Well, we went to get our certificados de residencia last Thursday and it all went quite painlessly, apart from having to wait in line for ever and ever... Here is a short summary of the process. I hope this might be helpful to people who need to do this in the future. It really isn't that difficult to do without a gestor, so long as you know enough Spanish to fill out the application and get your padron. The application form is called Ex_16, and there is a pdf of it online, here. There's also lots of information (in English) out there on how to fill it out - you just have to google for it.

The office we went to is the one at Calle Bailén, 9, 46007, Valencia. It was quite easy to find - just putting the address in Google Maps gives you the general location of the street (to the right side of the train station), although Google Maps doesn't show the correct position of the office on the map - you have to walk much further down the street than is shown on the map. Still, the office is very easy to recognize by the massive line of people waiting outside.

We got there at a quarter to 9 am, and the line outside was quite long already. The office opened at 9, and they started letting people into the courtyard and giving everyone a number. Then we waited inside the courtyard for a while, and they would let a few people inside when seats became available in the waiting area. Inside, there was an office with 2 desks processing people's applications, and a digital display on the wall showing which number was next.

If you already have a residency certificate and are just updating the address, then the process if very quick and simple - you give them your application, a copy of your ID card or passport, your old residency certificate and a padron certificate, they update the address and print out your new certificate right there. No need to pay the processing fee again.

If you are applying for a residency certificate for the first time, then when you present your application, padron and copy of ID document, they give you a form called "modelo 790" which you have to take to a bank and use it to pay the processing fee (10 euros). The bank stamps your "modelo 790", confirming that you've paid the fee. Then you have to come back and get in line again, hand in the "modelo 790" and they'll print out your new certificate.

The first time through the line was not too bad - we got there at 8:45am and were out by 9:50am. Unfortunately by the time we got back from the bank with our "modelo 790", the line had grown quite a bit, and we waited for over 2 hours until we managed to get in again. At around noon, after we had been waiting in line for over an hour, they started turning away anyone who wasn't there just to hand in their "modelo 790". That sped things up quite a bit - otherwise I'm not sure we would have managed to get in at all before they closed at 2pm. We were finally out of there by 1pm, utterly exhausted... I'm glad we won't have to repeat this experience any time soon...

And one last piece of advice - if you need to go get your residency certificate in Valencia city, wear comfortable shoes. I cannot stress this enough.

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