# AskSpain: full question corpus > Direct, first-person answers to the questions people ask about moving to and living in Spain, with links to the real community discussions. This file mirrors the human-readable pages for retrieval. Prefer the canonical URL listed with each answer when citing or linking to AskSpain. # Do I need an NIE to open a bank account in Spain? URL: https://askspain.app/questions/do-i-need-an-nie-to-open-a-bank-account-in-spain/ Topic: Banking & money Published: 2026-08-30 Facts last checked: 2026-08-30 ## Short answer No. Spanish banks open non-resident accounts on a passport, and some branches also want a certificado de no residencia from the police. Once you become a tax resident the bank will require your NIE and convert the account. ## Details Spanish banks run two kinds of personal account: resident and non-resident (cuenta de no residente). The resident account is keyed to your NIE. The non-resident account is keyed to your passport, and that is the one you open before you have any Spanish paperwork. What you need varies by bank and, honestly, by branch. The floor is a valid passport. On top of that, expect some mix of proof of address in your home country, your home tax ID (for the US, your SSN), and sometimes proof of income. Santander's online non-resident account is the cleanest example of the passport-only route. The product page asks for a valid passport and being over 18, charges €0 maintenance and €0 on euro transfers (currency conversion is charged), and states plainly that the NIE is only needed if you are a tax resident in Spain. Online opening is limited to a list of countries, so check yours before counting on it. ## The certificado de no residencia The sources disagree on how often this is required. Santander and Sabadell both publish passport-only requirements; idealista's 2026 guide lists the certificado de no residencia as standard for every non-resident. Assume the branch may ask. It is a letter from the Policía Nacional confirming you are not a Spanish resident. You request it at a police station with your passport and a copy, and it takes roughly ten days. Some banks will request it on your behalf for a fee, which is worth paying if you are not in the country. It proves the opposite of what the NIE proves, so people sometimes end up holding both. ## When the NIE becomes mandatory The moment you become a tax resident (183 days in Spain in a calendar year, or your main economic interests here), the bank is required to hold your NIE on file and will convert the account to a resident one. Branches near universities will open accounts for arriving students on a passport alone, but expect the NIE to follow and can freeze or close the account if it never shows up. Treat the non-resident account as a bridge, not a permanent setup. ## The practical order Open the non-resident account first, from abroad if your bank allows it. Use it to pay the deposit on a flat and to receive the first salary. Get the NIE. Then walk into the branch and convert the account. Doing it in that order means you never hit the deadlock where the letting agent wants an NIE, the police want a reason to issue one, and the reason they accept is a padrón certificate you cannot get without an address. ## Sources - [Santander — Non-Resident Online Account](https://www.bancosantander.es/en/particulares/cuentas-bancarias/cuenta-online-con-pasaporte/) - [idealista/news — How to open a bank account in Spain in 2026](https://www.idealista.com/en/news/financial-advice-in-spain/2026/01/30/846680-how-to-open-a-bank-account-in-spain) - [Wise — How to open a bank account in Spain as a non-resident (2026)](https://wise.com/gb/blog/opening-a-bank-account-in-spain) - [Banco Sabadell — Opening a bank account in Spain without being a resident](https://www.bancsabadell.com/bsnacional/en/blog/opening-a-bank-account-in-spain-without-being-a-resident/) --- # Do I need an NIE to rent an apartment in Spain? URL: https://askspain.app/questions/do-i-need-an-nie-to-rent-in-spain/ Topic: Housing Published: 2026-08-30 Facts last checked: 2026-08-30 ## Short answer Legally, no. Nothing in Spanish tenancy law requires an NIE to sign a lease, and most landlords and agencies will write the contract against your passport number. In practice, agencies in Madrid and Barcelona often ask for one anyway because they use it for the deposit registration and the landlord's tax return, so you may have to negotiate or pay more upfront. ## Details This is the famous catch-22 people write blog posts about. The police want proof of why you need an NIE, a rental contract is the usual proof, and the letting agent wants an NIE before they will give you a contract. It feels circular. It isn't, because only one side of it is actually a rule. Nothing in the tenancy law (the Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos) names the NIE as the identity document for a lease. A passport identifies you just as well. The Local's reporting and the relocation agency cited below say the same