# Online NIE application.



## Alan K (Dec 31, 2017)

There are a few on-line NIE application companies where they do all the processing and postage etc. Has anyone used one, and what was your experience?


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## tebo53 (Sep 18, 2014)

Alan K said:


> There are a few on-line NIE application companies where they do all the processing and postage etc. Has anyone used one, and what was your experience?


Hi, yes I got my NIE through an online application company whilst I was still living in the UK (it would be about 7 years ago) But I also had to get all my application paperwork rubber stamped by a notary in the UK.

It probably took around 6 weeks in all. Can't remember how much it was now but I remember it being quite expensive added with the notary fee.

Steve


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## Alan K (Dec 31, 2017)

Thank you Steve..
They are called Smart-nie-number.com and there fees are 249 euros for there ultimate service. It does sound to easy to me, you fill out the forms, send them along with your passport and they send everything back in a few days. As i am pressed for time i may have to go down this road. I just wondered how reputable they were.


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## tebo53 (Sep 18, 2014)

Alan K said:


> Thank you Steve..
> They are called Smart-nie-number.com and there fees are 249 euros for there ultimate service. It does sound to easy to me, you fill out the forms, send them along with your passport and they send everything back in a few days. As i am pressed for time i may have to go down this road. I just wondered how reputable they were.


I've not heard of that company. Perhaps you could find a review page on their site. 

If you are in or coming to Spain it's quite easy to get an NIE number.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Do it yourself when you get here, it's very simple. 

Or if you really need one before you arrive (unlikely) then you can get it done at the Spanish consulate in the UK.

And it's less than 11€.

I can't imagine why anyone would pay 249€ to any company!


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## CHRISJK (Jun 26, 2014)

*oops*



xabiachica said:


> Do it yourself when you get here, it's very simple.
> 
> Or if you really need one before you arrive (unlikely) then you can get it done at the Spanish consulate in the UK.
> 
> ...


I wish I had seen this earlier, because my Wife and I have just returned from a visit to Spain, and we have kick started our NIE applications with a firm of Solicitors. The cost is 85 Euros each, and we have to return to Spain in a few weeks to complete the process


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## expat16 (Jun 11, 2016)

I just got mine today via email after applying for it in person on January 22nd at the Spain consulate in Washington, DC. 

Didn't need any additional documents other than the form, where I checked that I needed it in order to open a bank account.

ETA: I did need to take my passport with me, and they made a copy of it.


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## Alan K (Dec 31, 2017)

Thanks for the reply.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

I got mine for €10 after downloading the application form from the 'stickies'on this Forum and taking the documents and photos as specified on the application.
I went in person to the police station in Estepona and the whole process took about an hour in total including a trip to the bank to pay the €10.
I was given Residencía at the same time.
If the Sticky is still available - I haven't looked - that's all you need. If in doubt about anything, ask on this Forum and someone will help.
Absolutely no need to engage the services of a gestor, lawyer or any other agency.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> I got mine for €10 after downloading the application form from the 'stickies'on this Forum and taking the documents and photos as specified on the application.
> I went in person to the police station in Estepona and the whole process took about an hour in total including a trip to the bank to pay the €10.
> I was given Residencía at the same time.
> If the Sticky is still available - I haven't looked - that's all you need. If in doubt about anything, ask on this Forum and someone will help.
> Absolutely no need to engage the services of a gestor, lawyer or any other agency.


The sticky is still there & last time I checked the links to the forms were still working. 

They do change links now & then though, so if anyone finds that the links don't work, let us know & we'll get the up to date one.


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## Laurens Pilger (Sep 23, 2021)

Hello, I realize this is an old topic but perhaps this is of use for some people. Requesting a NIE number is easy for some, difficult for others - in some busy touristic areas of Spain you can often expect very long queues and not everybody is able to fill out the EX-15 form by themselves. The best thing to do when you want to avoid long queues (which can sometimes take up your entire day) is to make an appointment via the "Sede electrónica" on the "Administraciónes públicas" part of the Spanish government website. Just go to Proceso automático para la solicitud de cita previa, select your province and choose "ASIGNACIÓN DE NIE" in one of the dropdown boxes. 

