You all are reading a blog post from a (finally!) legalized temporary resident in Spain!
This may not be super interesting to you guys but I think it is so I wanted to share my experience!
For studies lasting longer than three months, Spain gives applicants a 90-day student visa and during those three months you must go through the process of obtaining your TIE (pronounced “tee-ay”) — la Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero. This is essentially your green card, stating that you are legally permitted to reside in Spain longer than your visa allows you to.
If you know me like I assume you all do, you know such bureaucratic processes make me incredibly anxious. However, this time was actually better than previous experiences for me, due to how chill all the Spaniards are about the deadlines.
It says on the piece of paper stapled into my passport by those who approved my visa in the first place that I needed to get the TIE within the first thirty days I entered the Schengen Zone. I read online that that was basically impossible and was reassured by those at the International Student Help Desk on campus that no one actually expected me to be able to do that.
The first (and truly, the most difficult) step was actually getting una cita previa — an appointment — at a national police station “near” where I live. I put “near” in quotation marks because, as you’ll find out, it was not what I would really describe as near.
It took me about two weeks of waking up at 7:55 every weekday and entering my information as quickly as I could before 8:00 and refreshing the page for ten or fifteen minutes to actually secure an appointment — and I’m one of the lucky ones. I have classmates who have been trying to obtain an appointment for over a month to no avail. But, as both I and the people at the International Student Help Desk keep telling them, apparently as long as you get the appointment before your visa expires, there’s no real issue.
Anyway, I was lucky enough to get my appointment for Halloween! Exactly the way I want to spend my favorite day of the year!!
No, but I’m very grateful to have gotten the appointment. Just a tad frustrating it was on Halloween. But I digress.
I attempted to gather all of the documents necessary for the application beforehand, but had a bit of trouble with one of them as the city employee I spoke with was not satisfied with the way that I had filled out the forms.
This left me an an absolute bundle of nerves as I had run out of time before I had to leave and I would be showing up to the police station without (what I thought was) one of the necessary forms.
My appointment was set to take place in a town called Vilanova i la Geltrú, which is a quick two hours from where I live in Sabadell. I can’t complain too much though because, as I continue to tell everyone, two hours on a train is nothing like two hours in a car (especially as the final train took us past the sea and I could actually smell it??!!).
My journey involved three separate trains, as I took the R4 Rodalies from Sabadell to Plaça Catalunya in Barcelona in order to hop on the L3 metro line to get to the Passeig de Gràcia station to grab a seat on the R2 Sud line of the Rodalies. I had to do a bit of research beforehand to figure out where the heck I was going and which trains I was supposed to get on.
I, of course, got there early and grabbed a coffee beforehand, also taking the opportunity to check the city out a bit. It was pretty cool and I would really love to make a day trip back there.
And, honestly, my appointment went superbly! As it turns out, that document wasn’t required to receive approval for my card and I was given a document that functions as my temporary permission to overstay my visa until the real card is ready in 45 days.
(This may be TMI, but I think it’s rather funny; I was so nervous that I didn’t have sufficient documentation that, when the officer needed to fingerprint me, she had to give me a tissue to dry my sweaty little hands off with. I’m the worst!)
I am really ecstatic to finally have this done with. It has caused me more stress than anything having to do with school and I’m relieved that I no longer have to focus on navigating bureaucracy so that I can remain in Spain until I’ve received my degree. It’s amazing that I can finally just put my full focus on my studies instead!
A mini update on my tattoo: She is looking spectacular! The entirety of it is finally feels like my skin again. It was very strange because the line work was raised above the rest of the skin, though most of it leveled off pretty quickly. But something about the blackthorn branch made it stay raised for two full weeks! It isn’t tender anymore and I’m still madly in love with it. I cannot get over seeing it out of the corner of my eye, like when I’m drawing or like right now as I write this!
Here’s a photo of her from last night as I was waiting for the metro to head home after an evening of writing essays, drinking wine, and making curry in Barcelona with my colleagues. I would take another so you could see the belladonna flowers, but this lighting was pretty rad. Plus, you can see the flowers in my last post that was entirely dedicated to the tattoo, which you can read here if you missed it.