Applying for "residencia" in La Linea

Hi,

I have recently applied for "residencia" at the police station in La Linea de la Concepcion. After several attempts (and a lot of money spent on document translations) they finally accepted my application. However, apparently it had to go off "to Madrid" for processing, and that they will phone me once it's done.......However, this was 5 weeks ago.

Has anyone else had any experience with applying for residencia here? And if so, how long did it take?

Theline: It is difficult to give you any sort of answer without knowing if you are applying for ‘Residencia’  or if (as I suspect) you are ‘Registering as an EU Citizen.

Since April 2007,  ‘Residencia’ only applies to those who come from outside the EU,  whereas ‘Registration’  applies to all EU citizens.

Hi johnzx. I am registering as an EU citizen.

According to :-     https://www.gov.uk/residency-requirements-in-spain 

Quote:     The certificate will be issued immediately, once compliance with the corresponding requirements has been confirmed. This certificate will give the name, nationality and address of the registered person, his foreign national identity number and the date of registration.

So, I suggest you back and ask why they sent it to Madrid.   I suspect there was some confusion with Residencia, as that is not issued immediately, although as I said that ONLY applies to non EU nationals, so not to you.

Thanks johnzx.

Just to confirm, it was the EX-18 I submitted (along with my translated employment contract and my S1 form).

A colleague of mine was also in the same boat. I need to find out how he's getting on).

However, I know several people who registered in Estepona without any problems, and received their certificate/card the same day.

Call me cynical, but it looks like the Spanish government are trying to make things as difficult as possible for the cross-border workers who work in Gibraltar. I will go back at the end of the week and find out what's going on, and lodge a complaint if they are still d**king around.

As you will probably know, there is specific legislation which deals with taxation for cross border workers.

The EX 18 is the standard application form.  I still have a suspicion that they thought you were non EU, as I said that would explain why the papers were sent to Madrid. So go and check it out.

As I have worked only with police stations far from any border, I do not know if there are any specific 'problems' in that field. Although I know the legislation which controls registration and residencias is Nationwide, not locally controlled,.

PS.  Further to the above.

I was working this morning at the police station.  I asked the OIC of the documentation office about your situation.   He said the same as me.  There must have been an error/misunderstanding. The certificate is issued immediately.

Hi johnzx. They definitely knew I was applying as an EU applicant (as the desciption on the Modelo 790 they gave me to take to the bank to pay the fee definitely said this).

Anyway, good news finally. I received the residence "card" this morning (if you can call it a card - it's more like a flimsy piece of paper). They printed out in front of me...which was strange considering 5 1/2 weeks ago they told me it had to be processed in Madrid.

My advice for anyone applying for a NIE or Residencia is to find another police station to do this process and avoid the one in La Linea like the plague (I've heard that Estepona is miles better). Both the man and the woman working here are both extremely rude and unhelpful, and have caused me to waste a lot of time and money unnecessarily.

And my advice for the policia national in La Linea is to get rid of these two incompetent clowns...

Theline………….   and have caused me to waste a lot of time and money unnecessarily. 

You would still have had to produce the same papers. But by what you say, you confirm that someone got it wrong when you made the application as the procedure  you explain is what happens when non EU citizens apply for RESIDENCIA not for registering as an EU citizen.  That you continue to call what you have a ‘Residencia’ is confusing.  It is an EU Citizen Registration Certificate. If you used the word ‘Residencia’ when you made the application, as you persist in doing in this post,   that could explain the error.

And just to make it clear. One cannot choose which office you make the allocation at.   It has to be the one where you are living/staying at the time of application.

Hey! Im moving to la linea in a few days and I heard in spain you can apply for your NIE in person at a police station (like you did) but in some police stations you need to book an appointment and some you can walk in to. In la linea can you just walk in or do you need to make an appointment??

Thanks!