Cita Previa Madrid: where to book and when in 2026

How Madrid cita previa actually works

All immigration procedures in Madrid are booked through the same national portal at icp.administracionelectronica.gob.es/icpplus, not through any Madrid specific website. The portal works the same way it does in every other province: you choose Madrid, then your procedure type, then the system shows you offices and slots that match. For an overview of how the booking system works across Spain, see our Cita Previa Spain guide. This page focuses on what makes Madrid different from the rest of the country.

Two things make Madrid stand out. First, demand. Madrid province has roughly 6.7 million residents and processes a constant pipeline of new residency applications, renewals, and TIE pickups. Slot pressure is permanent, not seasonal. Second, geography. Madrid province has 45 separate offices listed on the portal, ranging from large central facilities to commuter town police stations. The system shows you all available offices for your selected procedure, and that wider net is the single biggest lever you have.

The main offices in central Madrid

Two locations handle the bulk of foreigner procedures in the city centre:

Aluche is the workhorse: the largest extranjería office in Spain by volume, in a dedicated building 30 minutes by metro from Gran Vía. It carries most of the city's NIE and TIE traffic. Calle Silva is smaller, more central, and handles a narrower set of procedures. Your appointment confirmation tells you which one to attend. When you have a genuine choice during booking, Aluche typically has more slots, just further out.

The 43 other offices in Madrid province

This is the part most newcomers miss. You do not have to book in the city. You can book at any police station across Madrid province that handles your procedure type, and many residents from the centre travel 30 to 60 minutes to a suburban office because the appointment is available next week instead of next month. The booking portal does not promote this; you find these offices by scrolling the dropdown of available locations during your search.

The most useful alternatives for Madrid province residents:

After entering your details on the portal, the dropdown of available offices shows what is open for your procedure. If central Madrid shows nothing, scroll through the provincial options. Slots typically appear at suburban offices days before they reach the city centre.

When slots are released in Madrid

The Spanish administration does not publish a slot release schedule. Observable patterns exist, but they shift over time as the booking software is tuned. Three windows produce most successful bookings as of 2026:

Friday mornings between 9:00 and 10:30 is the most reliable window. New batches typically appear for the high volume offices including Aluche during this period. Monday around 8:00 sees a refresh of the queue that releases leftover slots. Daily around 14:00 (lunchtime), cancellations from people who can no longer attend are released back into the pool, often surfacing one or two opportunistic slots.

The portal has no notification system; you check manually. Setting recurring reminders for these three windows during your booking week is the highest leverage move you can make. Avoid third party services that claim to monitor slots automatically for a fee. Many are scraping the official portal at risk of being blocked, and some openly resold appointments for 400 to 500 euro before the Spanish government's 2026 anti fraud reforms introduced personalised verification codes to stop the practice.

Pick the right procedure or start over

The most expensive Madrid mistake is picking the wrong procedure at the dropdown stage. Several procedures sound similar but go to different offices and require different documents:

If you are an EU citizen registering in Spain, you need NIE Number assignment (Asignación de NIE) followed by the EU Green Card (Certificado de Registro de Ciudadano de la Unión). These are two separate appointments, often weeks apart.

If you are a non EU citizen with a residency visa, you need the TIE card, which requires Toma de Huellas (fingerprinting) and then Recogida de Tarjeta (card pickup) about 30 days later. These are also two separate appointments.

Booking Asignación when you needed Certificado, or Toma de Huellas when you needed Recogida, means turning up on the day and being told the appointment is for the wrong procedure. Officers cannot reassign your booking. You leave empty handed and start the booking process over.

What to bring on the day

Madrid offices are stricter on documentation than smaller provincial offices. Aluche in particular runs a tight schedule and turns away applicants missing originals or fee receipts. The minimum for any procedure: your printed cita previa confirmation, your passport plus one photocopy, your completed EX form (EX-15 for NIE assignment, EX-18 for EU residency, EX-17 for TIE variations), and proof of payment of the Modelo 790 código 012 fee from any Spanish bank. The fee in 2026 is 9,84 euro for NIE Number assignment and 16,08 euro for the EU green card. TIE fees vary by visa type. Always bring originals and one extra photocopy of every supporting document.

Common Madrid cita previa mistakes

Only searching central offices

Restricting your search to Aluche or Silva when 43 other provincial offices handle the same procedure is the single biggest reason people wait 2 months instead of 2 weeks. Check the full provincial dropdown.

Wrong procedure selected

The dropdown is in Spanish and several procedures have nearly identical wording. Read each label carefully before clicking continue. If unsure, search the exact procedure name in our pillar guide before you book.

Arriving without all originals

Madrid officers, particularly at Aluche, are strict on documentation. Missing one original (passport, visa, Modelo 790 receipt, empadronamiento) often means the appointment is refused even if everything else is in order.

Booking in the wrong province

Madrid province offices serve only people whose Spanish address is within the province. If you live in Toledo, Guadalajara, or Segovia, book in those provinces. Officers verify residence against your empadronamiento or accommodation evidence on the day.