However, often times this form will display that there are no available appointments, or give you an appointment months in advance. The trick is to load the page at around 11:50 ~ 11:55, select your province, and then wait until 12:00 and refresh the page. Now proceed to request your appointment, a lot of times you will get appointment opportunities as soon as just 2 or 3 days. Note that you will need a Spanish mobile phone number for the confirmation of the appointment by SMS, otherwise you will not be able to finalize and confirm. The oddity here is that in order to purchase a Spanish SIM card, you need a NIE number, so you're best off using a friend's phone number.

Without advertising, I have a lot of knowledge on the topic since I have an agency specialized in processing NIE number applications via online registration, since there are still a lot of people who find the process is too difficult or frustrating to complete by themselves.

Having said that and explained my background in relation to this topic, if anyone has any questions about the process you can let me know by posting in this topic and i'll try to help out where I can without shamelessly advertising my own company.


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## asiasi (Mar 19, 2021)

Laurens Pilger said:


> Hello, I realize this is an old topic but perhaps this is of use for some people. Requesting a NIE number is easy for some, difficult for others - in some busy touristic areas of Spain you can often expect very long queues and not everybody is able to fill out the EX-15 form by themselves. The best thing to do when you want to avoid long queues (which can sometimes take up your entire day) is to make an appointment via the "Sede electrónica" on the "Administraciónes públicas" part of the Spanish government website. Just go to Proceso automático para la solicitud de cita previa, select your province and choose "ASIGNACIÓN DE NIE" in one of the dropdown boxes.
> 
> However, often times this form will display that there are no available appointments, or give you an appointment months in advance. The trick is to load the page at around 11:50 ~ 11:55, select your province, and then wait until 12:00 and refresh the page. Now proceed to request your appointment, a lot of times you will get appointment opportunities as soon as just 2 or 3 days. Note that you will need a Spanish mobile phone number for the confirmation of the appointment by SMS, otherwise you will not be able to finalize and confirm. The oddity here is that in order to purchase a Spanish SIM card, you need a NIE number, so you're best off using a friend's phone number.
> 
> ...


Hi,
You mention you need an NIE for a spanish sim card, I assume that would be needed for a pay monthly sim?..surely you can just buy a pay as you go /prepaid sim instead as most tourists do


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## Laurens Pilger (Sep 23, 2021)

asiasi said:


> Hi,
> You mention you need an NIE for a spanish sim card, I assume that would be needed for a pay monthly sim?..surely you can just buy a pay as you go /prepaid sim instead as most tourists do


Actually, a NIE is requested for prepaid (one-off) SIM cards also, although providers such as Lebara and Lyca are known to be the exceptions and will also accept a passport number to register the SIM card to, but if you wish to buy a Vodafone prepaid SIM card at Carrefour for example, the cashier will definitely ask for a NIE number.

The main factor here is that SIM cards in Spain are always registered to a person's name, where in The Netherlands for example, you can simply grab a SIM from the pile and activate it without providing any details.


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## Do28 (Dec 21, 2010)

You can get a Vodafone sim with just your passport number. My wife picked one up who does not have an NIE and is not a resident. The NIE is dead easy (at least in Jerez), I can't imagine why anyone would pay someone to do it. I went online, booked an appointment at the Police station, went with a completed EX15 form and proof of payment for the €10.87 and they gave me an A4 sheet with the number on there and then. If you go on the Age in Spain website they have a full guide on how to apply for the NIE including translation of the form.


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## Laurens Pilger (Sep 23, 2021)

flybe said:


> You can get a Vodafone sim with just your passport number. My wife picked one up who does not have an NIE and is not a resident. The NIE is dead easy (at least in Jerez), I can't imagine why anyone would pay someone to do it. I went online, booked an appointment at the Police station, went with a completed EX15 form and proof of payment for the €10.87 and they gave me an A4 sheet with the number on there and then. If you go on the Age in Spain website they have a full guide on how to apply for the NIE including translation of the form.


You'd be surprised by the amount of people wanting to outsource the process, usually simply because they wish to have their NIE number before moving to Spain and as such have their application processed while still residing in their country of origin. The process has indeed become much easier than a decade ago, but to each their own - there's still a lot of people who prefer to have it done for them.


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## Do28 (Dec 21, 2010)

Laurens Pilger said:


> You'd be surprised by the amount of people wanting to outsource the process, usually simply because they wish to have their NIE number before moving to Spain and as such have their application processed while still residing in their country of origin. The process has indeed become much easier than a decade ago, but to each their own - there's still a lot of people who prefer to have it done for them.


