONSIENTO box to receive notifications electronically through the Dehú system — but only if you have a valid electronic certificate or Cl@ve, since that is what you need to open them. Fill in the mobile and e-mail fields either way, so you get an informal heads-up that something is waiting.

Section 8 — Tipo de autorización de estancia solicitada (What you are asking for)

The section people get wrong. You tick one:

• INICIAL → Estudios superiores (art. 52.1.a) — an initial authorisation for higher education, with a sub-box for Situación regular en España or Solicitada por institución
• Educación secundaria postobligatoria (art. 52.1.b) — post-compulsory secondary education, for holders of a residence authorisation
• Actividades formativas (art. 52.1.e) — training activities, including language courses in Spanish or a co-official language (art. 52.1.e.2º)
• Familiar de titular de autorización de estancia para estudios superiores (art. 56)
• PRÓRROGA — the extension, which the form itself flags must be filed electronically under art. 55.4
• AUTORIZACIÓN PARA TRABAJAR (art. 57.1) — adding work permission, cuenta ajena (employed) or cuenta propia (self-employed)

At the top of that page, DIRIGIDA A asks which office the application is addressed to, with its DIR3 code and province. Then sign and date at the bottom: place, day, month, year, and Firma del solicitante.

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EX-01: the Non-Lucrative Residence Form

The EX-01 is short, three pages, and covers both ends of the NLV: the initial application and the renewal.

• Section 1 — your details, identical in structure to the EX-00, plus a tick-box asking whether you have children of school age in Spain
• Section 2 — the details of the family member who holds the financial means, if the money is not in your own name
• Section 3 — representative, if someone files for you
• Section 4 — notification address and the Dehú consent box
• Section 5 — Tipo de autorización solicitada: RESIDENCIA INICIAL or RENOVACIÓN, and within each, whether you are the holder of the financial means or a family member of the holder

Unlike the student route, the EX-01 is filed at the consulate for an initial application. The official sheet (Hoja 6) lists it as the first required document: Impreso de solicitud en modelo oficial (EX-01), debidamente cumplimentado y firmado. For renewals, the form’s own footnote still cites articles 63.1 and 197.2.b of RD 1155/2024 to say they are filed only through electronic means. That note is out of date: the Supreme Court annulled article 197.2 in full in its judgment of 8 July 2026 (BOE-A-2026-19632). Under article 197.1, which still stands, a renewal can be filed online through Mercurio or in person at the Oficina de Extranjería. The student extension is different: article 55.4 still requires it to be filed online.

Fees are paid with Modelo 790 código 052: epígrafe 2.1.1 for the initial authorisation, epígrafe 2.2.1 for the renewal.

If you are considering the NLV as a way to study a language course in Spain, the trade-offs are covered in our guide to the non-lucrative visa for language students.

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EX-13: the Return Authorisation

The autorización de regreso lets you re-enter Spain when your card cannot do the job on its own. The EX-13 has three short identity sections and then the one that matters:

Section 4.1 — Situaciones amparadas (situations covered). Tick the one that describes you:

• Holder of a residence authorisation in the middle of renewal or extension (art. 5)
• Holder of an authorisation of stay in the middle of extension (art. 5)
• Holder of a valid TIE who has applied for a duplicate after theft, loss, destruction or damage
• Holder of an initial residence authorisation whose TIE is still being produced, where exceptional reasons apply
• Holder of an initial authorisation of stay whose TIE is still being produced, same condition
• Otros — anything else, which you specify

Section 4.2 — Motivos que justifican la solicitud. Why you need to travel and how long you will be outside Spain. Write something concrete and verifiable; this is the part an official actually reads.

The procedure around the form — booking the cita, the fee, how long it takes in Barcelona — is covered in our autorización de regreso guide.

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EX-15 and EX-17, Briefly

EX-15 (Solicitud de NIE y certificados) is for getting a NIE number or a certificate without a residence card, the route used by non-residents who need the number to buy property, sign a contract or start a business. Our NIE guide covers what to bring.

EX-17 (Solicitud de Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero) is the card application, and it carries a warning in a box on page one that catches people out:

La presentación de este formulario solamente puede realizarse de forma personal ante la unidad competente de Policía Nacional. No está admitida su presentación por medios telemáticos o registros públicos.

In other words: in person at the Policía Nacional, and nowhere else. No online filing, no submission through a general registry, no sending a friend. Section 4.1 asks which card you want: TARJETA INICIAL (first card), RENOVACIÓN DE TARJETA (renewal), or DUPLICADO for loss, theft, damage or a change of details. See our TIE card guide and the Barcelona cita previa guide for the appointment itself.

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The Rules That Apply to Every EX Form

Printed on the instructions page of each one:

• RELLENAR EN MAYÚSCULAS — block capitals, black pen, or typed
• SE PRESENTARÁ ORIGINAL Y COPIA — bring the original and a photocopy; the stamped copy is your receipt
• Dates are dd/mm/aaaa — 05/09/2026, never 09/05/2026 or 5/9/26
• Fill in mobile and e-mail even where they look optional; it is how you find out a decision is waiting
• Foreign documents attached to the form need a sworn translation into Spanish, and legalisation or an apostille under the 1961 Hague Convention

Mistakes that cost appointments

1. Filing an EX-00 at a consulate. It is the wrong form for a visa application abroad; use the national visa application form.
2. Downloading an old version. Check that the form cites RD 1155/2024. Versions citing RD 557/2011 are superseded.
3. Leaving section 8 blank, or ticking two boxes. Exactly one option, and it has to match the situation you are actually in.
4. Correction fluid anywhere on the form. Reprint it instead. Filling the editable PDF on a computer avoids the problem entirely.
5. Ticking the Dehú consent box without an electronic certificate. You will be notified in a place you cannot open, and the clock keeps running: ten calendar days after publication, a notification counts as delivered whether or not you read it.
6. Only one copy. Without the stamped copy you have no proof you filed anything.

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Which Form for Which Situation: Quick Answers

Your situation	Form
Student visa at a consulate abroad	National visa application form (not an EX form)
Study authorisation applied for from inside Spain	EX-00
Extending a study authorisation (prórroga)	EX-00, filed electronically
Adding work permission to a study authorisation	EX-00, section 8, autorización para trabajar
Family member joining a student	EX-00, section 4 completed
Non-lucrative visa, first application	EX-01, at the consulate
Non-lucrative permit renewal	EX-01, online (Mercurio) or in person
Travelling while your card is expired or in production	EX-13
NIE number without a residence card	EX-15
First TIE, renewal or duplicate	EX-17, in person at the Policía Nacional

Once the authorisation is granted, the next step is almost always the card: if your stay is longer than six months you have one month from entering Spain to apply for the TIE in person. The full document list for a student application is in our student visa documents guide, and the renewal path is set out in extension vs renewal.