Skip to Content
Site Navigation Tree
Accessibility

Applying for your NIE Number

As a foreigner in Spain you will need an NIE number (Numero deI identificacion de Extranjero ). This identification number is used to track your financial and official activities in Spain. The NIE always starts with “X” and is followed by seven numbers and a letter. NIE Numbers are needed to:

  • Apply for a business permit
  • Apply for a driving license in Spain or for an international license
  • Apply for a mortgage or other type of loan
  • Buy or sell property
  • Buy a vehicle
  • Employment
  • Inheritance of assets in Spain
  • Insure Property
  • Open a bank account
  • Pay taxes

    • Sign onto the national Social Security service

    Obtaining a NIE number is quite easy and should be a priority upon arrival. You can pay a local gestor to apply for it on your behalf, however you will need to give the gestor power of attorney if you are not present at the time of application.

    How to apply for your NIE

    You apply for your NIE at your local National Police Station in the Departmento de Extranjeros (Foreigners Department). Ask for an NIE application form. The following documents must be submitted to the police station to obtain a NIE number:

    1. Completed and signed original NIE application form and a photocopy copy

    2. Passport and photocopy

    3. Address in Spain

    The process takes four to six weeks, the document is an officially stamped, A4 sized paper bearing your name, date of birth and your NIE number. Keep this document in a safe place as different bureaucratic processes require the original document.

    Back to top  |  Return to Table of Contents

    All of the information was researched at the time of writing and publishing these articles and is to our best knowledge correct and up to date. The Property Guide Spain is not responsible for changes that occur through updates in Spanish legislature. The Property Guide Spain is also not responsible for any errors in any of the literature or advice published on this site.