Residency and paperwork in Spanish: the immigration office, appointments and documents in Mexico, Spain, Colombia and Argentina
Paperwork has a Spanish of its own. The clerk at the counter uses words you never learn in a course, says them once, and calls the next number. Below: the immigration and civil offices in Mexico, Spain, Colombia and Argentina, how appointments work, the names of the documents, the queue and the ticket, what the clerk will say, how to ask what is missing, and how to get a copy or a certified translation.
The offices
| Mexico | Spain | Colombia | Argentina | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Immigration | el INM, Migración | la Oficina de Extranjería, Extranjería | Migración Colombia | Migraciones, formally the Dirección Nacional de Migraciones |
| Where visas are issued | the consulate, then el canje at the INM | the consulate, then Extranjería | la Cancillería, online | the consulate, then Migraciones |
| Civil registry | el Registro Civil | el Registro Civil | la Registraduría | el Registro Civil |
| Notary | el notario | el notario | la notaría, el notario | el escribano |
| The word for the procedure itself | el trámite | el trámite | el trámite | el trámite |
El trámite is the word to learn first. It means any dealing with an office that involves a form and a queue, and every question you ask will contain it: ¿Cuánto tarda el trámite?, ¿Ese trámite se hace aquí?, Vengo a hacer un trámite.
In Colombia the work is split in a way it is not in the other three. The visa itself comes from la Cancillería, the foreign ministry, through an online process, and Migración Colombia then issues la cédula de extranjería, the physical ID card. Do not go to one expecting the other.
The appointment
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| the appointment | la cita previa (Spain) / la cita (Mexico, Colombia) / el turno (Argentina) | Spain says cita previa for anything booked in advance |
| I have an appointment at ten | Tengo cita a las diez. / Tengo turno a las diez. (Argentina) | |
| I want to book an appointment | Quiero pedir cita. (Spain) / Quiero agendar una cita. (Colombia, Mexico) / Quiero sacar un turno. (Argentina) | Agendar is the standard Colombian verb |
| There are no appointments | No hay citas. / No hay turnos. | The most common answer |
| Can I come without one? | ¿Puedo venir sin cita? | Usually no |
| I want to cancel my appointment | Quiero cancelar la cita. | |
| I missed my appointment | Perdí la cita. | |
| the confirmation | el justificante de la cita (Spain) / el comprobante de la cita (Mexico, Colombia, Argentina) | Print it. Some offices will not let you in without it |
| Is it done online? | ¿Se hace en línea? (Mexico, Colombia) / ¿Se hace por internet? (Spain, Argentina) |
In Spain, la cita previa is how you get through the door at all. Appointments for Extranjería are released in batches and go quickly, and everyone you meet will have an opinion about the best hour to refresh. In Argentina you book turnos online for Migraciones the same way. Mexico’s INM and Colombia’s Migración both run online appointment systems, and both have offices where you can still turn up in person for simple things.
The documents
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| birth certificate | el acta de nacimiento (Mexico) / la partida de nacimiento (Spain, Argentina) / el registro civil de nacimiento (Colombia) | These do not swap. Use the local name |
| marriage certificate | el acta de matrimonio (Mexico) / el certificado de matrimonio, la partida de matrimonio (Spain, Argentina, Colombia) | |
| certified copy | la copia certificada (Mexico) / la copia compulsada (Spain) / la copia autenticada (Colombia, done at a notary) / la copia certificada por escribano (Argentina) | |
| photocopy | la fotocopia | Original y copia is the phrase you will hear |
| apostille | la apostilla | The verb is apostillar. A foreign public document usually needs one before any of these offices will take it |
| criminal record check | el certificado de antecedentes penales (Spain, Argentina) / la carta de no antecedentes penales (Mexico) / el certificado de antecedentes judiciales (Colombia) | |
| passport | el pasaporte | |
| ID number | la CURP (Mexico) / el NIE (Spain) / la cédula de extranjería (Colombia) / el DNI (Argentina) | See below |
| residence card | la tarjeta de residente (Mexico) / la TIE (Spain) / la cédula de extranjería (Colombia) / el DNI (Argentina) | |
| proof of address | el comprobante de domicilio (Mexico) / el certificado de empadronamiento (Spain) / el recibo de un servicio público (Colombia) / el certificado de domicilio (Argentina) | |
| the form | el formato (Mexico) / el formulario (Spain, Colombia, Argentina) | |
| to fill in a form | llenar (Mexico, Colombia, Argentina) / rellenar (Spain) | |
| the fee | la tasa (Spain) / el pago de derechos (Mexico) / el pago del trámite (Colombia, Argentina) | Spain’s is paid at a bank on a printed form before you attend |
The four ID words are not equivalents, and if you mix them up you waste a morning.
