More lines in Madrid

(Tuesday, NIE quest, cont'd.) Since none of the phone numbers listed were working, we decided to stop by the Foreigners' Office in person. For whatever reason, the sign on the door says "Ministerio de economía y hacienda" not "Oficina de extranjeros" and I'm pretty sure the latter does not fall under the former hierarchically. When we arrive, we were pleased to find that not only was there no line, but there was actually a worker there to answer our questions.

Turns out, though, this employee must be very low on the totem pole and she has a hefty inferiority complex related to her peers with actual authority. So when I said, "I'm not sure whether I'm supposed to check the box for a resident card or a student card," she responded, meanly, "What do you mean? You don't even know what you're applying for?" Then she chastised me for already having paid the fee for the application. The security guard piped up from her shoulder to say that we would need to pay it anyways eventually.

When we told her we couldn't get through to any of the numbers listed for setting appointments, she just repeated that there were three numbers we could call (these are certifiably disconnected though). She advised us that the only other way to be seen would be to return in the morning, because the first 60 people in line at 9 a.m. would be given appointments for a later date. "But people tend to line up much earlier," she emphasized.

Not having much to go on other than our experience at General Pardiñas, we returned home, napped a little, and at 2 a.m. woke up. We walked around a mile uphill to the plaza and at 3 a.m. found ourselves alone with two (that's right--2) other people. We settled down to finish Harry Potter. By 5 we had finished the book (wonderfully voiced by Jim Dale) and there was nothing to keep me from dozing off...except for the chilly morning air.

People gradually started lining up, and I lost track of the number when the line rounded a corner. I started getting nervous just before they started handing out numbers because there were people crowding up by the entrance (either to read the signs or perhaps with the intention to cut) but me and my camping buddies up at the front defended our positions. Inside someone who gave us forms (for the prórroga de estancia para investigación y estudios) and set an appointment for us to return Sept. 20. Presumably we will receive our coveted NIEs at that time.

I later found both the correct address and the correct form I needed on the Ministry of the Interior. 's web site, although it is not clear whether this is a recent change or not. When I got home, I also saw I had received an e-mail from my bosses at the Ministry of Education indicating they are paving the way for me and my fellow program participants' paperwork processing and will give further instructions at our first meeting in October. (I think I'll keep my appointment for now.)

Moral of the story: Don't trust the mir.es website if you're unfamiliar with its organization. Don't trust the lady at the bank who may not know your immigration situation. And look for small signs posted outside of public buildings (they may have just the updated information you need). Trust me, because I have experienced it, if every future North American Language and Culture Assistant assigned to Madrid read my blog, they would save themselves a lot of time and headaches. (Then again, the processing procedures may change in a a few months' time, so take my advice with a grain of salt...it's conditional on so many capricious factors.)

I would recommend if you need to wait in line at this Oficina de extranjeros, 5 a.m. is plenty early enough, and based on my experience, if you arrive even until 6:30 you'll probably still number among the first 60. (This is based on when their office hours were 9-2 M-F and they should be 9-5 M-Th, 9-2 F starting September. Then again, there will be many more students trying to get an appointment in September when the semester starts.)

At the end of these two days, we were, understandably, pooped. Spent a couple days recovering, reading...watching episodes of Flight of the Conchords our friends had recorded for us before we left (love love love it!) Listen to the genius duo perform at NPR here. Better yet, watch their trademark deadpan delivery in their show when the first season comes out on DVD.

To be continued....