Hi guys, I’ve just registered so this is my first question, probably of many…

I am living in Madrid and went to the foreigners office of the main police station to apply for my NIE, I got told to ring a number and make an appointment to hand the forms in etc. Well, my appointment is on the 12th September!! I can’t possibly wait that long and I was wandering if anyone had any advice how how to speed things up?

Now I don’t know if its just because I am applying in Madrid and things take longer there due to it being the Capital and there being more immigrants to process, is it possible to apply for the NIE in another city, even if you don’t live there? I have read some personal accounts on here of people going to their local police station in the morning and getting their number by the afternoon, which obviously beats my 3 month wait to even apply.

The other question is how effective is applying through the embassy in London? I could return to the uk for a few months and apply there and then come back when my NIE has come through. If anyone has any experience of that let me know.

Thanks

Miles

You are correct in assuming that times vary - probably part of your lead time in Madrid is that they probably shut down in August anyway. Locally (Torrevieja) NIE times are around 1 week - much reduced probably due to the property slow down. You can apply in other areas you would have to put a local addess though otherwise they will probably reject you.

I dont think the UK route will be much quicker!

Agreed, I don’t think applying through the Embassy in London will be quicker, probably the same time. I’ve heard of waits of 3-5 months going the embassy route.

Must be a Madrid thing.  Here in Sevilla in the oficina de extranjeros, plaza d’Espa?a, provided you get in the front of the queue by the time the office opens in the morning, you get your NIE the same morning.  When I did it, no appointment necessary.

Thanks for your replies! I have a friend that lives in Burgos and she has said i can use her address and apply at the local police station there. Such a hassle though!!! Oh well, I am sure its just as much of an ordeal for foreigners to get an national insurance number in the UK though as it is for me to get my NIE.

As your NIE should be the link to your own address, if you use someone else’s address and for example register a car with that, it will be illegal.  You should use your proper address but as NIE is issued by policia national not local you might be able to use any oficina to get your NIE.

Hi

I had the same problem.

Just wait till september for your NIE. There is no problem to not have one right away.
I applied it through the Spanish embassy in Brussels and it took 5 months to arrive.
How long did you wait in line @ the foreigners office????

wendone - 09 June 2008 09:05 AM

Hi…
How long did you wait in line @ the foreigners office????

In sevilla there are two offices for NIE and two queues.  The horrendous one is for non-EU people and the OK one is for EU citizens.  Arriving well before the office opens (arriving at 8 ish) gets to the front of the queue and then you get seen by the desk officer within an hour or so. If all your papers are OK, he gives you a tax bill to pay at a nearby bank and when you pay that and return, your NIE is ready to collect.  All done and dusted within about 3 hours.

Same as in Madrid….really hell..
I went first to the NON EU office and waited 3 hours in line and got fed up..then someone told me there was a EU office and got in line at 7:30 and at 930, someone comes out of the office and tells everyone they would only help the first 50 people in line…I was somewhere number 65 or so….😊 viva espa?a….
but the good thing was that I could apply for it through the Spanish embassy.

What are the requirements and time frame for non-eu people? I am coming in April to rent a space, so will have an address to put on the form that I can download and fill out prior to arriving, so they will be able to process my application. I also then want to open a bank account while I am there.