What to do when Spain's 'cita previa' website doesn't work
There are several different administrative processes you'll have to do when you move to Spain that involve making a cita previa (prior appointment) online first, before you can turn up at the office in person.
One of the most common reasons is when you need to apply for your NIE or Número de Identidad de Extranjero, which is your foreign identity number.
You'll need to get this within the first three months of living in Spain and can either do it by applying for your green residency card if you're an EU citizen or your TIE, which stands for Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero (Foreigner Identity Card).
There are two main issues with trying to get this appointment online. The first is that there often never seem to be any appointments available, and the second is that the website links don't always work to try and make the appointment in the first place.
In this article, we'll be looking at the second issue. If you want to know more about trying to get an appointment when it seems there aren't any, read more here.
The site you need to access in order to book your appointment is here (administracionelectronica.gob.es), but for some reason the link doesn't work for some people.
Many readers have been complaining that official government websites aren't working properly when they come to trying to book one of these appointments and are ready to pay a legal firm to do it for them, when in reality it should be completely free.
If this is the case for you, there are three things you can try.
In some circumstances you can apply for your NIE at the Spanish Consulate back in your home country, before you arrive, but if you're moving here permanently this may not be an option.
So how do you get the website to open?
Firstly, accessing the links can usually only be done within Spain, so if you're trying from another country, you may have a problem. Wait until you get here so you can book an appointment. If you want to save time (as sometimes the only appointments available are several weeks or months away) get someone you trust who is in Spain to try to open the website and talk them through the process.
Secondly, the sites are unlikely to work if you have a VPN turned on, as this changes your IP address to a different country and the website won't think you're in Spain. Although VPNs are sometimes used for security purposes, in this instance, it's best to switch it off.
Thirdly, the issue may also be to do with the internet browser you're trying to access the site from. Several users of Reddit report that Safari only works half of the time for them.
The Spanish government website themselves say that Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 or higher, or Mozilla Firefox 3 is required to book an appointment online, but Google Chrome also works for us here at The Local Spain.
Once you have been able to access the site, then you have the fun challenge of trying to find out when appointments are available.
To do this, you need to select your province and then the office you need from the drop down menu. You will then select the reason for your appointment. For example, it may be POLICIA - Asignación de NIE (POLICE - NIE Assignment) or POLICIA - CERTIFICADOS DE RESIDENCIA (Residence Certificates).
If there are appointments available, it will ask you to fill out your details and select an appointment time and day.
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