For anyone buying, inheriting or selling without being resident
NIE number for foreigners in Spain
Without a NIE you do not exist to the Spanish administration
It is the number by which the tax office, the notary, the town hall and the electricity company recognise you. It gives no right to live here and has nothing to do with residency: it is an administrative identity, and without it nothing gets signed.
Free guide · PDF
The NIE, from the paperwork to the counter
How to find out whether you already have one, what the office actually accepts, and the order that stops you burning an appointment.
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What you get
- A check of whether you already have a NIE: many owners have had one since the purchase and do not know it.
- The EX-15 form filled in with your details, and the economic reason written the way the office expects it.
- The 790/012 fee form generated and ready to pay at any Spanish bank: the fee is €9.84 and you pay it yourself, separately, to the administration.
- The official appointment calendar watched until a slot opens in Alicante, Orihuela or Torrevieja.
- If you cannot come: the wording of the power of attorney your notary or consulate needs so someone can apply for you.
Why this matters now
Spain's immigration regulation makes the NIE the number by which the administration identifies any foreigner with an economic interest in Spain, and owning a house is one. Without it no deed is signed, no water account changes hands, nothing is inherited and nothing is sold. The appointment is not the expensive part: the expensive part is finding out at the notary's, with the buyer sitting there, that a number is missing that takes weeks to get. December adds two more closures to that wait: 8 and 25 December 2026 are both non-transferable national holidays, so a request made in early December often is not seen until January. Booking the appointment in November avoids that stretch.
What this service is NOT
We are not a gestoría and not a law firm. We prepare the file, generate the fee form and watch the official appointment calendar, which is public and free. We do NOT sell appointments and we do not resell them: anyone charging you to «guarantee» a slot is selling something they cannot guarantee. The NIE is issued by the National Police, and on the day they may ask you for one more document.
Questions about this service
Do I already have a NIE if I bought the house years ago?
Almost certainly yes. A NIE is required to sign a deed, and it is common for the developer's gestoría to have obtained it and for the paper to have stayed in a folder. The first thing we do is look for it: if it exists, you do not pay for the full file.
Does the NIE expire?
The number never expires. The paper certifying it does carry a date, and some offices want a recent one. If yours is old, what you need is a fresh certificate of the same number, not a new NIE.
Is it the same as residency?
No, and this is the confusion that costs the most money. The NIE is an identification number; residency is a right to be here. You can hold a NIE and be non-resident for life, which is the case for almost all our clients.
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This page was last checked on 4 September 2026
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