# Spanish bank account



## NickH01 (May 4, 2014)

Hi all. 
Do we need an NIE number in order to open a non- resident bank account? Need to able to pay surveyors costs etc, but not completing until March next year.
So do i need NIE now and renew in March??.

Can I just add, I have asked several questions on this site and your replies have been very helpful, thank you.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

NickH01 said:


> Hi all.
> Do we need an NIE number in order to open a non- resident bank account? Need to able to pay surveyors costs etc, but not completing until March next year.
> So do i need NIE now and renew in March??.
> 
> Can I just add, I have asked several questions on this site and your replies have been very helpful, thank you.


many/most banks will allow you to open a non-resident account with your passport, although the govt is 'encouraging' them to insist upon a NIE


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

NickH01 said:


> Hi all.
> Do we need an NIE number in order to open a non- resident bank account? No.
> Need to able to pay surveyors costs etc, but not completing until March next year. Really need NIE for him to be able to raise a legal invoice/receipt.
> So do i need NIE now and renew in March??. No. If you will be living here permanently, then you will need to sign on the list of foreigners (commonly known as 'residencia' which will include your NIE)
> ...




some answers above


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

snikpoh said:


> some answers above


good point about the surveyor's invoice - so probably best to get a NIE now anyway, & if non-resident, renew in March


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

I'm not sure that is right about needing a NIE for a legal receipt. Then again I don't make out receipts so it could be true and sounds daft enough to be true and I have seen it stated elsewhere but we have a load of receipts/monthly bills that just use our passport number from when we first arrived.

The only time a passport number has been refused is because of computer software not set up to take the digits but if you move on to another company it is not a problem. Our actual number isn't an NIE either and it has just 1 letter that differs from a regular one and that suffers the same computer input issues as well so a passport is always the fall back.

I'm not saying don't get an NIE but your passport number is normally accepted instead. Just ask.


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## Maureen47 (Mar 27, 2014)

We recently went through a similar process , our NIE and passport numbers were required to open an non resident bank account with Bankia and for the documentation with the Notary and Lawyer. We will need to renew when we have further documentation to sign early in 2015 , that was our Lawyers advice.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Pazcat said:


> I'm not sure that is right about needing a NIE for a legal receipt. Then again I don't make out receipts so it could be true and sounds daft enough to be true and I have seen it stated elsewhere but we have a load of receipts/monthly bills that just use our passport number from when we first arrived.
> 
> The only time a passport number has been refused is because of computer software not set up to take the digits but if you move on to another company it is not a problem. Our actual number isn't an NIE either and it has just 1 letter that differs from a regular one and that suffers the same computer input issues as well so a passport is always the fall back.
> 
> I'm not saying don't get an NIE but your passport number is normally accepted instead. Just ask.



Que?

That makes no sense at all. NIE numbers are standard 1 letter, 7 numbers, 1 letter. NIF numbers for extranjeros are the same.

NIF numbers for Spanish nationals are their DNI + 1 letter


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

There are different classes of NIEs and NIFs though which don't use the same letter designation. 
You can have an NIE 'X', 'Y' or 'Z' and an NIF 'K', 'L' or 'M'.
Número de identificación fiscal - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

The problem arises because most people or business's don't even know the different classes exist and if they are using a computer to input their data a lot of the time it is just set up for the most common number/letter designation.
1 letter can make all the difference.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Pazcat said:


> There are different classes of NIEs and NIFs though which don't use the same letter designation.
> You can have an NIE 'X', 'Y' or 'Z' and an NIF 'K', 'L' or 'M'.
> Número de identificación fiscal - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre
> 
> ...


I have students with different letters on their NIEs - but it's still the same configuration - letter - 7 numbers - letter


I don't understand how that can cause a problem??


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

Neither do I, but believe me it does.
We have spent a fair accumulation of hours being wasted because of it only to use our passport in the end.

Like I said though it's not an NIE, it's a NIF and no NIE is actually required.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Pazcat said:


> Neither do I, but believe me it does.
> We have spent a fair accumulation of hours being wasted because of it only to use our passport in the end.
> 
> Like I said though it's not an NIE, it's a NIF and no NIE is actually required.


Like I said, for EU members NIF==NIE

For everyone else NIF==DNI + letter

So the formats are simple and it doesn't (shouldn't) matter what that letter is.

I am still confused when you say "just 1 letter that differs from a regular one" - what does that mean? What's a 'regular one'?


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## larryzx (Jul 2, 2014)

snikpoh said:


> Like I said, for EU members NIF==NIE
> 
> For everyone else NIF==DNI + letter



Non EU citizens, who are resident, have *Residencia *with an NIE.


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

Well you have a regular NIE/NIF right?
The same one that 99.9% of the foreigners are issued with I assume. What letter does it start with?
A 'Y' or 'X' possibly

Mine is not the same, although it has 7 numbers and a letter at the beginning and end but mine does not begin with an X or Y. This is where the issue lies. 

You are right, the formats are simple and it shouldn't matter but clearly it is far too much to handle for whichever programmers are the ones not including all formats into their systems.
There is no explanation other than that that I can give you other than 'computer says NO!'.

And it's rather a pain in the backside at times.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

snikpoh said:


> Like I said, for EU members NIF==NIE
> 
> For everyone else NIF==DNI + letter
> 
> ...



maybe it's just that there's a Y or a Z at the beginning?

or maybe an M??

from the link given


> Extranjeros sin NIE, de forma transitoria por estar obligados a tenerlo o bien de forma definitiva al no estar obligados a ello. Anterior a la entrada en vigor de la Orden EHA/451/2008 el 1 de julio de 2008 sólo se incluían los extranjeros sin NIE miembros de embajadas, consulados u organismos internacionales y que estuvieran acreditados en España (no están obligados a disponer de NIE).


rough translation



> Foreigners without NIE, temporarily or permanently or those not obliged to have one. Prior to the Order EHA/451/2008 the July 1, 2008 foreigners without NIE included members of embassies, consulates or international organisations which were accredited in Spain (not required to have NIE)


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

That is pretty much it.
The difference between one letter is all it takes for it not to be admitted into various computers.

Not all of them though, it's rather hit and miss but when it does normally a passport number is fine.


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## castaway06 (Jul 25, 2014)

The difference between an NIE and a NIF is the leading letter, however if you want to change an NIE into a valid NIF for some badly programmed systems you can do the following
change the X into a Zero
the Y into a 1
and the Z into a 2

ie Y7654321T becomes 17654321T

For systems that simply do a validity check this should be enough. However some are so badly written that the leading zero can cause problems in its own right

For the technical amongst the audience the end letter is a check digit based on a modulo 20 function for the other eight digits (and no the look up table isn't in alphabetical order)

And for the naughty amongst us once you know the formula you can make up your own valid numbers to order  

(I found the details on the internet a few years ago while working on an IT project)


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