Getting through the Oficina de Extranjería: Showing your cita and your passport

💬 su is the polite "your", but it can also mean "his", "her" or "their". Context tells you which: from a clerk talking to you, it means yours.

🇪🇸 This is the appointment where they take your prints to issue your residence card. You usually book it separately after your residency is approved.

🇪🇸 Officials and other foreigners mostly just call it la TIE (tee-eh). Expect to hear that more than the full name.

💬 coger "to take" is completely ordinary in Spain. In much of Latin America it's vulgar, so people there say tomar instead.

💬 la sala on its own is short for la sala de espera "the waiting room". In an office, people just say la sala.

💬 Polite instructions swap the verb's vowel: esperar becomes espere, and coger becomes coja. You'll hear the same pattern in firme aquí "sign here".

💬 al is a + el squeezed together, which always happens. a la never merges, as in a la derecha.

💬 Watch the ending: a la derecha is "on the right", but todo derecho means "straight ahead". It's an easy mix-up when following directions.

💬 The "they" here isn't anyone specific: Spanish uses the "they" form of the verb to mean "you'll be called". le is the polite "you".

🇪🇸 Your ticket number flashes up on the screen next to a desk number, often with a beep. Keep an eye on it, because names usually aren't called out.

🇪🇸 In Spain this is a standard goodbye even to strangers you'll never see again. Say it to the guard or clerk on your way out.