thing: most landlords, private or through an agency, will accept a valid passport and put the passport number on the contract where the NIE would go. The NIE can be added by annex later. ## Why agencies ask for it anyway Three reasons, none of them a legal bar to you. The landlord declares rental income to Hacienda and wants a tenant ID that matches the tax system. In regions that register deposits with a public body, the form has a field for the tenant's NIE. And agencies process a lot of applications, so a missing field is an easy reason to pick the next candidate. In a tight market, "we need an NIE" often means "we have someone else who has one". ## What actually gets you the keys Money and paperwork that removes the landlord's risk. The Local lists what landlords accept in place of an NIE: an employment contract or university admission letter, bank statements showing funds, and a larger deposit. The LAU fixes the fianza at one month's rent for a home and caps any additional guarantee at two more months, but landlords route around that by asking for rent paid in advance, or for an aval bancario, a bank guarantee that ties up two to three months of rent. Having a Spanish bank account helps, and you can open one on a passport before you have the NIE (see the related question). If you'd rather skip the negotiation, relocation agencies like Globexs and student platforms like BeRoomie rent furnished flats on a passport, at a premium. A room in a shared flat is also usually informal enough that nobody asks. Either one gives you an address, which is what you need for the padrón and, from there, for the NIE appointment. Then move to a normal lease. ## The order that works Non-resident bank account on a passport. Short-term furnished rental on a passport. Padrón at the town hall with that contract. NIE appointment with the padrón and the contract as your "reason". Long-term lease with the NIE. Four to eight weeks if the appointments cooperate, longer in Madrid and Barcelona where cita previa slots are the bottleneck. ## Sources - [The Local — How to rent a flat in Spain without a NIE number](https://www.thelocal.es/20231207/how-to-rent-a-flat-in-spain-without-a-nie-number) - [Spainguru — Can I rent an apartment in Spain as a freelancer without a job contract or NIE?](https://spainguru.es/2023/05/05/rent-apartment-spain-freelancer-without-job-contract-nie/) - [Globexs — Do I need a NIE to rent an apartment or live in Valencia?](https://www.globexs.com/blog/do-i-need-a-nie-to-rent-an-apartment-or-live-in-valencia/) --- # Does Spain still have a golden visa? URL: https://askspain.app/questions/does-spain-still-have-a-golden-visa/ Topic: Visas & residency Published: 2026-08-30 Facts last checked: 2026-08-30 ## Short answer No. Spain ended its golden visa on 14 April 2025 — buying property no longer gets you residency. If you work remotely or have steady income, the digital nomad visa and the non-lucrative visa are the routes that actually work now. ## Details Spain's golden visa program began in 2013, part of a wave of European "residency by investment" schemes: buy real estate above a set threshold and get a residence permit, no job or family tie required. It became one of the most popular routes into Spain for non-EU buyers, especially from the UK, US, China, and Russia. The program ended through Organic Law 1/2025, which took effect on **14 April 2025**. From that date, buying property in Spain no longer confers any residency rights on its own. The change isn't retroactive: golden visa permits granted before the cutoff stay valid and renew under the rules that were in force when they were issued — it's new applications that are shut out, not existing holders. If you're weighing your options now, the two visas that actually work for most people relocating to Spain without a Spain-based job offer are the **digital nomad visa** (for remote employees or contractors working for companies outside Spain) and the **non-lucrative visa** (for people living off passive income or savings who don't plan to work in Spain at all). ## Sources - [Fragomen — Spain: Golden Visa Program to Be Eliminated](https://www.fragomen.com/insights/spain-golden-visa-program-to-be-eliminated.html) - [Global Citizen Solutions — Spain Golden Visa Changes](https://www.globalcitizensolutions.com/spain-golden-visa-changes/) --- # How much income do I need for Spain's digital nomad visa? URL: https://askspain.app/questions/digital-nomad-visa-income/ Topic: Visas & residency Published: 2026-08-30 Facts last checked: 2026-08-30 ## Short answer About €2,849 per month in 2026 — the requirement is 200% of Spain's minimum wage (SMI), so it moves whenever the SMI does. Add roughly 75% more for a spouse and 25% per child. ## Details The income threshold for Spain's digital nomad visa isn't a fixed euro figure written into the law — it's set at 200% of the SMI (Salario Mínimo Interprofesional, Spain's national minimum wage). Because the SMI is usually revised every year, typically announced late in the prior