FAQs

Yes, this is certainly the case. Without question the Spanish law states very clearly that the person must apply for the documents in person. However, the Spanish law also clearly states that a legalised, Spanish power-of-attorney document enables any individual to be represented by another for all legal purposes in Spain (as long as it is declared as such within the power-of-attorney). Therefore through virtue of these combined laws, we are able to apply for a NIE number on your behalf without the need for you to be in Spain.

A translation of the Ministerio del Interior website's 3rd paragraph, 2nd point which is detailing who may apply for an NIE Number clearly states:

• Those (applications) that are presented in Spain by the representative appointed by the applicant with evidence that the applicant is not in Spain.

You should also note that, regardless of the clearly stated laws, many local branches of the national police throughout Spain choose not to allow this, which is why some lawyers are unable to act on your behalf for this purpose.

The NIE number is in fact not a card at all. Rather it is a sheet of A4 paper bearing your details (as outlined on your passport) as well as an official stamp from the National Police of Spain. This original document is an extremely important item of identification in Spain, even though it does not include any photo. Your passport and/or eventually your residence card used in conjunction with your NIE number is generally sufficient for most functions to do with government & taxation in Spain(such as purchasing a property in Spain, paying taxes, selling a property in Spain, etc.).

In this very rare instance, we would simply re-apply for a duplicate with the same power of attorney and passport copy.

Of course anyone that can enter Spain legally can apply for their own NIE number. To do this, they must present themselves at the National Police Station in whatever town they are living. Unfortunately, contrary to countries such as England and Ireland, there is very little standardization for exactly how the physical process of application works from one police station to the next, so if you chose to apply in person, please make sure you find out beforehand which are the requirements to apply for a NIE Number at your local police station. This will save from having to arrange several trips to have your application presented, with the corresponding lengthy queues.

The breakdown below is an estimate of what will cost you apply in person in Spain.

• Airplane Tickets (flight to APPLY for the NIEs): 60 - 300 € per person
• Airplane Tickets (flight to COLLECT the NIEs): 60 - 300 € per person
• Transport to and from the airport - 40 - 120 €
• Hotel Room - 50 - 200 € per double room per days (2 days required)

Applying in person can cost you anything between 300 € and 1,000 €, not to mention the time you will be wasting travelling and queueing up!

Yes, this is entirely true. The primary benefit of using our service as opposed to applying through a Spanish consulate is speed. The average time required for an individual to obtain their NIE number via applying through a Spanish consulate is 12 weeks. This varies from one country to the next, we encourage people to contact their closest Spanish consulate first and enquire about their turnaround time.

This is not possible. The NIE that you are issued initially is the same NIE for the rest of your life. Even if you lose the document and apply for a new one, the same number will be issued to you again. Therefore there is no such thing as a temporary NIE.

If you need the NIE for signing title deeds in Spain, as soon as we have submitted the application, we can send a stamped copy to the sellers, mortgage broker, lawyer or whomever is demanding the NIE as proof that the NIE is on the way. This usually pacifies the situation until the document is issued.

Soon after you've signed the paperwork at one of our associated offices in the UK, the NIE number is delivered within around 2 weeks (exceptions made for public and bank holidays). A high resolution scanned copy will be made available to you as soon as it is collected from the Spanish issuing authority, in around 10 days.

Our standard fees are listed on the Pricing section.

The quoted fees include everything, except postal or courier fees (this service is optional) if you want your original NIE Number certificate to be delivered at the specified address.

As part of our service, you are required to sign a Power of Attorney. However, for your convenience, we have streamlined this process, hiding the most cumbersome tasks, which has been made possible thanks to our partnership with a large number of Notaries Public in .