# Identity card



## Clemmie00 (Jun 10, 2012)

Just a quick question.

When you get your NIE, do you get a photo ID card?


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

Clemmie00 said:


> Just a quick question.
> 
> When you get your NIE, do you get a photo ID card?


No.
At the moment if you apply for a foreigners certificate then your NIE gets put on the same form. A4 piece of paper, which actually states that it is not a legal form of identity.

There are areas that have started to issue a card now instead of the form, but I'm not sure which ones


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## Clemmie00 (Jun 10, 2012)

Thanks for the info.

So foreigners resident in Spain have no form of ID except driving licences and passports?


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

EU citizens don't get an ID card. If you are not EU then you get the ID card which has on it your NIE.


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

Clemmie00 said:


> Thanks for the info.
> 
> So foreigners resident in Spain have no form of ID except driving licences and passports?


In most cases thats correct. Some people I know have kept their old residency cards but certainly the only accepted form of identity (oficially) I have now is my passport


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

I do not need an Identity card, that's because I know who I am. 

Those that carry these cards, well the poor souls are usually confused, and not sure who they are or where they live.


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## Clemmie00 (Jun 10, 2012)

Hepa said:


> I do not need an Identity card, that's because I know who I am.
> 
> Those that carry these cards, well the poor souls are usually confused, and not sure who they are or where they live.


What's your point? I'm pretty sure everyone knows who they are. More difficult to prove to the police who you are when you get stopped without a valid form of ID because you didn't want to take your sole form of legal identification (passport) out to the bar. Or are you white enough to have never been asked for ID while minding your own business?


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Clemmie00 said:


> What's your point? I'm pretty sure everyone knows who they are. More difficult to prove to the police who you are when you get stopped without a valid form of ID because you didn't want to take your sole form of legal identification (passport) out to the bar. Or are you white enough to have never been asked for ID while minding your own business?


It is quite adequate to produce your Spanish Driving Licence which is an official ID and slips easily into a wallet unlike a passport which is just too big.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Clemmie00 said:


> What's your point? I'm pretty sure everyone knows who they are. More difficult to prove to the police who you are when you get stopped without a valid form of ID because you didn't want to take your sole form of legal identification (passport) out to the bar. Or are you white enough to have never been asked for ID while minding your own business?


he doesn't have a point................ he's joking


& in fact there's no legal requirement to carry ID now if you're just walking around - you just need your driving licence if you're driving


no matter what colour you are........................


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## Clemmie00 (Jun 10, 2012)

baldilocks said:


> It is quite adequate to produce your Spanish Driving Licence which is an official ID and slips easily into a wallet unlike a passport which is just too big.


I don't have a driving licence.

I wasn't aware that there was no longer a requirement to carry ID. I was stopped and asked for it earlier this year and absolutely interrogated when I said I didn't have any on me. So the police can no longer ask for papers/ID on the street? Since when?


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> no matter what colour you are........................


Yes they just assume that: 

if you look burnt to a crisp and your skin is sloughing off in flakes then you must be a resident 
if you look pale and insipid you're a tourist who's just come from the airport 
varying degrees of red smothered in calomine lotion then you are coming to the end of your first week 
red turning to brown you are probably near the end of your fortnight' holiday in the sun


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

I have never been stopped and asked for I.D. in the Canary Islands (on and off since 1962) or Iberian Spain.

The only place I have ever been requested to produce an Identity card was New York.


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## Clemmie00 (Jun 10, 2012)

Hepa said:


> I have never been stopped and asked for I.D. in the Canary Islands (on and off since 1962) or Iberian Spain.
> 
> The only place I have ever been requested to produce an Identity card was New York.


Are you white?


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Clemmie00 said:


> Are you white?


Why does that matter? I mean of course, unfortunately, it does in many countries, but why are you making that point? If you are black or of ethnic origin in a white dominated country then I'm on your side since I moved from a location in UK where blacks were stopped and questioned for no reason whatsoever, something which I abhor. But I'd like you to be specific about why you are asking folk if they are white. Please?


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Of course, I just realised, you might be joking....


