# N.i.e number



## mr_madonna007 (Sep 17, 2012)

Hello

I've just bought a property, but will not be living in Spain for another 12-15 months.

As I will be getting an NIE number, this will have to be renewed after so many months.

Can I renew my NIE card anywhere as long as I have the correct documentation?

The property is in Cebolla, but wondered if I could re-new my NIE card in Madrid.

The reason for this, is that my Spanish isn't fluent, and have a better chance of the police in Madrid speaking english than in Cebolla. :xmassnow:

Thanks


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

mr_madonna007 said:


> Hello
> 
> I've just bought a property, but will not be living in Spain for another 12-15 months.
> 
> ...


Hi,

You said that you have just bought a property and therefore I assume that you have already been issued with an NIE number? I may be wrong but it is my belief that in order to buy a property you need one. Perhaps this is something that your lawyers dealt with for you on your behalf as part of their service.

Once you have been issued with this number it remains yours for life. Wherever you live in Spain or anywhere else in the world that fiscal identification number will remain always your number. There is no need to renew one of these numbers however if your address changes then you will need to visit the various government departments such as the tax office etc to update your details.

So, assuming that you have the number already from the purchase of your property then there is nothing more to do! You will of course need to apply for residency status if and when you decide to live in Spain and that is a completely different issue but I won't go into that because there are many threads on here that talk about that in more detail.


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## mr_madonna007 (Sep 17, 2012)

steve_in_spain said:


> Hi,
> 
> You said that you have just bought a property and therefore I assume that you have already been issued with an NIE number? I may be wrong but it is my belief that in order to buy a property you need one. Perhaps this is something that your lawyers dealt with for you on your behalf as part of their service.
> 
> ...


Hello Steve

I will be going to the Notary office next week, and sort out my NIE card, and open a Spanish Bank account with the agents dealing with this sale.

That's good to know - I will query this with them next week.

When the question about the NIE number came up, they said I'd have to re-new it after 6 months. 

As I'm new to all this, I'm just trying to find all the "ins and outs" of what I should be doing.

They don't really speak english in Cebolla, so was a little worried about going to a local police station trying to re-new my NIE card.

So it maybe the case I don't have to.

I'll find out next week.

Thanks Steve

Gabriel :clap2:


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

mr_madonna007 said:


> Hello Steve
> 
> I will be going to the Notary office next week, and sort out my NIE card, and open a Spanish Bank account with the agents dealing with this sale.
> 
> ...


 I've never heard of renewing an NIE. A friend of mine came to live permanently in Spain last year and she had applied for one of these numbers many years ago – I'm talking eight or nine years or maybe more. We took her to the local foreigners office and by showing her ID – passport (albeit we had the kerfuffle of trying to explain that her new passport number was different to the old one which is a concept that they have completely never heard of in Spain) it didn't take them long to locate her details and give her a printout containing her previous number which we then converted to a resident certificate in the same visit.

As a property owner you will probably have to be registered with the tax authorities and therefore your number will be well and truly up and running in Spain. Please do check with your notary, and I'm sure others on here will advise but to the best of my knowledge just like a National Insurance number in the UK once you are issued with it it remains yours for life. You will not be issued with a card as you referred to. You will simply be given a piece of paper with a number on it. If you apply for residency very certain areas now they are issuing card type things again although they are little more than a piece of paper but they are card shaped LOL. This may be something that is subject to renewal under the new laws but again mine has been issued for several years and I have never renewed it.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

steve_in_spain said:


