If you’ve been trying to book an appointment on the Immigration Office’s website for a while now and haven’t been able to get one, watch out: there are people out there making a fortune off your desperation. In Barcelona, resale platforms have hiked their fees up to 400 euros—a figure that lawyers and social organizations are denouncing. And what’s most frustrating is that this process is, in theory, free.
It all stems from the extraordinary regularization process. Thousands of applications have flooded the offices, and now applicants must go to the police station to have their fingerprints taken and obtain their TIE. Demand has skyrocketed, and the appointment system is barely keeping up. Scammers have sensed an opportunity: they book slots and sell them to the highest bidder.
The numbers don’t lie. The Government Delegation in Catalonia reports that this summer they’ve issued 40% more TIEs than last year. To alleviate the backlog, they’ve added overtime shifts and brought in 66 temporary civil servants. But even with these measures, prices aren’t going down. An immigration lawyer tells us that her clients end up paying 150 euros for an appointment within the same month—and double that if it’s urgent. In some cases, they’ve even asked for 400.
You could save that money if the system worked, but the reality is that people are getting desperate. A Colombian man who renewed his TIE after months of waiting had to shell out 100 euros to get out of the backlog. And it’s not just about the money: without an appointment, you can’t renew your documents, and you risk losing your job or your residency registration. The lawyer warns that the worst is yet to come, because the regularization process is going to generate thousands more appointments, and the system is already at its limit.
So, what can you do? Don’t pay. It’s illegal, and even though sometimes you have no other choice, there are alternative options: try other police stations, at different times, or ask a social service organization for help. If they ask you for money, report it. And if you’re in an extreme situation, seek advice. But I’ll say it again: don’t pay.
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