Is the appointment in the office of National Police in Passeig Sant Joan, Barcelona the only option for my wife?

Question

My wife came to Spain in late 2022 (then not yet married to me) from the North of Africa as she got granted a student visa to study Spanish in one of the private schools of Spain. She was assigned a NIE number during her stay and was issued a residence permit - a plastic card with her picture in it. By the time we got to know each other in the summer of 2023, her visa and her residence permit were already expired. I've resided in Spain as a EU national for the last five years, and over the last weeks both of of us have been living together in Sabadell, Barcelona. I already got my empadronamiento here in Sabadell but my wife has still her empadronamiento in another province. Two weeks ago I went to the office of national police in Sabadell and I asked the policemen if we need a prescheduled appointment with them to apply for the residence and TIE for my wife-to-be (we got married last week). I was told by them that they do not deal with that here and was referred to the office of National Police in Passeig Sant Joan, Barcelona. I am given three options when attempting to schedule an appointment, 1. titulos de viaje 2. expedicion / renovacion de documentos de solicitantes de asilo 3. certificados y asignacion NIE (no comunitarios) I choose option number three. Sadly, it seems that no appointments are available as I get following from the website anytime I try to schedule an appointment,

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I've been getting this message over the last two weeks. I noticed that there are appointments available in other provinces?

1. With respect to the residence and TIE, can my wife be attended only at the office of National Police in Passeig Sant Joan, Barcelona? For example the office of national police in Sabadell has this option for appointments: certificados (de residencia , de no residencia, y de concordancia)

2. Would it make sense to go to the office of National Police in Passeig Sant Joan without a prescheduled appointment?

3. The appointments are available in other provinces, can my wife choose an office of national police in another province, in which she neither live nor have empadronamiento?

Answer 1

When I applied for my TIE it was due to Brexit, and there were no appointments in Barcelona before the cut-off date, and the nearest place with availability was Granollers.

I had to go there a few times: once to make the application. Once to go and pick it up and be told that there was a delay. Once more to actually pick it up.

From my experience:

1. "can my wife be attended only at the office of National Police in Passeig Sant Joan, Barcelona?"

No. Any office of Policia Nacional is able to process the application.

2. "Would it make sense to go to the office of National Police in Passeig Sant Joan without a prescheduled appointment?"

No. They won't see you without an appointment. In Granollers they were checking people's papers at the door and not letting anyone in the building without an appointment.

3. "can my wife choose an office of national police in another province, in which she neither live nor have empadronamiento?"

@Edd says that the province that this would need to be done in is Barcelona, not Catalunya - trying to go to a police station in Girona or Tarragona would just see you turned away if your registered address (empadronamiento) is in Barcelona.