What is the NIE?

The spanish immigration law establishes that citizens who do not have Spanish nationality must have a sequential identification number in certain cases. Therefore, the Foreign Identification Number (NIE) is a personal, unique and exclusive number, which is assigned to foreign citizens for the sole purpose of their identification. It is made up of a letter and seven numbers, plus a final identification letter.

The NIE is necessary for both EU and non-EU citizens. The NIE does not grant any right to residence or work in Spanish territory, it is only used for identification. For this reason, it must be differentiated from the Tarjeta de Identificación de Extranjeros (TIE), which does enable you to reside and/or work in Spain.

The NIE can be granted ex officio by the Spanish public administration when an administrative residence or immigration procedure is being processed. In this case, it is not necessary to request it.

However, in other cases it is necessary to request it. In this situation are people who have economic, professional or social interests that are related to Spain and are going to carry out procedures that require their identification, such as any signature with a notary, buying a property, buying or selling a vehicle, create a company, pay taxes, hire supplies for a property, etc. In this case, the person concerned must request to obtain the NIE, communicating the reason for which this identification number is required. Besides, it is required that this person is not in Spain in an irregular situation.

Where can the NIE be requested?

The NIE can be requested at the Immigration Office or the Police Station of your home address if you reside in Spain (for example, with a visa, for which it is not required to have a NIE). It can also be done at the Consular Offices of Spain abroad, if the applicant is not in Spanish territory.

In practice, it is common for the office that processes the NIE request to require you to provide some type of proof that proves the economic or social interest that justifies the NIE request. For this, it is convenient to have any means of documentary justification of the management that is going to be carried out in Spain.

Contact us if you need help with the processing of your NIE.