La CURP is Mexico’s population registry code, held by Mexicans and by foreign residents alike, and asked for on almost every form. El NIE is Spain’s foreigner identity number, and the card with it on is la TIE. Spaniards themselves hold el DNI, which a foreigner does not get. La cédula de extranjería is Colombia’s card for foreign residents, the counterpart of the cédula de ciudadanía Colombians carry. In Argentina residents get el DNI whatever their nationality, so an Argentine DNI in a foreigner’s hand is normal.
Two more words worth knowing. In Mexico, el canje is the step where the visa in your passport is exchanged for a residence card at an INM office soon after you arrive, and the deadline is short, so check it on the day you enter. In Argentina, la residencia precaria is the temporary certificate under which you are legal while the file is processed, and renewing it is a routine part of the process.
The queue and the ticket
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| the queue | la fila (Mexico, Colombia, Argentina) / la cola (Spain) | To queue is hacer fila or hacer cola |
| Is this the queue for…? | ¿Esta es la fila para…? | |
| Who is last? | ¿Quién es el último? / ¿Quién da la vez? (Spain) | Spanish offices and shops run on this question. Ask it, then remember who answered |
| the ticket | el turno, la ficha (Mexico) / el número | Sacar ficha and sacar turno both mean take a ticket |
| Where do I take a ticket? | ¿Dónde saco el turno? | |
| the window, the desk | la ventanilla, el módulo (Mexico) | Mexican offices call the desk el módulo |
| the screen | la pantalla | |
| They called my number | Ya llamaron mi número. | |
| I have been waiting two hours | Llevo dos horas esperando. | Llevar plus a time is how waiting is expressed |
| Do I have to come back another day? | ¿Tengo que volver otro día? |
Arrive early. Offices in all four countries open in the morning and stop issuing tickets long before they close, and once a sign says se acabaron las fichas or no se entregan más turnos, the day is over for everyone still outside.
Asking what is missing
When a document is rejected, the clerk says what is wrong once and quickly. With these lines you get it repeated.
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| What am I missing? | ¿Qué me falta? | Short, polite, and exactly what a clerk expects |
| Is this everything? | ¿Con esto está completo? | |
| Do I need to apostille it? | ¿Tengo que apostillarlo? | |
| Does it need a translation? | ¿Necesita traducción? | |
| Where do I get that? | ¿Dónde consigo eso? | |
| Can I bring it tomorrow? | ¿Lo puedo traer mañana? | |
| Do I have to start again? | ¿Tengo que empezar de nuevo? | |
| Can you write down the name of the document? | ¿Me puede escribir el nombre del documento? | The one that saves you a second trip |
| Is there a list of requirements? | ¿Hay una lista de requisitos? | Los requisitos is the word on every official page |
Saying you do not understand
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| I do not understand | No entiendo. | |
| I did not catch that | No le entendí. | Mexico and Colombia use entenderle with a person like this |
| Slower, please | Más despacio, por favor. | |
| Can you say it again? | ¿Me lo puede repetir? | |
| How do you spell it? | ¿Cómo se escribe? | |
| My Spanish is not good | Todavía no hablo bien español. | |
| Does anyone here speak English? | ¿Alguien habla inglés? | Do not count on it at a counter |
| Can I come back with someone who translates? | ¿Puedo volver con alguien que me traduzca? |
Usted everywhere in these offices, in all four countries, including Argentina and Spain where you would use tú or vos with the same person in a bar. A clerk may address you as tú in Spain or vos in Argentina first. Follow their lead if you like, or stay with usted and lose nothing.
