Booking your residence card (TIE) fingerprint appointment (toma de huellas)

Key rules

• Pay first: Pay the fee before the appointment and bring the stamped bank copy.
• Go in person: Nobody can attend for you, because your fingerprints are taken at the appointment.
• Official portal only: Book through the government cita previa portal and never pay anyone to book for you.

Where to go

Your fingerprints are taken at the Oficina de Extranjería or the national police station (Comisaría de Policía, Brigada de Extranjería) assigned to your province. The booking portal shows the offices available for the province you choose.

Book inside your one-month window (how the month is counted). If the month has passed, book at once and follow applying late.

This route is for non-EU citizens who hold a residence authorisation of their own. UK citizens with Withdrawal Agreement rights follow their own route. Non-EU family members of an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen apply for the family residence card, which also covers the proof and legalisation of their civil documents.

Book the cita previa

1. Open the Spanish government's official online appointment portal and choose your province.
2. Choose the procedure called "Policía-Toma de huellas (expedición de tarjeta) y renovación de tarjeta de larga duración".
3. Enter your details and pick an available slot.
4. Save or print the confirmation. You must bring it.

If no slot shows, check again on other days and try neighbouring offices; the full options are in no appointments available.

Fill in the form and pay the fee first

The fee for a first TIE is €16.40 in 2026, paid with modelo 790 código 012; each child pays it too.

Complete and print form EX-17 from the police or Ministry of Interior site. Then pay at a participating bank, or online with a card or bank account where the system allows it. Keep the stamped bank copy marked for the Administración, because you hand it over at the office.

Get the photo right

You need one recent colour passport-style photo, 32 x 26 mm, on a plain white background, with your face uncovered, your head bare and no shadows.

Attend the appointment

The officer checks your passport, visa or resolution, form and photo, takes your fingerprints, and keeps the stamped bank copy of the fee payment. You leave with a fingerprint receipt, the resguardo, which you keep until you collect the card.

A child under 12 is not fingerprinted but still attends with a parent and needs their own slot (children).

What to bring

• Your original passport and a copy.
• Your visa or approval resolution and a copy, as proof of your authorisation to reside.
• Form EX-17, completed, signed and printed.
• The stamped bank copy of the fee payment (ejemplar para la Administración), paid with modelo 790 código 012.
• One passport-style photo, as described above.
• Your appointment confirmation.
• A padrón certificate (proof you are registered at your address). Some provinces also ask for your rental contract, because the card shows your address.