An ordinary day
- 06:40You leave home with a plastic folder. The appointment is at nine, in the provincial capital, and you asked for the day off a month ago.
- 08:15You arrive with time to spare. The queue already turns the corner and half the line is asking the other half whether those are the papers to bring.
- 09:20Your turn. They needed a copy of every page of the passport, not just the photo page. The rest of the folder was fine.
- 09:25You leave with a sheet where they have written by hand what is missing. The next free appointment is not this week.
- 19:00Back home you start again: search, print, check. And this time write it down, because in a month you will not remember what you had already packed.
Both days are a composite example, not data: they are there to place the problems described below. Every province and every office works differently.
Where the time goes
The same 12 problems are visible from both sides of the counter. Here they are told from this one.
Before booking the appointment4
- What happens
- The requirements are spread across your province's information sheet, the form you have to fill in, the fee you have to pay and the regulation. None of the four tells you the other three exist.
- What it costs
- Whole afternoons of searching, only to end up with a list you cannot be sure about.
- What this site does
- Each page brings together the documents, the form, the fee, where to file it and the deadlines, with the official source linked next to each item.
- What happens
- You search for the form by its code and the first result is hosted on a website that is not the official one. At a glance it looks identical to the real thing.
- What it costs
- Filling in an outdated form from top to bottom and finding out at the counter.
- What this site does
- The page links the form on the Ministry's website and says so plainly: always download it from there, because the forms are updated.
- What happens
- Fees 790 012, 790 052 and 790 062 are all called "the fee", they are generated on different portals and one does not stand in for another.
- What it costs
- Paying the wrong one and turning up with a receipt that is no good.
- What this site does
- Each page says which 790 form applies to that procedure, who pays it and links the official generator that gives the current amount.
- What happens
- The regulation changed and much of what is still published out there describes the previous procedure, without saying when it dates from.
- What it costs
- Spending weeks preparing a procedure against requirements that no longer apply.
- What this site does
- The content is written to match the regulation in force, and every page carries the date it was last reviewed, so you know which moment it corresponds to.
Getting an appointment2
- What happens
- You get an appointment weeks away, sometimes in another city and first thing in the morning.
- What it costs
- A day off booked well in advance and a date that cannot be moved.
- What this site does
- The page is meant to be used before booking the appointment, not the night before: the full list is there from day one, while there is still time to get whatever is missing.
- What happens
- Every procedure has its own filing window, and it does not always match the expiry date printed on the card.
- What it costs
- Filing after the deadline, or so early that you have to file again.
- What this site does
- Every page has its deadlines section: when the window opens, how long it lasts and what happens if you miss it.
The trip and the queue3
- What happens
- You arrive hours early because nobody can tell you how long it takes, and in the queue people ask each other whether those are the right papers.
- What it costs
- Half a day on your feet, with children or without them, for a ten-minute errand.
- What this site does
- The question "what do I have to bring?" is answered at home, in each person's own language, on a page that can be printed.
- What happens
- One window checks whether all the papers are there and another registers them. If something is missing at the first, you never reach the second.
- What it costs
- Two waits for the same errand, and the second is not always on the same day.
- What this site does
- The check happens at home, with the list ticked off, and the folder reaches the counter already closed.
- What happens
- Weeks pass between starting to gather papers and the day itself. On the day of the appointment you no longer remember whether you actually collected the municipal registration certificate or only meant to ask for it.
- What it costs
- A document you did have, left in a drawer at home.
- What this site does
- The list is ticked off as you get each document and stays saved in your browser; the printed page fits on three sheets and can be checked at the door.
At the counter2
- What happens
- The information sheet is in Spanish, the form is in Spanish and the explanation at the counter is too.
- What it costs
- Translating a legal requirement on your phone, standing up and in a hurry, where an approximation will not do.
- What this site does
- The same page exists in eleven languages, and what has to be shown at the counter — the form code, the fee number — is written the same way in all of them: it can be pointed at without speaking.
- What happens
- Someone explains out loud something that is written down nowhere, and by the time you get home you no longer remember it the same way.
- What it costs
- Asking again, or filling the gap by guessing.
- What this site does
- The explanation is written down, sorted by procedure and in eleven languages: it can be pointed at instead of repeated, and whoever hears it takes it home.
When a document is missing1
- What happens
- The application cannot be registered, or is registered with a formal request to complete it within a short deadline.
- What it costs
- Another appointment, another trip, another day off. And the clock on the procedure running all the while.
- What this site does
- This is exactly the point where a complete list pays off: what saves the second appointment is not done at the counter, it is done at home the week before.
The cost of one missing paper
The same errand, with and without the list done before leaving home. The crossed-out steps are the ones that fall away.
How it usually goes
- Find out which documents they ask for
- Book an appointment
- Wait weeks
- Ask for the day off
- Travel
- Queue
- A paper is missing
- Go home without filing
- Get hold of what is missing
- Book another appointment
- Wait another few weeks
- Ask for another day off
- Travel again
- Queue again
- File
With the list done beforehand
- Open the page for the procedure
- Tick off the list as you get each document
- Print it and put it in the folder
- Book an appointment
- Travel
- Queue
- File
A complete list takes out 8 of the 15 steps.
What changes with the page in front of you
One single page per procedure: what it is for, who can apply, which documents to bring, which form to fill in, which fee to pay, where to file it and by when. A list that ticks itself off as you gather the papers and stays saved in your browser until the day of the appointment. A printable version of three sheets, to carry in the folder and check at the door without depending on your phone's battery. Eleven languages, with the codes the counter needs to read written the same way in all of them. The official source linked in every section and the date of the last review in plain sight, so you can check what you are reading.
What this site does not do
- We do not book appointments and we do not file anything on your behalf.
- We are not the public administration or a law firm, and this is not legal advice.
- We do not replace your Immigration Office's information sheet: each province may ask for additional documents, and that sheet overrides this page.
- We do not keep your data: the list you tick off lives in your browser and never leaves your device.