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## Clemmie00 (Jun 10, 2012)

thrax said:


> Why does that matter? I mean of course, unfortunately, it does in many countries, but why are you making that point? If you are black or of ethnic origin in a white dominated country then I'm on your side since I moved from a location in UK where blacks were stopped and questioned for no reason whatsoever, something which I abhor. But I'd like you to be specific about why you are asking folk if they are white. Please?


Sorry, I thought it was obvious from my other posts. I've always felt the need to carry ID in Spain because as a non-white looking person, I get stopped. The last time I lived in Spain, only my non-white friends ever seemed to get stopped. Those who looked Spanish didn't and those who looked like guiris (white skin, blond hair, blue eyes) didn't either. So someone who scoffs at the idea of carrying ID and reckons it never happens surely must have the luxury of having a white appearance and not realising just how common it is for some ethnic groups to get stopped, that's what I mean. You don't tend to notice this stuff when it doesn't happen to you.


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

I didn't know that it was no longer necessary to carry ID in Spain. I hate carrying my passport around.

I never understand, either, why I am often asked for photo ID, in Spain, if I want to use my credit/debit card.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

brocher said:


> I never understand, either, why I am often asked for photo ID, in Spain, if I want to use my credit/debit card.


Much depends on whether you are known at the place you are trying to use your card. It happens less if you have a chip and pin card and whether you look suspicious.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Clemmie00 said:


> Sorry, I thought it was obvious from my other posts. I've always felt the need to carry ID in Spain because as a non-white looking person, I get stopped. The last time I lived in Spain, only my non-white friends ever seemed to get stopped. Those who looked Spanish didn't and those who looked like guiris (white skin, blond hair, blue eyes) didn't either. So someone who scoffs at the idea of carrying ID and reckons it never happens surely must have the luxury of having a white appearance and not realising just how common it is for some ethnic groups to get stopped, that's what I mean. You don't tend to notice this stuff when it doesn't happen to you.


Sorry I didn't realise but as I said in my last post I absolutely abhor that kind of stop and search regime. I've never been stopped (it will happen for sure now I've said that) and I don't recall having seen anyone stopped here (where I live) who was of, as far as the policeare concerned, ethnic origin. But at the moment it is the world we live in and I do my bit to try and change people's views. Good luck to you anyway...


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

baldilocks said:


> Much depends on whether you are known at the place you are trying to use your card. It happens less if you have a chip and pin card and whether you look suspicious.


I must look very suspect then, I get asked for my passport in every shop in Spain!


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## Clemmie00 (Jun 10, 2012)

thrax said:


> Sorry I didn't realise but as I said in my last post I absolutely abhor that kind of stop and search regime. I've never been stopped (it will happen for sure now I've said that) and I don't recall having seen anyone stopped here (where I live) who was of, as far as the policeare concerned, ethnic origin. But at the moment it is the world we live in and I do my bit to try and change people's views. Good luck to you anyway...


I've never experienced racism from the police here in the UK or been asked to produce any ID. In Spain, I sometimes got dirty looks and followed around shops, which was hurtful. It's just awful to feel judged and looked down on because of your skin colour. People would nearly always do a 180 when they realised I was from the UK and not wherever they were thinking of (I believe they think I'm Latin American), but it's still not nice. Anyway, that's a whole other topic and I'd prefer to be positive about Spain for now


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

brocher said:


> I must look very suspect then, I get asked for my passport in every shop in Spain!


But is it a card on a non-Spanish bank? If so then that would explain it because the card systems don't seem to be able to clear payments fast enough when a foreign card is involved (check for forged card, ID check, check for stolen, check for blocked card, fraudulent use, is use within normal pattern of usage, check for sufficient funds, etc...). For a Spanish card, the systems seem to be able to cope better and one is less likely to be asked for ID. Of course, in a tourist area proof of ID is required more often because of the higher incidence of card theft/loss.

If I use my UK Visa card, then I sometimes have to produce either my D/L or P/P.


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

baldilocks said:


> But is it a card on a non-Spanish bank? If so then that would explain it because the card systems don't seem to be able to clear payments fast enough when a foreign card is involved (check for forged card, ID check, check for stolen, check for blocked card, fraudulent use, is use within normal pattern of usage, check for sufficient funds, etc...). For a Spanish card, the systems seem to be able to cope better and one is less likely to be asked for ID. Of course, in a tourist area proof of ID is required more often because of the higher incidence of card theft/loss.
> 
> If I use my UK Visa card, then I sometimes have to produce either my D/L or P/P.