Copies and translations
Certified translation has a different job title in each country, and if you ask for the wrong one, you get a translation the office will not accept.
| Mexico | Spain | Colombia | Argentina | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Certified translator | el perito traductor | el traductor jurado | el traductor oficial | el traductor público |
| What you ask for | una traducción por perito traductor | una traducción jurada | una traducción oficial | una traducción pública |
In Argentina a traducción pública normally also has to have the seal of the translators’ professional body before an office will take it, so ask the translator to handle that step. In Colombia a document copy is made official at la notaría, where autenticar is the verb, and in Spain the equivalent is compulsar a copy, often done by the office itself if you bring the original.
Phrases for the copy shop, which is usually the nearest business to any government office: ¿Me saca dos copias?, two copies please. A doble cara., double sided. ¿Me lo puede escanear?, can you scan it. ¿Me lo imprime?, can you print it.
What the clerk will say
| You will hear | What it means |
|---|---|
| ¿Trae cita? | Do you have an appointment? |
| Pase a la ventanilla cuatro. / Pase al módulo tres. | Go to window four. Desk three (Mexico) |
| Original y copia. | Original and a photocopy, both. |
| Le falta la apostilla. | It needs an apostille. |
| Está incompleto. | Something is missing. |
| Eso no se hace aquí. | This is not the office for that. |
| Eso se hace en línea. | That is done online. |
| Tiene que pagar primero. | Pay the fee first, then come back. |
| Firme aquí y ponga la fecha. | Sign here and date it. |
| Le tomamos las huellas. | We will take your fingerprints. |
| Queda radicado con este número. | Your file is logged under this number. Colombia |
| Le llega la respuesta por correo. | The answer will come by post or email. |
| Vuelva en veinte días hábiles. | Come back in twenty working days. |
| Guarde el comprobante. | Keep the receipt. |
Días hábiles means working days, and it is how every deadline in every one of these offices is counted.
Ten sentences you can say tomorrow
- Buenos días, vengo a hacer un trámite de residencia. Good morning, I am here about a residency application.
- Tengo cita a las diez a nombre de Sarah Miller. I have an appointment at ten in the name of Sarah Miller.
- Tengo turno en Migraciones para la residencia. I have an appointment at the immigration office about my residency. (Argentina)
- ¿Esta es la fila para extranjería? Is this the queue for the immigration office?
- ¿Dónde saco el turno? Where do I take a ticket?
- ¿Qué me falta? What am I missing?
- ¿Me puede escribir el nombre del documento? Can you write down the name of the document?
- No le entendí. Más despacio, por favor. I did not catch that. Slower, please.
- ¿Necesita traducción oficial? Does it need a certified translation?
- Guardo el comprobante. ¿Cuándo vuelvo? I will keep the receipt. When do I come back?
Questions people ask
What is the immigration office called? El INM in Mexico, spoken of as Migración. Extranjería in Spain. Migración Colombia in Colombia. Migraciones in Argentina, formally the Dirección Nacional de Migraciones.
What does “cita previa” mean? An appointment booked in advance. It is the standard Spanish term, and most Extranjería business cannot be done without one.
What is the difference between NIE, TIE and DNI? El NIE is Spain’s identity number for foreigners, la TIE is the card with it on, and el DNI is the Spanish national ID card, which foreigners do not hold. In Argentina, residents of any nationality do get a DNI.
What is a CURP? Mexico’s eighteen-character population registry code, held by Mexicans and foreign residents. It is requested on almost every form, including bank and school ones.
Do I need an apostille? For a public document issued abroad, usually yes, and it is done in the country that issued the document before you travel. Ask ¿Tengo que apostillarlo? at the counter if you are unsure.
How do I say “certified translation”? Traducción jurada in Spain, traducción pública in Argentina, traducción oficial in Colombia, and in Mexico a translation by a perito traductor. Ask for the local term or the office may not accept the document.
What does “radicado” mean? In Colombia, the reference number your file gets when it is officially logged. Write it down, because every follow-up question starts with it.
Should I use tú or usted at the counter? Usted, in all four countries. It costs nothing and it matches the setting, even in Argentina and Spain where people use vos and tú everywhere else.
Practise these words
trámite, cita, turno, documento, copia, firma, sello, fila, ventanilla, faltar, entender, volver, comprobante. Vozelu is a free website for practising Spanish, and it has each of these. You see a sentence with one word missing, you type the word, and a native voice reads the sentence back. Practise the words on this page.