A PILOT scheme to automatically allocate appointments for TIE Foreigner Identity Cards has been extended to key expat areas of Spain.
Following successful trials in Girona, Tarragona and Lleida provinces, the Policia Nacional says that as of last Friday(October 9), it has rolled out the new system to six more areas.
They are Alicante, Barcelona, Malaga, Murcia, and Valencia provinces- all parts of the country that have significant non-Spanish populations and have suffered from delays in allocating TIE appointments.
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Areas like the Balearic and Canary Islands have yet to be included as well as mainland provinces including Almeria and Cadiz.
The Policia Nacional says the initiative will make it easier to secure appointments for fingerprints to be taken at police stations in order to secure a TIE card.
It states that applicants will automatically receive appointment details via a phone text message and an email.
Times and dates will be allocated via an automated process.
Authorities emphasised that the scheme is still at the pilot stage and has covered around 10% of applications as of last Thursday.
A final decision on a full nationwide roll-out will be taken once analysis has been made on the success of the automated system in the additional areas.
The Policia Nacional pointed out that the current online booking procedure has to be used by applicants who do not get an automatic notification within 20 days of being told that they will be processed.
It added that its Documentation units are not authorised to resolve any problems related to the automatic procedure.
Any issues have to be reported to the User Service Centre (CAU) of the Immigration appointment platform.
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