year or early in the current one, the visa's income floor moves along with it. For dependents, caseworkers add roughly 75% of the SMI for the first additional family member you're bringing (typically a spouse or partner), and about 25% of the SMI for each dependent after that (children, other family members). Budget with some margin above the bare minimum — the requirement in practice is proof of *sustained* income over the preceding months, not just a single payslip that happens to clear the bar. ## Sources - [Jobbatical — Spain Digital Nomad Visa Income Requirement Rises With the SMI](https://www.jobbatical.com/blog/spain-digital-nomad-visa-income-smi-increase) - [NIM Extranjería — Spain's Digital Nomad Visa Income Requirements](https://nimextranjeria.com/spains-digital-nomad-visa-income-requirements/) --- # What is an NIE number in Spain? URL: https://askspain.app/questions/what-is-an-nie-number-in-spain/ Topic: Paperwork Published: 2026-08-30 Facts last checked: 2026-08-30 ## Short answer The NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero) is the tax and identification number Spain assigns to every foreigner who deals with the state, from buying a car to signing a work contract. It is a number, not a residency permit. You apply with form EX-15 and a €9.84 fee at a police station in Spain or a Spanish consulate abroad, and the rules give the police five days to resolve the request, with silence counting as a refusal. ## Details NIE stands for Número de Identidad de Extranjero. It is a unique number, one letter, seven digits, one check letter (X-1234567-A, for example), that the Spanish state uses to identify you in every official system. The tax agency uses it as your tax ID. Notaries, banks, employers, the social security office and the DGT all key their records to it. The most common confusion is thinking the NIE is a visa or a residence permit. It is neither. Tourists can hold one. The police assign it to any foreigner who "relates to Spain for economic, professional or social reasons", which in practice means anyone who wants to buy property, open a business, inherit, register a car, or sign a contract that gets reported to Hacienda. Holding an NIE says nothing about your right to live in Spain. That right comes from a visa or a residence card (the TIE), which carries your NIE printed on it. ## How you get one Two routes, and the paperwork is the same for both. **Inside Spain.** Book a cita previa at a Policía Nacional station or an Oficina de Extranjería, bring your passport, form EX-15 filled in, the paid tasa 790 código 012, and, although the regulation only asks you to state your reason, comisarías in practice want to see it on paper: a property reservation, a job offer, a company incorporation, a university letter, or a padrón certificate plus rental contract. The fee for NIE assignment is €9.84, set by Orden PJC/617/2025 and in force since 16 June 2025. You pay it at any bank before the appointment and bring the stamped receipt. **Outside Spain.** File the same EX-15 at the Spanish consulate for where you live. The consulate forwards it to the Comisaría General de Extranjería y Fronteras in Madrid. Slower, but it avoids the appointment scramble once you arrive. Real Decreto 1155/2024 gives the police a maximum of five days to resolve the request once it enters the registry, and if you hear nothing in that time the application counts as refused, so chase it. In practice, inside Spain you usually walk out with the number on a printed certificate the same day; consular applications run weeks. You must not be in Spain irregularly when you apply. ## What it does not do An NIE does not expire. The 790-012 payment receipt does, after roughly three months, so don't pay the fee long before your appointment. The number does not register you with social security, does not give you a tax residency, and does not replace the padrón (your town hall registration). The padrón in particular needs no NIE, a passport and a rental contract or utility bill are usually enough (each town hall sets its own list), and the padrón certificate is itself one of the documents that justifies the NIE application. EU and EEA citizens moving here usually get the number a different way. Registering as a resident with form EX-18 puts the NIE on the green certificado de registro. An EU citizen who is not moving here, buying a holiday home for instance, files the EX-15 like everyone else. ## Sources - [Policía Nacional (Sede Electrónica) — Asignación de NIE a instancia de interesado](https://sede.policia.gob.es/portalCiudadano/_es/tramites_extranjeria_tramite_asignacion_nie.php) - [TaxDown — Tasa 790 012: qué es, cómo rellenarla y cuánto cuesta](https://taxdown.es/extranjeros/tasa-790-012-que-es-como-rellenar-precio) - [BOE — Orden PJC/617/2025, de 13 de junio (tasas de extranjería)](https://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=BOE-A-2025-12056) - [Wise — How to get an NIE in Spain as an American](https://wise.com/us/blog/how-to-get-an-nie-in-spain)