Spanish Bureaucracy

Apparently all the work it took to obtain a Spanish visa (including two doctor visits, neither of which were covered by insurance, AND flying to San Francisco to apply for my visa in person, among many other annoying processes) is not sufficient to remain living in the country for more than 90 days.  The following process was also necessary to obtain my Spanish NIE, or foreign identification number. The good news: I now have that number.

I woke up on Friday morning at 6:15am, and left my house by about 6:35, en route to the police station.  Let me note, before continuing, that during the 8 minute walk in the dark from my apartment to the office, I passed numerous students and other young people on the sidewalk and outside apartment buildings. The difference between them and me: they were just returning from a night out, while I had already slept for 7 hours and was starting my day. Neither of these alternatives sounded good to me. The good news: I would rather be in my position than theirs!

Anyway, I was headed to the police station with several important documents and 4 passport sized photos in order to begin a morning of waiting in line to get the aforementioned ID number. Apparently Spain doesn't believe in making appointments, because in some bizarre way, they must think that having people wait in long lines for hours and hours is a more effective method. I had to go this early because they only see 35 people a day for matters similar to mine. I had heard that it was necessary to arrive before 7am if you expected to be one of those 35. This would be fine if the police station opened at 7am, but of course we are in Spain, so that is not the case. I sat on the sidewalk against the police station behind 16 people between 6:45 and 9:00 am, before we were granted permission to get a paper number and enter the building. Number 17 meant two important things for me; that I had at least two more hours to sit in a small room and wait, and that I would, in fact, be able to take care of business that day. The good news: getting up that early was necessary.

There were four other Americans completing the same process on Friday morning, which made it a little less hopeless. After the wait, the actual 'appointment' (let's pretend for a minute that that's what it was) took no more than 5 or 6 minutes, plus a trip to the bank to pay a small processing fee. So, 5 1/2 hours after leaving my apartment to start the process, I was able to return with good news: I now have a foreigner ID number and am legal to remain in Spain for 12 months!

 

Yep, there is a reason Spain has a reputation for being slow and inefficient...

Although it was inconvenient, the task was not a difficult one to complete, and fortunately the weather did not make it a horrible experience, either. I am happy to have taken care of business, and guess what -- I only have to wait one month (!) to return to the police office to pick up the actual 'official' card with this number on it. The good news: I supposedly don't have to wait in line to pick up the card in a month.