Now That You’re Here… What’s NIE?!

So in case getting your visa wasn’t enough of a trial. There’s also this NIE thing with it’s own round of hoops. Sigh. But if it was easy, everyone would do it. Here’s the skinny… well at least for non-EU citizens. NIE stands for Número de Identificación de Extranjero, which is basically a identification number for foreigners residing in Spain for more than 3 months (the period automatically allowed with your US passport). It is issued by the Administración General del Estado  (General Administration of the State). It is your ID card while in Spain and helps you do things like join the library (I’m a nerd), sign-up for bike/ride share apps, discounts on tourist attractions, etc.

The fun, or not so fun, aspect of this entire process is often times in order to complete step 2, you need to have completed step 3, but you can’t do step 3 without step 2. And the NIE is all wrapped up in finding a place to live and getting a bank account too. Second sigh. So if either of those things go a bit array, you’re NIE process also gets slowed down. Do not expect that any of the clerks helping you at any point in the process will speak English. They may be able to, but you are in Spain and they will absolutely do all their official work in Spanish. If it was easy… Now, for our specific situation (Mitch has a student visa, I am a dependent on that student visa) these are the steps required-

  1. Get the dependent an NIE number. This is a bit confusing, but Mitch was actually issued his NIE number on his visa, step one was already done for him. There is a NIE number and then the associated card that goes with it, but they use the same term to refer to both. I know. So I needed my own number, which required a visit to this office- SEDE 2 on Carrer de Murcia. No appointment necessary, but I’d recommend going right when it opens, it’ll save you wait time and hopefully from hangry clerks. As with all things in the Spanish government, it depends on the day and the person. We went to get my NIE number before Mitch had his NIE card appointment. The lady nearly turned us away, saying Mitch needed to receive his card before I could start my process. Luckily, she went to ask someone else and they were able to issue my number. Docs required: I brought everything from our initial visa appointment (she really only looked at Mitch’s visa and our marriage license), and also an extra photo copy of my visa page and entry stamp in my passport. No where on their websites does it say anything about this, but they ask for it! She gave us a form with my number and told me I could not get my NIE card appointment until at least 10 days after Mitch got his.
  2. Find a Flat. I will write a whole post on this, but in short you can use these couple sights (Idealista, SHBarcelona) and directly email/WhatsApp the listing owner/agent to view the apartment. NEVER sign for something sight unseen, if an ad looks too good to be true it IS (see common scam ideas here). They may ask for your NIE number, which if you are a student is on your visa, but offer your passport and explain you need the lease to get your empadronamiento to then get your NIE card and can send a copy of it along when you get it (if needed). And know that you’re looking at paying up front: 1st month’s rent, 1-3 months of rent as deposit, and 1-2 months of rent as an agency fee. Yeah, a lot of $$. They might also require you to already have a Spanish bank account to set up auto withdrawals. See step #4.
  3. The Empadronamiento. Tongue-twister, yes. This is basically you registering your address with the local government. You need to bring an original lease agreement with you to prove your address. ORIGINAL! A PDF printout will not do, digital signatures will not do. I would recommend signing in blue ink even. Our clerk ran her fingers over it to see if it was raised! We went to this office. Again, no appointment needed, but go early. Docs needed– original lease, passports (always), and the Empadronamiento form.
  4. Local Bank Account. This is one of those step 3 before 2 things, as in you need one to pay your NIE fee at an ATM, but the bank might require a NIE card to get an account. If that happens you can go into a bank branch and pay in cash (side note: Spanish bank branches close at 2 pm!!). Luckily, Mitch was able to get an account with just his passport and school acceptance letter. We went with Santander (another side note: You often have to return to the original branch where you opened your account to make any changes or get help, so pick one in a convenient location!). Docs needed– passport (always), and acceptance letter.
  5. NIE fee. Gotta pay again. Fill out this form. Then take it to an ATM. I recommend any of Caixa banks along Avinguda Diagonal, but any of the new new ATM’s should work. You need to look for one that’s got a scanner. Bring this completed form with you, insert your local ATM card. Select pay fees and you should be able to scan your form. The fee is around €15. You should receive two copies of the receipt. Bring it with you to the NIE appointment!
  6. NIE Appointment. And now the main event! Making the appointment could actually be #1 or #2. I made our appointments before we left for Spain. I HIGHLY recommend you do this, but only if you already know where you’re living so you can get your empadronamiento right away. Appointments can be as far as 3 months out and a 45 minute train ride away from the city! The resource linked below to Suitelife (How to get a Spanish NIE), does a good job describing how to navigate actually making the appointment. Link for appointment here. Google translate makes it a lot easier, but side note: the translation offered for the appointment you need is literally “Police-taking of footprints (Expedition of Card) and renewal of long-term card,” even Google isn’t perfect. It appears that they let people into the office based on the hour of the their appointment, so I’d recommend going at the top of the hour of your appointment and you may be able to get it done a bit faster. We got appointments at the Rambla de Guipuscoa office, which was still conveniently located within the city. Docs needed- passport (always) and extra photocopy, application form, empadronamiento form, passport sized photo (they say 2, but they only used 1 of ours), photocopies of visa page and entry stamp in your passport, NIE fee form (debatable if you need EX-15 or Ex-17, we did both) and payment receipt (they will probably ask you to show this as you check-in for your appointment), and again I brought all our documentation from the visa process just in case! Mitch and I had our own separate appointments, which were slightly different. But basically you sit down when your number is called, give the clerk your documents, they do the computer things, then they scan your pointer fingers and thumbs, and then give you .
  7. Picking up the Card. Should be the easiest part. They give you a final receipt to take with you. Docs needed– final NIE receipt, passport (always), and I also brought all our documentation again (just in case). The pick up office is at C/ Mallorca 213. The card is good for about a year… you’ll have to apply for an extension if you’re staying longer. TBD on that process until we have to go through it!

Make sure you get drinks after every successful step. You’ve earned it! You might even want one after reading this! We fortunately had a very smooth experience through all these steps… as in we weren’t turned away or have to try 3-4 times. We saw that happening to lots of the other students in Mitch’s program! We also heard people having issues for not having some of their documents translated from their native language to Spanish. We didn’t do this at all and I think with English documents, you’ll probably fine not doing this. As long as you keep in mind that you’ll likely get turned away at some point for something, you won’t find your head exploding too badly. Also, expert tip: keeping the conversation going and being a bit dramatic doesn’t hurt. Not angry, but a bit sad and dramatic can perhaps get you a little further than if you just give up 😉 . But okay.. now we’re flying! 

For more information, here are some helpful sites that I read to figure it all out-

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