Obtaining a NIE Number

Step by step guide

If you want to buy a property, work, start a company or move to Spain, you need a NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjeros) number. This is the unique identification number issued to the applicant during the Spanish immigration police registration. It is valid throughout Spain, including the Canary and Balearic Islands.

It is a misconception that an NIE number is required even when planning to buy a home. It is indeed an important administrative step, but there is plenty of time to get it. When you buy a property between the reservation and the final sales contract, our lawyer will help you obtain the NIE number and open the bank account number for you at no extra charge.

NIE administration can only be done in person, but if you cannot travel abroad, you can obtain it in 2 other ways:

1. You request an appointment at the Spanish Embassy in Hungary. The administration process is usually slow, but there are no extra costs. You can only book an appointment online; the complete documentation must be filled out anyway, which can be found below.
2. You authenticate a power of attorney in the name of our lawyer or one of our qualified employees at a notary with a special license. The agent acts on your behalf here in Spain and obtains the NIE number for you.

The NIE number is required e.g. in the following cases:

• property purchase (free of charge for our customers!)
• contracting with utilities
• bank account opening
• registration for health care
• insurance bond
• working
• creating a business
• fulfillment of social security or tax obligations
• signing a mobile phone contract
• applying for a resident card
• request for a residential address card

In the following, we describe in detail what the steps are and what forms are required. If you want to do it yourself, it will be easier with the help of the guide below. If you don’t want to bother with it, we are happy to help and take the administrative burden off your shoulders. You should now that if you buy a property with our help, obtaining this NIE number and opening a bank account are FREE! You do not need to pay us or any other administrative office separately; it is part of our office’s duties. If you contact an administrative office, you can expect costs between €200 and €1,000. Some clerks may demand even more money from you with separate registration and other intangible terms, referring to legal guarantees, do not let yourself be led astray.

Let’s get into it!

The NIE number is requested in Spain at the regionally competent police station after a prior appointment.

The NIE number is valid for life and does not need to be renewed. It officially expires after 3 months, but only if you try to complete any of the above transactions after 180 days.
It’s called a temporary white NIE. It’s white because it’s an A4 sheet of paper. It’s temporary because if your stay exceed 3 months, the green NIE, the so-called resident card, must be exchanged. 

Registration for NIE appointment request

An appointment must be requested in advance at the regionally competent police station. The easiest way to do this is to register online. No Spanish language skills are required to request an appointment; it can be filled out quickly and easily. Your machine will translate the texts on the page into Hungarian.

First you have to select the province: Málaga

• then the office where you will have to appear in person. “SELECIONA OFICINA” Possible: Benalmadena, Malaga, Estepona, Fuengirola, Marbella, Ronda, Torremolinos, or Velez Malaga. (It is not worth selecting in advance because the more frequent places will only have an appointment in months. The system will offer you the nearest dates and places if you have completed everything.
• the location and type of the opening, the first drop-down menu: “TRÁMITES DE OFICINA EXTRANJERÍA” – but you do not have to choose from these, but choose from the following drop-down list:
• The administration will be at the “TRÁMITES POLCÍA NACIONAL,” i.e., the immigration office of the National Police. In this dropdown menu, select “POLICIA – CERTIFICADOS Y ASIGNACIÓN NIE”
• Click on the “Acceptar” button, and we can move on. and the next screen will appear.
• passport number (theoretically, you can do it with an identity card) It is worth using the passport for any administration; it is more accepted) If you have entered an identity card, still mark “Pasaporte”, because the other documents have a different format and will not be accepted by the system.
• Surname and first name without accents (“letter ö” = “oe” such as Turkish = Toeroek ) according to the international format described at the bottom of the passport.
• The phone number (sooner or later, you will need a Spanish phone number because sometimes they send an SMS with a code to complete the appointment booking. (We haven’t been sent a code recently, but this may vary by province)

On the next page, if you’re lucky, you’ll be offered a couple of appointments. Choose that suits you. You have 5 inutes to choose an appointment. He confirms it by e-mail and sends a code, once you enter it, the appointment is over.

If you don’t have any luck, it says: “Info: There are currently no appointments available. The office ill soon offer you new dates.”

No problem, you have to try, you can succeed in half an hour or an hour later. You don’t h ve to worry, the data is not forgotten by the system and the next time you go to the fields, it will offer the previously entered ones.

