What to take to your TIE fingerprint appointment

The base list

This is what practically every comisaría asks for at the TIE fingerprint appointment:

• Form EX-17, completed and signed
• Tasa 790 012 paid, with the receipt on paper
• Full valid passport and a photocopy of every written page
• One photograph, recent, 26 × 32 mm on white — bring two or three
• The favourable decision granting your residence authorisation
• Your appointment confirmation
• Padrón certificate, if your comisaría asks for it

What varies between comisarías

There is no identical national list. The padrón certificate is required in some provinces and not in others. Some offices want a photocopy of the whole passport, others only the data page. Some accept the decision on a phone, others insist on paper. The only list that counts is the one your comisaría publishes: find it before you go.

What people forget most

1. The photocopies. Everyone assumes they can be made there, and there is almost never a copier. Make them at home.
2. The photo on paper. Having it on your phone is no use: it is handed over printed.
3. A pen. Sounds like a joke until the EX-17 needs correcting in the queue.
4. Arriving just in time. There are security checks and queues: half an hour early.

If you are going with a child

You also need the family book or birth certificate and the documents of the accompanying parent or guardian. A child’s photograph has the same format as an adult’s, but getting it is another story: we cover that in the baby ID photo guide.

The photo, which is what gets redone most

Of everything on the list, the photograph is the one item that can be rejected at the counter over a detail: a shadow on the background, a head too small, glare on glasses. The exact requirements and the real reasons for rejection are in the TIE photo guide.