I think that's the reason. I've watched others being asked for ID too, before the staff have even looked at the card. Just seems to be routine, especially in some of the large supermarkets, in Marbella. Certainly nothing to do with colour.

I nearly had a heart attackwhen I was asked for ID, having just spent hours getting round the huge hypermarket, examiining all the unfamiliar labels to do that first huge shop. Luckily my dd was carrying her passport which they accepted for my card. The very thought of having to leave that shopping and do it all again when I had either my passport - or cash - on me!


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## JulyB (Jul 18, 2011)

If it's any consolation, I'm apparently (people tell me) about as suspicious looking as a sick kitten (and as pale as can be, if it helps at all) and in Madrid have been followed around shops, stopped, asked for ID, have never bought anything with a card without showing a passport - they don't even accept my driving licence. 

One time I was even searched and the security guard in a Casa del libro called me a thief and a liar and tried to call the police on me because there was a newish book in my bag which I had bought days before from a different store. Only when I showed a member of staff the annotations I had made and (thank goodness) was able to produce the receipt from the depths of my handbag, did they let me go.

I'm not downplaying your concerns, I know it's horrible, but sometimes it's also just part of the fun of being foreign and living in a city. I dream of having an ID card - it would make so many things easier.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Not sure if this is the right place to post this but found it in my e-mail inbox today, from our Ayuntamiento (poorly translated, not by me) 
_*
NEW REGULATION 
FOR CITIZEN WHO HAVE ALREADY THEIR RESIDENCIA (GREEN PAPER) THEIR SITUATION WILL NOT CHANGE AT ALL AND DO NOT NEED TO APPLY AGAIN.

According to the new regulation from the European Community , we inform you that from now on ,citizens from Eu community who apply for residency in Spain will have to present a few documents as:

For Pensioners:

-	Certificado de empadronamiento (registry at the Town Hall)
-	Health cover ( medical insurance either from social security or private insurance)
-	Bank Statement proving that they receive monthly their pension.
-	Original and copy of passport
-	Application form

Not pensioners:

-	Certificado de empadronamiento (registry certificate at the Town Hall)

-	Work contract or Bank statement ( at least 6000 euros per year per person) to avoid to depend on Spanish government)

-	Health cover insurance (medical insurance either from social security or private insurance)

-	Original and copy of the passport

-	Application form 

You will have to call the National Police Station for appointment *_

So presumably a family of four will need to show proof of income of 24k euros p.a. ....or are children exempt from this requirement?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> Not sure if this is the right place to post this but found it in my e-mail inbox today, from our Ayuntamiento (poorly translated, not by me
> _*
> NEW REGULATION
> FOR CITIZEN WHO HAVE ALREADY THEIR RESIDENCIA (GREEN PAPER) THEIR SITUATION WILL NOT CHANGE AT ALL AND DO NOT NEED TO APPLY AGAIN.
> ...


well that's pretty clear - I'll copy it onto the 'new regs for res certs' thread


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

brocher said:


> I didn't know that it was no longer necessary to carry ID in Spain. I hate carrying my passport around.
> 
> I never understand, either, why I am often asked for photo ID, in Spain, if I want to use my credit/debit card.


I do not have photo I.D. apart from passport, and that is locked in a safe place, so if I use my debit card and the sellers will not accept it without photo I.D., then they lose a sale and I purchase elsewhere. Now if everyone did this................


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## anles (Feb 11, 2009)

brocher said:


> I didn't know that it was no longer necessary to carry ID in Spain. I hate carrying my passport around.
> 
> I never understand, either, why I am often asked for photo ID, in Spain, if I want to use my credit/debit card.


