How to Apply for a Residencia
Having just spent a happy morning (not) trying this out I thought that my experience might be useful to those that follow. If possible please read this in conjunction with Michael Bookers article as published in the December 2007 ESRA North Newsletter.
The building you need to go to in Palma is the large grey one at the west (bay) end of the Calle de Cuidad Queretaro. There is plenty of parking in front, to the side, and behind the building but it fills up very quickly. Like a lot of places here there is an abundance of ‘unofficial’ car-park attendants only to willing to point at a space in exchange for a tip. What would happen if you don’t tip I leave you to guess.
Although the front door is labelled Officina Unica de Extranjeria this is not the door you go to! The one you want is 50m along to the left and is not labelled. It can be recognised by the huddle of people outside filling in forms and smoking.
Once inside the guy at the front desk checks your passport and NIE and gives you two forms to complete. Both are quite simple but a basic grasp of Spanish is required. On the first form you need to fill in NIE and Passport numbers, first middle and last names, date place and country of birth, nationality, sex (do not put yes please!), fathers and mothers first names, Spanish address, telephone number, details of any previous residence, and date for this residence to commence. Part 2 of the form is for similar information for any dependants to be added. The second form (called a 790) is to take to the bank to pay the 6.80€ fee.
Paying the fee is not as easy as it sounds. The nearest bank is on the Avinguda de Mexico opposite the park. Being the nearest they get overwhelmed by numerous ‘foreigners’ and will now only accept payment on Tuesdays or Thursdays between 08.30 and 10.30. I arrived purely by luck on a Tuesday but at 10.35! The next bank on the corner of Avinguda de Mexico and Manuel Azana is the same. To find a bank that would accept the payment I had to walk the length of Manuel Azana and turn onto Calle de Manacor. A thirty minute round trip.
Having returned to the Office the guy at the front desk checks your forms and issues you a number to indicate your position in the queue. The next problem becomes obvious when you pass through the door into the waiting room. Everyman and his dog now come on Tuesday or Thursday when they can pay at the nearest bank. There are 67 numbers in front of mine. The answer to this is either come on a different day and use a distant bank or if you can make two journeys come on Tuesday or Thursday to collect your forms and pay and then come back on a different day to get it processed.
67 numbers took an hour and a half to process. This is not strictly true as it appeared that at least a dozen had either given up and gone home or were hidden somewhere inside the cloud of tobacco smoke enveloping the front door and therefore mixed their turn. Once called to a counter it couldn’t be simpler. You hand over the forms and the photocopy of your passport, which you have remembered to bring havn’t you? Your details are typed into the computer which instantly spits out your Certificado de Registro de Ciudadano de la Union.
Isn’t bureaucracy wonderful!
Note - This article was written in 2007 – things may have changed (probably for the worse!)
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Probably trying to get them out quickly to satisfy their election promises.
