Last week a EuroCitizens committee member visited a national police station in Madrid to apply for the new third-country-national ID card for UK residents in Spain. Here is a short report of what happened.
I went today (17 July 2020) to my appointment with the
Policia Nacional in Av. Padre Piquer, 18. I arrived an hour early. There was no queue and
I was seen very quickly by a friendly senior staff member (she was helping the
colleague next to her with system problems).
I was given back my certificado de empadronamiento
(registration at local town hall) because it was not needed, as I had not changed address. However it may be
worthwhile getting one just in case. However, you definitely need it if you have
changed address. My payment of the €12 fee was not queried so, for
temporary cards at least, seems the correct one.
The operation for my temporary TIE (ID card for third-country nationals) looked to be basically
a straight swap. The page of the EX-23 form where you can list other administrations
to give access to your files there, which I had left blank, did not seem
relevant to my application for a temporary card as it was given back to me.
My green card and passport were given back. I was
told that when I collect the new TIE, I must bring the green card back as it
needs to be given in. I was asked if I had photocopies of my green card
and passport. I did have a photocopy of the green card but not of my passport.
Photocopies are not mentioned in the instructions but it is clearly useful to
have them if you can.
I was given a return date for collection of the TIE,
and restitution of the green card, of 4 September in the same office. I will
get an SMS if it changes. Given we are in both post-Covid lockdown and prime
holiday time, the delay is understandable. But you keep your green card for the
interim, which therefore covers you.
My photographer did not know if the rules were for photos with or without spectacles. I was told that if you normally wear them the
foto should be with them on. Fingerprinting for biometric purposes is done
electronically in a similar way to allowing touch access to a mobile phone.
My temporary TIE will be valid until 17 July 2025 -
5 years from today's date. You should clearly keep a record of your green card
to have proof yourself of earlier residence, e.g. in the event that you want to
apply for a permanent card sooner than the 5 years on your new TIE, as is
foreseen in the WA. NB you will not keep the green card for posterity.
I was happy to let the procedure take its course -
i.e. towards a hopefully positive outcome.
Conclusions from the visit:
- The procedure looks to be basically a straight swap, at least for the temporary card.
- You need proof from the padrón (municipal registration list) only if your address has changed from that on the green card. But I thought it useful to have a certificate just in case.
- For payment with form 790, the code is 012 and, for the temporary card, I paid the €12 fee.
- Photocopies of your green card and passport are appreciated. Having them will smooth the process even if copies are not mentioned in the instructions.
· For the temporary
card at least there looks to be no need to fill in any information about
documents with other Spanish administrations.
- If you wear spectacles all the time the photo should be with them.
- Your new card with have a date of validity of (5/10 years) starting with the date of your appointment.
- Best to keep a copy of your green card for your own records as you will have to give it up when you collect the new TIE.
- Useful links:
- IOM - International Organisation for Migration (Madrid, Murcia, Andalusia)
- Spanish government guide on the registration process (English version)