> I've never heard of renewing an NIE. A friend of mine came to live permanently in Spain last year and she had applied for one of these numbers many years ago – I'm talking eight or nine years or maybe more. We took her to the local foreigners office and by showing her ID – passport (albeit we had the kerfuffle of trying to explain that her new passport number was different to the old one which is a concept that they have completely never heard of in Spain) it didn't take them long to locate her details and give her a printout containing her previous number which we then converted to a resident certificate in the same visit.
> 
> As a property owner you will probably have to be registered with the tax authorities and therefore your number will be well and truly up and running in Spain. Please do check with your notary, and I'm sure others on here will advise but to the best of my knowledge just like a National Insurance number in the UK once you are issued with it it remains yours for life. You will not be issued with a card as you referred to. You will simply be given a piece of paper with a number on it. If you apply for residency very certain areas now they are issuing card type things again although they are little more than a piece of paper but they are card shaped LOL. This may be something that is subject to renewal under the new laws but again mine has been issued for several years and I have never renewed it.


you're right - the NUMBER never changes

they have recently started issuing temp NIE certificates though which expire after 3 months

for a non-resident that's not going to be an issue though - it's the NUMBER which you need to buy the property & get utilities connected, register for tax, non-resident bank account etc., - until these new resident certs came out I just about never showed my NIE cert for anything!


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Also, just to clarify, you won't be getting a CARD. It's an A4 sheet of WHITE paper that has your NIE number on it.

I mention this in case you were expecting something else.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

snikpoh said:


> *Also, just to clarify, you won't be getting a CARD. It's an A4 sheet of WHITE paper that has your NIE number on it.*
> 
> I mention this in case you were expecting something else.



as far as we know 


the resident registration certificate was an A4 paper............ until they suddenly & seemingly without warning, started issuing cards...............


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## mr_madonna007 (Sep 17, 2012)

xabiachica said:


> as far as we know
> 
> 
> the resident registration certificate was an A4 paper............ until they suddenly & seemingly without warning, started issuing cards...............


Thank everyone for replying to my post.

I know it's been mentioned on here already (I've just logged on), but I found out today that I will need to re-new my NIE every 3 months.

I know they changed the rules a few months back - June I think, but I did not think that was one of the things they changed.

So now this is the case, can I re-new my NIE in Madrid instead of Cebolla?

As I said before, I'll probably get a better chance of an english speaking police officer in Madrid.

Thanks :ranger:


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

mr_madonna007 said:


> Thank everyone for replying to my post.
> 
> I know it's been mentioned on here already (I've just logged on), but I found out today that I will need to re-new my NIE every 3 months.
> 
> ...


It doesn't actually need renewing unless someone wants to actually see the certificate, which is very rare. If they want the number just tell them , that is all I ever do. 

For the life of me I cannot see why anyone would ask to see it & then tell you it wasn't any good as it was 'out of date' . The number is issued once , for life. The paper in no way confirms that the person holding it is the person who is registered , so the paper has no value & no reason ever to be renewed even if it is out of date !


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## mr_madonna007 (Sep 17, 2012)

gus-lopez said:


> It doesn't actually need renewing unless someone wants to actually see the certificate, which is very rare. If they want the number just tell them , that is all I ever do.
> 
> For the life of me I cannot see why anyone would ask to see it & then tell you it wasn't any good as it was 'out of date' . The number is issued once , for life. The paper in no way confirms that the person holding it is the person who is registered , so the paper has no value & no reason ever to be renewed even if it is out of date !



Thanks Gus-Lopez

I think I better stick to the rules. I'm not a resident in Spain yet, and as I've just bought a house, I would rather keep my NIE re-newed every 3 months to be on the safe side. :behindsofa:


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

mr_madonna007 said:


> Thanks Gus-Lopez
> 
> I think I better stick to the rules. I'm not a resident in Spain yet, and as I've just bought a house, I would rather keep my NIE re-newed every 3 months to be on the safe side. :behindsofa:


thing is.... if you go to renew it they'll want to know why

honestly - the NUMBER will stay the same - it's highly unlikely anyone will ever want to see the actual bit of paper

if they do - then go & get a new one

it's the same with the padrón - if you need a copy, it usually has to be less than 3 months old - so you go get a new one when & if you need it


you don't have to always have an 'up to date' copy in your possession


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## mr_madonna007 (Sep 17, 2012)

xabiachica said:


> thing is.... if you go to renew it they'll want to know why
> 
> honestly - the NUMBER will stay the same - it's highly unlikely anyone will ever want to see the actual bit of paper


Really? But my reason to re-new my NIE is because I now have a house in Spain. Also, the agents said I must do this.