I believe it is obligatory, Spanish nationals have to carry their DNI on them, so I don't think there will be a different law for foreign residents. And in any case, the amount of time you have to use it, it doesn't make sense NOT to carry it. I wouldn't be very happy if I paid by debit/credit card and they didn't verify my identity. An identity card makes identity theft much more difficult. And it makes it even harder to for anyone else to use your card if they have found it, stolen it or obtained one in your name.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

anles said:


> I believe it is obligatory, Spanish nationals have to carry their DNI on them, so I don't think there will be a different law for foreign residents. And in any case, the amount of time you have to use it, it doesn't make sense NOT to carry it. I wouldn't be very happy if I paid by debit/credit card and they didn't verify my identity. An identity card makes identity theft much more difficult. And it makes it even harder to for anyone else to use your card if they have found it, stolen it or obtained one in your name.


the only ID I have is my passport - I don't carry it around on a daily basis -only if I know I'll be needing it for something official - it's just too expensive & too much hassle to get a new one if it goes missing - as it inevitably did when I_ was_ in the habit of carrying it

I'm sure I've heard that it isn't a legal requirement now to carry it - I'll have a think about where I read it & see if I can find a link


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

xabiachica said:


> well that's pretty clear - I'll copy it onto the 'new regs for res certs' thread




They might say "You will have to call the National Police Station for appointment" but I suspect they mean "extranjero office" this may, or may not, be in the National Police Station.


A lot of places have closed and one now has to go to their main centre (Valencia for us 'round here).


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

snikpoh said:


> They might say "You will have to call the National Police Station for appointment" but I suspect they mean "extranjero office" this may, or may not, be in the National Police Station.
> 
> 
> A lot of places have closed and one now has to go to their main centre (Valencia for us 'round here).


some of the extranjerías are in the National Police office 

they've stopped doing the registration/resident certs in Teulada now - too much trouble

which leaves us with Denia or Benidorm - Benidorm is the easy choice - walk in walk out


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## Solwriter (Jan 10, 2012)

Clemmie00 said:


> Sorry, I thought it was obvious from my other posts. I've always felt the need to carry ID in Spain because as a non-white looking person, I get stopped. The last time I lived in Spain, only my non-white friends ever seemed to get stopped. Those who looked Spanish didn't and those who looked like guiris (white skin, blond hair, blue eyes) didn't either. So someone who scoffs at the idea of carrying ID and reckons it never happens surely must have the luxury of having a white appearance and not realising just how common it is for some ethnic groups to get stopped, that's what I mean. You don't tend to notice this stuff when it doesn't happen to you.


Hi Clemmie, I've just seen this.
I'm mixed race but most people in Spain have told me I look a mixture of Southern Italian and South American (unlike in the UK, where I have been called by a whole host of racial slurs).
The only time I have been asked for photo ID in Spain is at the till in a shop when I'm using my (Spanish) debit card.
I have actually experienced much less racism in Spain than either me or my family experienced in the UK - where stop and search (and worse) happens far more often than necessary.

But as a non-driver, I do carry my passport with me just in case, both in Spain and in the UK.
It has become a habit over the years...


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

Solwriter said:


> I'm mixed race but most people in Spain have told me I look a mixture of Southern Italian and South American .


You look Spanish?


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

JulyB said:


> If it's any consolation, I'm apparently (people tell me) about as suspicious looking as a sick kitten (and as pale as can be, if it helps at all) and in Madrid have been followed around shops, stopped, asked for ID, have never bought anything with a card without showing a passport - they don't even accept my driving licence.
> 
> One time I was even searched and the security guard in a Casa del libro called me a thief and a liar and tried to call the police on me because there was a newish book in my bag which I had bought days before from a different store. Only when I showed a member of staff the annotations I had made and (thank goodness) was able to produce the receipt from the depths of my handbag, did they let me go.
> 
> I'm not downplaying your concerns, I know it's horrible, but sometimes it's also just part of the fun of being foreign and living in a city. I dream of having an ID card - it would make so many things easier.


I live in Madrid, but go to other parts of Spain and have always, in several years (about 12 because I remember when it first happened) been asked for ID when I pay by card, except in a few local shops where they know me. Since my old residents card ran out I have always used my drivers licence and it has never been refused. Good job as I never carry my passport! My husband who is Spanish is always asked for ID when paying by card too so it's not to do with who you are; it's just procedure. I can't even think of anybody I know who doesn't automatically hand over ID when paying by card.

PS My driving licence is Spanish - perhaps yours isn't.


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

If the shop doesn't ask for ID and it turns out to be a stolen /cloned card the shop can be held responsible for the transaction. 

Of course if you want the real reason you all look too young to have cards


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