Residency Certificates, NIE numbers & Padrón

[baldilocks]

Every time something works passably well someone has to put a "finger" in and muck it up!

[xabiachica]

Originally Posted by baldilocks

Every time something works passably well someone has to put a "finger" in and muck it up!

well I just had a close look at the new forms & the instructions & guess what?

it says nothing about fingerprints - or even about photos...................

[MacRov]

hah, well we were asked for photos when we were there just over a week ago, 4 of if I remember correctly.

[stevesainty]

Attached is a reply I received from the Spanish consulate in London. I am still awaiting a reply from a letter I sent to the Madrid Oficina de Extranjeros.

Apparently you cannot apply for an NIE before you come to Spain if you intend to live in Spain permanently, or solely to open a bank account.

If you wish to buy a property or shares then you can apply beforehand. that is probably why you have to include supporting evidence to back up your application.
(see my previous posts on this subject)

So it looks like we cannot bypass the system and we must wait until we arrive here and find ourselves a long term rental before we apply for our NIE's. A bit of a pain as it means we will have to hire a car for as long as it takes as we cannot buy one. Ya este!

At least according to some forum members, at some Oficinas you can get your NIE and residencia on the same day without too much trouble. I hope we end up at one of those. I will keep you posted if and when I receive a reply from Madrid.

Steve

[baldilocks]

It is a case of goalposts - they just keep moving them to give the funcionarios something to do and keep them on their toes (trouble is most of them are flat-footed and have never been on their toes in their lives).

[thrax]

I haven't read all of this thread but I know that you don't need an NIE to open a bank account, but within three months of opening one, you need either a non-residents or residents NIE or they block the account. Most banks will offer you the facility of getting the relevant NIE for you but it will cos a bit more than doing it yourself.

[gabriele]

Originally Posted by stevesainty

Attached is a reply I received from the Spanish consulate in London. I am still awaiting a reply from a letter I sent to the Madrid Oficina de Extranjeros.

Apparently you cannot apply for an NIE before you come to Spain if you intend to live in Spain permanently, or solely to open a bank account.

If you wish to buy a property or shares then you can apply beforehand. that is probably why you have to include supporting evidence to back up your application.
(see my previous posts on this subject)

So it looks like we cannot bypass the system and we must wait until we arrive here and find ourselves a long term rental before we apply for our NIE's. A bit of a pain as it means we will have to hire a car for as long as it takes as we cannot buy one. Ya este!

At least according to some forum members, at some Oficinas you can get your NIE and residencia on the same day without too much trouble. I hope we end up at one of those. I will keep you posted if and when I receive a reply from Madrid.

Steve

Hi Steve,

so sorry for you. I never realized that it may get so costly, such has having to hire a car just because of not getting the NIE in time.

What would it look like with some special deal with some British owned workshop where they would be pleased to organize you a car and give it to you at a more specical rate? Or that you get a refund once you have the NIE and can buy the particular car? I am thinking of something along the line of hire purchase but not the official way.

Today I was surprised to see at least 6 excellent vehicle repair workshops in Tenerife North and South where the owners spoke English, German and Spanish and came all highly recommended.

I was under the impression that they are all decent business people. I am sure one can always do a fair deal with good people. Asking nicely doesn't cost anything. So please try your luck in Spain and ask around. And do a lot of search online.
Please, don't despair. I will keep thumbs up for you.

Gabriele

[xabiachica]

Originally Posted by gabriele

Hi Steve,

so sorry for you. I never realized that it may get so costly, such has having to hire a car just because of not getting the NIE in time.

What would it look like with some special deal with some British owned workshop where they would be pleased to organize you a car and give it to you at a more specical rate? Or that you get a refund once you have the NIE and can buy the particular car? I am thinking of something along the line of hire purchase but not the official way.

Today I was surprised to see at least 6 excellent vehicle repair workshops in Tenerife North and South where the owners spoke English, German and Spanish and came all highly recommended.

I was under the impression that they are all decent business people. I am sure one can always do a fair deal with good people. Asking nicely doesn't cost anything. So please try your luck in Spain and ask around. And do a lot of search online.
Please, don't despair. I will keep thumbs up for you.

Gabriele

not a good idea- no matter how trustworthy they seem to be


in any case -getting a NIE is possible on the same day in many areas - and within a week in mine - then when you return to collect it you can sort out your resident cert which you get on the same day


of course all that could change by the time steve comes to live here - you never know you might even be able to get a NIE in advance in order to buy a car!!

[thrax]

Have you opened a bank account yet? If not, I would recommend Cajamar (only from personal experience) but they will open the account on the same day (takes about 2 hours and 20 signatures) and they will also get your non-residents NIE certificate for you. (I'm sure other banks offer the same service, I just don't know about them) My parents, who moved over here a week ago tomorrow, visited in June to find a place to rent and open a bank account. On the Monday after they arrived, they went to the bank, collected their debit cards and NIE certificates which the bank had obtained for them. They will change to residency status later this year. So if you are able to I would suggest a flying visit for a couple of days to get this sorted for when you arrive. Then you will have your NIE and be able to buy a vehicle.

I´ve got to go and sort this is, but have a few questions.

1) as an EU Citizen (British national) wishing to apply for residency, I fill in EX18? I live in Spain with my Spanish OH and am not here "temporarily". Given my partner is Spanish, I´m guessing I don´t need a family residency (EX19). Is that correct?

2) I´m here to work and play (oodles!), but guess I can´t answer Work and Social on the form. What would your recommendation be?

3) The section for legal representative. Is this purely for people who´ve submitted through an agent?

4) Photo´s and Fingerprints. Are there any rules re photos? I know in UK, I had to be wearing dark clothes for passport and in Germany, you need an ear showing (I kid you not). Is the fingerprint thing a requirement, not that its an issue, just want to be clear and be prepared to sort it all ooot!

Apologies if I´m repeating questions already asked, but at 47 pages, this thread is a tad big to trawl through.

PS - I tried the thread tools, but the printable version option is just a web version sans webby prettification and still requires you to click through 47 pages