Ever lost your TIE card, probably the most important document you can possess here in Spain? So far, thankfully, I haven’t but I now know at least three Britons who’ve had them stolen this summer, and that includes a family member. They never got them back.
You’d think that having already acquired a TIE card, showing permanent residency status, it wouldn’t be too onerous to get a replacement. Well, sadly that’s not the case. The waiting time to get an appointment at the Foreigners Department takes months and then once you have an appointment, it takes about five to six months to actually get to process the card in person. Even if you had one before, you need to go through the whole process from scratch – fingerprints and photos, et al. You’d think they could call up the original details on file for fast processing but apparently not. Using an agency to help with this, such as Mallorca Solutions, is a godsend.
Bear in mind that even if you get the appointment, once there, any tiny discrepancy or mistake on a police or Guardia Civil report will have you summarily rejected, especially if the civil servant is having a bad hair day, meaning you’ll have to wait potentially months for a new appointment. If your TIE card is stolen, go immediately to either the Guardia Civil or National Police station to file una denuncia and then guard the original stamped and signed document with your life. Ensure, while at their premises, that the officers have crossed every appropriate box and steadfastly itemised that your TIE was stolen, together with your name and the card’s number included.
Next pray, do a war dance, put on your best smile and hope upon hope that when you get to the foreigners department for your appointment on D Day, you don’t get a grumpy, angry civil servant processing your details. And don’t forget your passport, images, padron certificate, original police report and inside leg measurement (only kidding).
Basically, it feels as if you’re being punished for allowing someone to steal your TIE card in the street. So, my advice is to leave your TIE at home unless you really need to have it with you. Make a copy immediately after you acquire it and keep that one in your wallet for day to day use. After all, you usually only need the number to hand.
For travel, keep it in a super safe place and beware of pickpockets at Palma Airport and at busy supermarkets and weekend markets. Finally, once you’ve got the little beast in your hot little hand, never let it out of your sight until you can put it away in a safe place at home. Then crack open the bubbly. You made it!