If the NIE cert expires, doesn't that mean my number expires?

I'm just a bit worried if I don't re-new it when I should, I'll be asked at the police station why I have not been renewing my NIE certificate, if I decided to renew after 6 - 9 months instead of 3 :fencing:


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

mr_madonna007 said:


> Really? But my reason to re-new my NIE is because I now have a house in Spain. Also, the agents said I must do this.
> 
> If the NIE cert expires, doesn't that mean my number expires?
> 
> I'm just a bit worried if I don't re-new it when I should, I'll be asked at the police station why I have not been renewing my NIE certificate, if I decided to renew after 6 - 9 months instead of 3 :fencing:


think about it - if you don't live here how would you be renewing it every three months?

some people get a NIE number so that when the time comes they will have one less thng to organise to inherit property - they will never need to show the cert until such time as they inherit - maybe years later - they aren't going to renew every three months

some people buy property & only come over once a year for a fortnight - they aren't going to need to show the cert - so why would they renew it?

I'm as sure as I can be that you aren't being given correct information - if you have to show the certificate - then it needs to be less than 3 months old - but you will rarely need to show it - I can count the times I've needed to on one hand - & that's in over 9 years of living here full time!


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> I'm as sure as I can be that you aren't being given correct information - if you have to show the certificate - then it needs to be less than 3 months old - but you will rarely need to show it - I can count the times I've needed to on one hand - & that's in over 9 years of living here full time!


agreed - i have never shown my NIE - yes to residencia but thats because i live here and need it sometimes bu never shown my nie cert ever - just quote the number.

the number will never expire - if you have to show a cert maybe you need up to date one (like a padron) but just not getting new paper doesn't mean that it doesn't exist


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## amormae (Oct 2, 2017)

I am now worrying i might lost my permanent residency in Spain that I have had year 2012. Well,when i received my N.I.E. in 2012, I went home to my country of origin year 2014 because my mother had a stroke, I then take care of her until now (2017). Can I renew it online? or renew here at the spanish embassy in my country? 
Thanks a lot
respectfully yours,
Josie


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

amormae said:


> I am now worrying i might lost my permanent residency in Spain that I have had year 2012. Well,when i received my N.I.E. in 2012, I went home to my country of origin year 2014 because my mother had a stroke, I then take care of her until now (2017). Can I renew it online? or renew here at the spanish embassy in my country?
> Thanks a lot
> respectfully yours,
> Josie


:welcome:

No, it can't be renewed online, nor at a consulate.

I know that EU citizens lose their right to permanent residency if they leave the country for two years. I don't know for sure if it's the same for non-EU but I'd be very surprised if it isn't.


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## VFR (Dec 23, 2009)

A good few years back I sold my car to a German fellow living here, so off we go to the Gestor to do the paperwork.

NIE please (Gestor to the German) 
Do not have one & have intention of getting one.
(Gestor) But you own a house here do you not ? 
Yes.
(Gestor) well you must have one to have bought the house.
No that is Spanish rules but Not EU rules etc etc & etc (he was quite agitated) I used my passport & that is all that is required, more etc etc's.

He bought the car & the paperwork was done via his passport ............. 

Tis a funny old world.


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## amormae (Oct 2, 2017)

Ohhh so sad to know that I can not go back to spain with the same ID card. I need to stop thinking and worrying about this then. I thank you very much for the information.


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## Juan C (Sep 4, 2017)

Josie

This is a European Union site where one can ask questions and get a personal reply, not a standard reply.

If you ask your question there you may find there is a way to overcome the more than 2 years absence. I believe caring for family members is a reason for Spain to allow extensions to period of absence.

Swertihin Ka sana / good luck

https://europa.eu/european-union/contact/write-to-us_en


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