Trying to book an appointment at the Immigration Office, Social Security, or the Civil Registry can be a real nightmare. You call, no one answers; the website crashes; they give you an appointment three months from now. The question is: is it legal for them to force you to go through all this?
Well, Diego Gómez, a lawyer and professor at the University of Vigo, is clear about it: there is no law that imposes prior appointment as a requirement for being served. His reasoning is simple: it was established during the pandemic for health reasons, and that no longer applies. "Exceptional rules cannot be extended longer than necessary," he explains. For him, you have the right to show up without an appointment, because no legal text prohibits it.
Those who suffer most are the elderly, who are not digitally savvy, and foreigners processing residency or renewals. You spend days trying to book an immigration appointment, waste hours, and sometimes end up paying informal agents. OCU has also spoken out: its spokesman, Kepa Loizaga, denounces that "the Administration must provide service, it cannot force you to wait hours on the phone or to have a digital signature to request an appointment." They call for more staff, more hours, and in-person service without obstacles.
Until the regulation changes, the practice remains the same. Some regions and agencies have begun to ease up, but the reality in Immigration offices remains the same: collapse and desperation. If you are stuck, do not give up. You can file a complaint, request an appointment through other channels, or simply show up at the office and demand to be served, citing the lack of legal basis. So now you know: take action.
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