Get an NIE number

Inside Spain you apply in person at a Policía Nacional station or an Oficina de Extranjería, and that is the route this checklist follows. If you are still abroad, you file the same EX-15 at the Spanish consulate for where you live, which forwards it to the Comisaría General de Extranjería y Fronteras in Madrid; the consulate sets its own appointment system and fee, and the process runs weeks. The regulation says the request is made personally, so do not count on sending someone else, and you must not be in Spain irregularly when you apply.

EX-15 is 'Solicitud de Número de Identidad de Extranjero (NIE) y Certificados'. Download the current version from the Ministerio de Inclusión's Modelos de solicitud page, fill it in on screen, and print two copies. Tick the box for the reason you need the number and describe it in one line. EU and EEA citizens moving to Spain use EX-18 instead, which registers them as residents and assigns the NIE in the same step; an EU citizen who is not moving here files the EX-15 like everyone else.

Documents: Form EX-15, signed, two copies

The regulation only asks you to state your reason and to be in Spain legally, but comisarías in practice want to see both on paper: for the reason, a property reservation, a job offer, a company incorporation, a university letter, or a padrón certificate plus rental contract; for legal stay, your entry stamp or boarding pass. That is why many people register with the town hall first. Bring originals and a copy of everything.

Documents: Passport (original and copy of every page with a stamp) · Proof of the reason (contract, offer letter, admission letter, or padrón certificate) · Proof of legal entry into Spain (entry stamp or boarding pass)

Generate the payment form online, choose 'Asignación de Número de Identidad de Extranjero (NIE) a instancia del interesado', print it, and pay at any Spanish bank branch or through your bank's online tasas service. The fee is €9.84, set by Orden PJC/617/2025 and in force since 16 June 2025. Keep the stamped copy. Offices treat the receipt as valid for roughly three months, so pay once you have an appointment, not before.

Documents: Tasa 790 012 receipt stamped by the bank

Arrive early with the full set of papers. The officer checks the documents, keeps one copy of the EX-15, and gives you a stamped receipt (resguardo). Many offices hand over the printed certificate at the appointment itself; if yours does not, the next step says how long they have.

Documents: Stamped resguardo from the office

Real Decreto 1155/2024 gives the police five days from the request entering the registry, and if you hear nothing in that time the application counts as refused, so chase it. The certificate is a single A4 sheet with your number on it. The number is yours for good, but banks and notaries often ask for a certificate issued in the last three months, so keep the original and scan it the day you get it.

Documents: NIE certificate (original) · Scanned copy saved somewhere safe