After attending the local public schools, Álvaro Corrada entered the minor seminary of what was then the Diocese of San Juan in 1955.

[1] Following that assignment, he served as an assistant pastor at the Jesuit-run Nativity Parish on the Lower East Side of Manhattan (1980–1983).

[3] He received his episcopal consecration on August 4, 1985, from Archbishop James Hickey of , with Bishops Thomas Lyons and Eugene Marino serving as co-consecrators, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.

Corrada was named apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Caguas in Puerto Rico as an additional responsibility on July 5, 1997.

[4] In March 2022, Francis appointed Corrada as the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Arecibo, following the ouster of Daniel Fernández Torres due to his refusal to resign.