Documents required to apply for a NIE number

To apply for a NIE number, you will need the following documents:

1.  Valid identy card or passport

In the territory of the European Union, an identity card is also sufficient, but unfortunately, the Spanish police do not even know whether Hungary is a member of the Union. For this re son, in many cases they insist on the passport, you can save a lot of explaining if you start the administration with a passport. Of course, he identity card is also official, it can also be used to manage business. It is important that you have a copy with you (the police do not make photocopies!)

2.   Form No. “EX-15”

It must be filled out on a computer, printed in 2 copies and submitted signed with a ballpoint pen. There is an explanatory sample page in Hungarian to help you:

On the second page of the form, in point 4.2, you must indicate why you are applying for the NIE number. You can enter that you want to buy real estate. “Solicitar un NIE Número para comprar una vivienda” (NIE application for purchasing a home) Don’t worry, they won’t check whether you’ve bought. TIP: You can also write “Solicitar un NIE Número para comprar una vehiculo” which means you want to buy a car or motorbike.

It happens that it is not enough to just enter the purpose of the request on the EX15 form, you also have to prove that the purpose of the request is real and that the request is legitimate. Administrators may request additional documentation in different ways, but in most cases, they do not request it at all. Depending on the purpose of the request, frequently requested documents: Spanish employment contract, preliminary employment contract, real estate purchase reservation contract, car or motorcycle sales contract, etc. Always have the original and a copy of these documents with you. If the document is not in Spanish, attaching an authentic Spanish translation to the original document is necessary.

Spanish form EX15 can be downloaded 

3 . “Modelo 790” form

 Form 790 can be found at this link, it must be filled out here.

• Personal data (name, etc.) must match the one in the passport
• The address can be anything; it can be a sublease or the address of a friend. If you don’t have an address yet, ask a friend to enter their address. It is better to enter a real address because if they want to inform you in the future, the notification will be sent to this address. (even though my address has changed in the last 14 years and I informed the authorities about this, they still tried to deliver an official letter to the address I provided the first time)
• You can also write a Hungarian phone number in the document, but if it is worth entering a Spanish number. Sooner or later, you will need a Spanish phone number anyway; most banks cannot send an activation code to a foreign phone number.
• The e-mail address is important because it is recorded in the system, and if you want to be notified, you can also reach it through it.
• After that, choose “Asignacion de Número de Identidad de Extranjeria (NIE) a Instancia del interesado” as the form is used for other purposes than just NIE applications.
• At the end, you have to click on the Finish/Download button; then the form will automatically appear ready to download/print in 3 copies.

4. Payment of immigration tax

Form 790, printed in 3 copies, must be taken to a bank, where you can pay the fee. This is currently EUR 9.84. Unfortunately, it is impossible to pay the tax in all banks, and when the tax payment is available, customer service varies from bank to bank. You can usually make this type of payment until 10:30 am. It’s not worth leaving it to the last minute because it can easily happen that the online system “doesn’t work,” and it’s not even the bank’s fault. You have to try several banks before the police department accepts it. After payment, the bank stamps the form, thus confirming that the fee has been paid.

In summary, let’s see what documents you can bring to the personal administration:

• Form Ex-15 printed and signed in 2 copies
• Form 790 completed and paid
• proof of payment of the immigration fee (bank seal on one page of form 790)
• Valid passport or identity card – original + 1 photocopy

You can go to the agreed time when you have everything and filled out the forms correctly. Ask a Spanish-speaking friend to accompany you if you can, but a Google translator will also do. Although the office won’t be happy about it, most of them start by saying they don’t speak Spanish, and you’ll be fine

6. Receiving NIE number

Since the end of March 2023, NIE documents are provided with an electronic signature, and in most cases the NIE number is issued immediately after the administration is completed. The police’s IT system does not always work properly, so they may not be able to issue the NIE document immediately. in such cases, you usually have to go back for it the next day or within a few days.

If the NIE document is not issued immediately, the clerk will tell you exactly when you can return it. In some cities and immigration offices, a separate appointment must be booked to receive the NIE document.

If you need to return for the NIE document but cannot do it in person, another person can collect it for you. The receiving person must have the necessary documents, usually a sealed copy of the submitted application. In such cases, it is written on the back of the application who can receive the completed NIE number.

National Police Alien Police Offices in the province of Malaga

Immigration offices of the National Police in the province of Malaga: