Carta de invitación in Spain: requirements, fees and the comisaría appointment

What it is and what it is for

The carta de invitación (invitation letter) is the official document in which a person living in Spain undertakes to put up a foreign national who is coming to visit, for tourism or for private reasons, and to cover the cost of that accommodation for as long as the stay lasts. The guest can present it at the consulate when applying for a visa, if their country needs one, and may be asked for it at the border.

Two things worth having clear from the start:

The person inviting applies, not the guest, and does so in Spain, at the comisaría for the place where the host lives.
It only proves accommodation. The order that governs it puts it this way: the letter "only satisfies the requirement relating to accommodation". The guest has to meet the rest of the entry requirements on their own.

Who can invite

Under the order that governs it, the letter can be applied for by:

a Spanish citizen;
a citizen of the European Union or a beneficiary of the EU regime (régimen comunitario);
a foreign national with legal residence in Spain.

What goes in the application

The application is made on the official form, which the Policía Nacional provides, and it has to include:

Your details: name, date and place of birth, nationality, address and the number of your document. Your DNI if you are Spanish; your passport, TIE or NIE number if you are not.
Where you are going to put your guest up: at your home or at a second home. You have to prove that it is yours to use, with the deed, the rental contract or another title.
Your relationship to the guest.
The guest's details: name, date and place of birth, nationality, address and passport number.
The dates: the planned first and last day of the stay, approximately.

One letter can cover several people, but the order treats that as an exception and requires proof that there is room for all of them. Some comisarías also ask for your padrón registration (empadronamiento) or photocopies: check with yours before you go.

By signing you declare that the details are true. The application itself reminds you that facilitating irregular immigration can be a criminal offence or a very serious infringement.

The fees

They are paid with modelo 790, code 012, and there are two:

€75.05 for the application ("Autorización de expedición de carta de invitación").
€6.54 for issuing the letter, paid once it has been granted.

If you need certified copies of documents, each one costs €1.09.

The steps, until the letter is in your hand

You get an appointment at your comisaría for the carta de invitación procedure.
You file the application with the documents and the first fee.
The police process it. If they consider it necessary, they call you to an interview to check your identity and the documents. If you do not attend within the period they give you, which cannot be more than fifteen days, the application is treated as withdrawn.
You are notified of the decision. If it is favourable, you have one month to pay the issuing fee.
You collect the letter with the receipt for that payment and send it to your guest, who is the one who presents it at the consulate or at the border.

The Policía Nacional itself warns that the turnaround "is not immediate". If your guest needs the letter to apply for a visa, start long before buying tickets: a letter that arrives after the consulate appointment is no use at all.

If no appointments appear in your province

The playbook is the same as for any cita previa: spread your attempts, look at your province's real appointment pattern and follow the step-by-step guide for when the portal says no.

You can also create an alert for the carta de invitación in your province and you will get a notification by email or Telegram as soon as our checks find available appointments. You book it yourself on the official portal, free: Cita Ping does not book for you and cannot guarantee you an appointment.