Picking up the TIE card
CBNews' Dave Jones recently give his personal account of how he went about getting his appointment for the new TIE card - now he has finally collected it...
YOU'D done the hard part. Or so it seemed.
You negotiated your way through the government website. You filled in the forms, you paid your fee and you went down to the foreigner’s office in Calle Ebanistería in Alicante city to carry out the procedure, get yourself fingerprinted and hand over your photo.
You skipped out of the Calle Ebanistería building clutching your ‘receipt’ form, with the words of the official still fresh in your mind that a shiny new foreigners’ identity card (Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero, or TIE) with your name on it would be ready to pick up in a couple of weeks.
You drove home from Alicante feeling rather pleased with yourself. The only slight nagging doubt at the back of your mind was the fact that the official had told you that the TIE would have to be picked up from a different foreigners’ office in Alicante. And you’d have to go back to the city during sweaty August to find this new location. But still, what could go wrong?
The answer to that question is ‘not a lot’. But it’s always best to enter these situations ‘forewarned’, as it were. For that reason I once again find myself sharing my TIE experiences with you, the long suffering reader.
The first part of the final part of the TIE procedure is to ring the number on your ‘receipt’ form a couple of weeks after your visit to Calle Ebanistería (bearing in mind that this piece of paper states that the ‘receipt’ is only valid for 45 days).
On the phone you will be asked for the ‘lote’ number you were given, then the official will tell you if your card is ready to be collected.
Mine was, so I earmarked early Friday morning (August 7) for the return to the city. This time the procedure is carried out at Calle Campo de Mirra, 6. The office is open from Monday to Friday from 09.00-14.00. This time there is no appointment process so you have to turn up and wait your turn.
Perhaps the most difficult part of the process is finding the building. Google maps is helpful but, as ever, there are things such as one-way systems and other surprises that can throw a spanner in the works.
Due to its position, I decided to use the A-7 motorway. Whether you are coming from north or south, you will need to turn off at the university (Universidad) junction and make sure you keep right to head into the city centre and not to Alicante university. You are now heading down Avenida Universitat – a dual carriageway. Go straight over the first roundabout and then come to traffic light junction. Here bear left – Calle Santa Pola. Next it’s a right to head down Calle Teulada. You will see a large public car park on the right. This is marked on the map as ‘mercadillo Teulada’ – and it operates as a market on Thursdays and Saturdays (so don’t go on a Thursday). Last Friday it was operating as per the road signage, which states that it’s a public car park. It’s another right to enter the car park, which is free.
Rather handily the foreigners’ office is around 20 metres from the entrance to the car park on Calle Campo de Mirra (right turn as you walk out).
So you’ve made it to the new location. There will be a National Police officer at the entrance. The piece of information which he needs to hear is that you are there to ‘recoger’, which is to pick up. There are other procedures carried out at Campo de Mirra so once the officer is in possession of that information he can direct you to the right queue.
My advice is to go early due to the heat as there is no shade outside the office. Also, take a hat. I was outside under the hot sun for around 20 minutes before reaching the inner sanctuary, which is a shaded courtyard. There is room for around five people in here in the queuing system.
When you’ve made it to the door, a shout from inside will tell you that your time has come.
There are two desks inside. You sit down – with your face mask still on – and produce the items you need, which are the ‘receipt’, passport and your old green residence certificate (if you have one).
Your documents are examined and then you will have to go through the same ‘fingerprinting’ procedure as on your first visit. Presumably this is to check they got the electronic print right firsttime round. And that you are the same person. Your digit print will probably be used for identification purposes in the future. Once it’s all be checked your TIE is handed over and you are free to go.
Examining your card at your leisure you will make a few observations (in addition to amusement at the awfulness of your photo).
For me, the thing that immediately struck me was that on the back there are EU logos, as well as the words that it had been issued under the Withdrawal Agreement (acuerdo retirada). Seeing this I immediately felt that I was still part of club. My card has to be renewed every 10 years but it was telling me that I still have the same rights and these will be maintained. A thorough examination led me to the conclusion that this was a very handy identification card to have in my possession.
At the same time, I should say that the British Embassy has stressed that the green certificate will remain valid.
This is a statement from their website: “If you are legally resident in Spain before the transition period ends on December 31, 2020 you will be able to stay.
“You must register as a Spanish resident if you want to stay in Spain for more than three months.
“If you are living in Spain before January 1, 2021 and register as a resident after July 6, 2020 you will be issued with a biometric residence card called a Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero (TIE).
“This card will prove your rights under the Withdrawal Agreement.
“If you registered as a resident before July 6, 2020, you will have a green A4 certificate or credit card-sized piece of paper from ‘extranjería’ or the police.
“This is still a valid document and will prove your rights under the Withdrawal Agreement, including after the transition period ends.
“You can exchange your paper residence document for the new TIE but you do not need to.
“The green paper residence certificate and the new biometric TIE card are equally valid in proving your residence status and rights in Spain.
“If you move to Spain after December 31, 2020, different immigration requirements will apply.
“We will update this page when further information is available.”
The application process for the TIE is available online at the government website https://sede.administracionespublicas.gob.es