Application process for Britons
“The green residency document gives you the same rights as the TIE card,” says Ambassador
BRITONS in Spain have been able to apply for the new biometric residence card ( Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero, or TIE) since July.
It is not obligatory to do so, the British Embassy has stressed. The old green certificate will remain valid, they state. However, Britons who do not have any form of residency are advised to apply as soon as possible.
Due to requests from readers and residents – and following confusing advice about the process printed in recent weeks in other publications – Costa Blanca News has opted to rerun the report we published in July about the TIE. First of all the British government has clear guidelines about the TIE on its webpage www. gov. uk/ guidance/ livinginspain
They note that ‘ 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,” they state.
“Children must also be registered with their own residency document.
“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 cardsized piece of paper from ‘ Extranjeria’ 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 are not obliged to.
“The green paper residence certificate and the new biometric TIE card will continue to be equally valid in proving your residence status and rights in Spain.
“But, the Spanish government advises that the biometric card is more durable and may simplify some administrative processes.”
Acquiring the TIE
The online application procedure for the TIE is carried out via the government website
https:// sede. administracionespublicas. gob. es
Select the ‘ procedimientos’ tab and choose ‘ extranjería’, then click on ‘ cita previa’ ( appointment).
At the bottom of the ‘ cita previa’ page click on ‘ acceder al procedimiento’.
The option to select a province ( provincias disponibles) will appear – select ‘ Alicante’ then hit the ‘ aceptar’ option ( if you live in Alicante province).
Then under ‘ trámites disponibles’ click on the ‘ PolicíaExp tarjeta asociada al acuerdo de retirada ciudadanos británicos y sus familiares’ option.
This will take you to the page which sets out the paperwork needed to obtain the TIE.
Print off and fill in the fourpage EX23 form.
You are told to take a valid passport to the appointment and the green residence certificate if you have one – and a municipal register ( padrón) certificate from the last three months if you have changed your address ( original and a copy) from the one on the green certificate.
It is also necessary to pay a € 12 charge via the Modelo 790 012. Click on the link to print off this form and then take it to a bank to make the payment, which will be certified with a stamp.
After noting these requirements hit ‘ entrar’ to go to the next page to enter a NIE number and name to move forward to the next section.
Press ‘ solicitar cita’ to gain options for an appointment in the chosen province.
Once you have a date and time you must take all the paperwork, passport, etc to the appointment.
Personal experience
I opted to apply for the TIE in July – partly because I wanted to write an article for the paper on the procedure, but also because I was surprised to find that appointments were readily available at that time ( although in recent months many people have voiced concern about the shortage of available appointments).
Back in July, when I logged on I was offered options for the following three days. This was on a Monday and I opted for midday on Wednesday, so the race was on to get the paperwork together.
My immediate concern was my ‘ padrón’ ( municipal registry certificate). The website states that if the applicant has changed the address which is on their green certificate then they need a ‘ padrón’ ( original and a copy) from the last three months, which shows their new address. I didn’t have a recent one, so needed to sort it. The introduction of Torrevieja town hall’s new online revolution would make it easy, I thought.
But it didn’t. Their ‘ previous appointment’ system wasn’t working and there was no way of processing a ‘ padrón’ online. I even went down to the office but it was closed.
However, I didn’t want to lose the appointment so decided to risk taking an old certificate and my most recent electricity bill.
As readers may have found, it sometimes depends on who is sitting behind the desk in the foreigners’ office, or equivalent institution. If the official wants to be difficult, then it’s not your day. If they are more amenable, you are ‘ in clover’.
I was lucky to get an ‘ amenable’ official at Alicante city’s Calle Ebanistería headquarters, who listened to my explanation of why my certificate was out of date and was prepared to accept it, along with the proof of the bill.
My other potential problem was the photo size. I’m not expert in this field ( as some of
the pictures in the paper will prove) but I was told that the size stipulated by the ministry ( 32x26 milimetres) is an unusual one and is smaller than most others such as the passport photo, etc. Again, time wasn’t on my side. So I got six passport photos and trimmed three of them to estimated smaller sizes. When I nervously offered a selection to my amenable officer he chose one of the larger unadulterated passport pics. Again, I tried not to show my surprise.
Another point is that the website does not tell people they need a photocopy of their passport – but they do – and I didn’t have one. My amenable officer pointed out that there is bar almost next door which does photocopies, so I was able to dash off and get a copy and be back a few minutes later.
Perhaps the most fiddly aspect of the TIE is the fingerprinting process. You are not stabbing your digit onto an inky blotter and dabbing it on a page. It’s done via a small ‘ glass’ surface and they need digital prints from two fingers on different hands. You have to roll your finger so they get a complete image. This can take around five minutes.
For me the whole process took around 20 minutes, even with the dash to the bar. On completion, I was told that the card would be ready to collect in around three weeks from the foreigners’ office in Calle Campo de Mirra in Alicante city ( a different location). It has to be picked up in less than 45 days because the ‘ receipt’ you have been given is only valid for that period. The old residence certificate has to be handed in at this time
and you have to show your passport.
Just to reiterate, this is what British Ambassador Hugh Elliott said about the TIE several months ago.
“Whilst you may choose to exchange your current certificate for a TIE at some point in the future, there is no requirement to do so,” he said.
“The green residency document gives you the same rights as the new TIE card. So please be assured on that point.”