Fingerprint appointment in Spain (toma de huellas): how it works and how to get one

23/07/2026

3 min read

Every residence card in Spain passes through the same biometric step — the toma de huellas appointment at a police station. Who needs it, which documents to bring, what actually happens in the room, and what to do when your province shows no appointments for weeks.

What the toma de huellas is

The toma de huellas is the appointment where you give your fingerprints so Spain can produce your physical residence card — the TIE. On the official portal it appears as one procedure covering every card scenario: "toma de huellas (expedición de tarjeta) inicial, renovación, duplicado y Ley 14/2013". Whatever brought you here — a first permit, an approved renewal, an approved arraigo, a lost card — the biometric step is this same cita previa at a police station in your province.

Who needs the appointment

First card. You entered with a visa or got your first residence authorisation approved: fingerprints are how the card gets made.
Renewal. After the renewal file is approved, the new card needs a fresh fingerprint appointment.
Duplicate. Lost, stolen or damaged card — same procedure, with the police report or the damaged card.
Ley 14/2013. Entrepreneurs and highly qualified professionals under the startup law go through the same biometric step.

One constraint matters before you hunt for anything: the appointment must be in the province where your permit was processed or where you live — a cita in another province will not work for huellas.

What to bring

The core list repeats across provinces — confirm the details on your province's official page:

Completed EX-17 form
Passport, original and copy
One colour photo, 26×32 mm
Fee receipt 790-012 (≈ €16), paid before the appointment
The resolution or resguardo showing your permit was approved
Proof of address (empadronamiento) — asked for in some provinces

What happens in the room

The appointment itself is short: an officer checks the documents, takes your fingerprints electronically, keeps the photo and stamps a resguardo. That receipt is what you use to collect the finished card — typically 30–45 days later, with a second appointment for the pickup.

The hard part is the appointment, not the paperwork

Fingerprint slots are released on the official portal in small, irregular batches, and in busy provinces they disappear within minutes — this cluster is consistently among the most contested procedures we watch. You can see when slots actually surface in your province in the open availability data, and the fingerprint procedure page shows which offices handle it.

The watching you can delegate: create a monitor for your province and the huellas procedure, and you will get an alert by email or Telegram as soon as our checks detect available appointments. You book it yourself on the official portal, free, as always — the service does not book for you and cannot guarantee an appointment. When the alert arrives, speed decides: have everything ready before you click.