Maybe so, but I don't understand why people get so hung up on the NIE. I managed 13 years without one, my passport was always fine. My wife only recently applied for one even though she is not a resident and it was painless. There is certainly no need to have one before coming to Spain in my experience. But whatever floats your boat I guess!! Same goes for the "padron".


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## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

There are a number of reasons people require NIE numbers even if they have never set foot in Spain. When my mother in law died all her children needed NIE numbers plus spouses to allow the sale of the property. The spouses never even came to Spain but it was done through POA. On other reason people outsource is that they dont speak Spanish and it is a courtesy to get someone to help you. When I went to get my TIE there were British folk constantly coming to the front of the office to ask the guard questions that he couldn't understand and was basically telling them to get a translator as it was slowing everything down.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

flybe said:


> Maybe so, but I don't understand why people get so hung up on the NIE. I managed 13 years without one, my passport was always fine. My wife only recently applied for one even though she is not a resident and it was painless. There is certainly no need to have one before coming to Spain in my experience. But whatever floats your boat I guess!! Same goes for the "padron".


Well, to start with if you are resident it's a legal obligation to go on the padrón where you live. Then you are counted in the town's population and government grants etc are based on number of inhabitants. So it's socially irresponsible not to register IMO. You also need it to vote in municipal elections, get your children into state schools etc etc.

As for the NIE you need it to do a tax declaration. And if you are resident you need to do this annually (even if you have no income generated in Spain). Not to mention buying property, mobile phone contracts, taking delivery of parcels and many more things. I can't imagine how you survived without one! 

EDIT don't you also need an NIE to apply for residency?


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## Laurens Pilger (Sep 23, 2021)

Alcalaina said:


> Well, to start with if you are resident it's a legal obligation to go on the padrón where you live. Then you are counted in the town's population and government grants etc are based on number of inhabitants. So it's socially irresponsible not to register IMO. You also need it to vote in municipal elections, get your children into state schools etc etc.
> 
> As for the NIE you need it to do a tax declaration. And if you are resident you need to do this annually (even if you have no income generated in Spain). Not to mention buying property, mobile phone contracts, taking delivery of parcels and many more things. I can't imagine how you survived without one!


Completely agree with this. I can imagine one can manage without empadronamiento but a NIE is an absolute neccessity. There's also the matter of your drivers license - if you permanently reside in Spain (that is, 181 days per year or more) you are required to be able to present a Spanish drivers license - claiming you don't live in Spain (semi-)permanently and thus do not possess a Spanish license every time you get pulled over, while you actually do live here, is a lie that might work once or twice but can eventually end up costing you significant fines that can be easily prevented.

The matter of registering at the padrón is the most important in my opinion. Suppose everyone would neglect to register, you end up with a town of which half the inhabitants do not officially reside there (a very realistic figure for towns predominantly inhabited by immigrants) and as a direct result will not nearly have enough budget to properly be maintained. I would strongly advise to always register at your town hall, it doesn't cost you a cent and greatly benefits the place where you live.


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## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

I assume that Flybe means he was coming to Spain for visits and not living here as that is impossible without a NIE ( well you must have done something illegal). For example, you couldn't buy a property nor rent one ( legally) you couldn't have any facturas here, nor registered phone, member of gym etc. The NIE and padron are not optional things unless you were ignorant of your status or unable to understand the laws


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## Do28 (Dec 21, 2010)

kaipa said:


> I assume that Flybe means he was coming to Spain for visits and not living here as that is impossible without a NIE ( well you must have done something illegal). For example, you couldn't buy a property nor rent one ( legally) you couldn't have any facturas here, nor registered phone, member of gym etc. The NIE and padron are not optional things unless you were ignorant of your status or unable to understand the laws


As you are well aware I only applied for residency this year and only got an NIE this year. I have had a Spanish mobile number for years and I used my passport to secure my rental contract. I also have been a member of my gym for years, all on my passport number. As a resident I see the importance of an NIE but as a non resident I never needed one, in fact had no idea what they were until I actually applied for residency. Same goes for the patron. I am fully registered on them all and quite agree with the comments re the council above. I am merely making the observation that you do not need any of this in advance and its quite possible to be in Spain and sort it all out. I have never used a gestor for anything either, I have done it all myself with my poor Spanish and google translate. Even Spanish websites are automatically translated now so its not hard. Perhaps I just live in a better area than the rest of you as here they could not do enough to help me and point me in the right direction. Even my local tax office were super helpful and spoke to me in English!!


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