If you’re thinking of moving to Spain or have already moved here recently, then you will no doubt be familiar with hearing “NIE” or “Residencia” mentioned. For general holidays or short stays then your EU (European Union) country passport should suffice. Just make sure that you carry it with you at all times as you will be asked for it in most places when making a payment with a credit or debit card. However, if you live here and you want to benefit more fully from local Spanish services etc, then a NIE number will come in very handy. NIE actually stands for “Número de Identificación del Extranjero” (Foreigner’s Identity Number) and it starts with a letter “X” follow by a series of numbers and a final letter. A point to note when filling out these forms is that, like all forms in Spain, instead of putting a TICK in the boxes, you need to put an “X”.
You can obtain your own personal identity number by downloading the NIE Request Form, filling it out in duplicate and then taking it along to Comisaría (National Police Station) in your area. First they will give you another little form, which is a payment form that you must take to a bank, pay the fee (9.18€ as of 16-06-09) and get it stamped by the cashier. Then you can go back to the Comisaría and hand in the stamped payment form together with your NIE Request forms and a copy of your passport (YOU ALSO NEED TO HAVE YOUR ORIGINAL PASSPORT WITH YOU). The Police will stamp them and give you a receipt. Whether they give you an NIE number there and then, I can’t say as I had to wait 6 weeks for mine when I first arrived in Spain 8 years ago. If anyone else has had any experience with this then please leave your comments below. The worst that can happen is that you’ll have to go back to pick it up some time later.
DOWNLOAD NIE REQUEST FORM (EX 14)
(Size= 644Kb)
The second form that we have available to download is to request an EU Resident Certificate. Up until a couple of years ago, you had to go through a long waiting process to get a “Residencia” (Residence Card) but now things have changed. If you are from an EU country then you just need to apply for a certificate that states the aforementioned fact. This is done there and then at the Comisaría. Just download the form, fill it in in duplicate, take along a copy of your passport and NIE number (DON’T FORGET TO TAKE YOUR ORIGINALS AS WELL!), go through the same process with paying the fee (currently 10.00€ as of 16-06-09) and they will print out your certificate on the spot.
DOWNLOAD EU RESIDENT CERTIFICATE REQUEST FORM (EX 16)
(Size= 560Kb)
Just out of interest, we have attached a Residence Card Request Form for those of you who are not from the EU. This process is more or less the same except for the fact that you have to take along several photos and then wait about two months before collecting it, depending on the amount of foreigners requesting them at your local Comisaría.
DOWNLOAD RESIDENCE CARD REQUEST FORM (EX 15)
(Size= 460Kb)
Each file has two pages (as you need to present them in duplicate) so if you use a computer to fill them out, the second page automatically gets filled in with the same information as the first page. If I have missed anything out or you have questions about filling them in, then please leave your comments below. In the meantime, please see the chart below to use as a general guide in filling out the NIE form:
Section 1
DATOS PERSONALES – PERSONAL DETAILS
|
1er Apellido |
Surname / Family Name |
|
2er Apellido |
2nd Surname (leave blank if you just have one surname) |
|
Nombre |
Forename / Christian Name |
|
Fecha de Nacimiento |
Date of Birth (Format DD/MM/YYYY) |
|
Lugar de nacimiento |
Place of Birth (Town) |
|
Sexo |
Gender “H” Male (Hombre) and “M” Female (Mujer) |
|
Estado Civil: |
Status “S” Single (Soltero) “C” Married (Casado) “V” Widow (Viudo) “D” Divorced (Divorciado) |
|
País de nacimiento |
Country of Birth |
|
País de nacionalidad |
Country where you have your Nationality |
|
Nombre del Padre |
Father’s Name |
|
Nombre de la Madre |
Mother’s Name |
|
Domicilio en España |
Address in Spain |
|
Localidad |
Town |
|
CP |
Post Code |
|
Provincia |
Province |
Section 2
LUGAR DONDE SE SOLICITA EL NIE – WHERE YOU’RE REQUESTING THE NIE FROM
|
España |
Spain |
|
Fuera de España |
Outside Of Spain |
|
Embajada/Consulado |
Embassy/Consulate (State Name) |
Section 3
DATOS RELATIVOS A LA SOLICITUD – REASONS FOR APPLICATION
|
Económico |
Economic |
|
Profesional |
Professional (use this if it is for work reasons) |
|
Social |
Social (use this if it is for buying a house, car etc) |
|
Detalle del motivo |
A brief explanation (in Spanish): Lo necesito para trabajar (I need it to be able to work), Lo necesito para comprar una casa / un coche (I need it to be able to buy a house / a car). |
Section 4
DATOS DEL REPRESENTANTE LEGAL – LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE
You only need to fill this in if you are having someone else hand this form in for you. The person that is representing you would also need to take their own passport/ID document with them and a photocopy.
|
D/Dª |
Mr/Ms (delete as appropriate) write full name here |
|
DNI/NIE |
DNI number (Spanish nationals only) or NIE Number |
|
Título en base… |
Type of relationship of the person that’s representing you |
|
Firma |
Signature of the person that’s representing you |
Section 5
DOMICILIO A EFECTOS DE NOTIFICACIONES
Address (in Spain) where you want them to send any correspondence to. On the dotted lines put the name of the town where you’re signing the for, the date in numbers, the month in letters and the year in numbers.
Sign the form at the bottom, under “firma de solicitante”.
Finally place an “X” in the box that says “SÍ” (to allow them to check who you say you are. If you say “NO” then you need to go through unnecessary hassle to provide other paperwork).
THE FORMS NEED TO BE FILLED OUT IN CAPITALS, IN BLACK INK AND ON A COMPUTER OR BY HAND.
I followed the instructions, downloaded the forms and now have my NIE. Thanks for this well-written and helpful article.