The Costa Property Podcast

#53 NIE, TIE, Residency? The Essential Guide to Spanish Paperwork (Without the Confusion)

• Warner and Sandra Laurie - WL Costa Properties Real Estate Spain • Episode 53

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Confused about Spanish paperwork? You’re not alone.

If you’re planning to buy property or move to Spain, you’ve probably heard the terms NIE, TIE, and residency thrown around. But what do they actually mean? And which one do you really need?

The truth is, many people get this part wrong - and it can cause unnecessary stress, delays, or even financial losses. 

In this episode of The Costa Property Podcast, Sandra is joined by relocation expert Irina, who helps hundreds of people navigate Spanish bureaucracy every year. She’s here to break down exactly what you need, when you need it, and how to avoid the common pitfalls.

Tune in to discover:

✅ The difference between NIE, TIE, and Residency - and which one you actually need.

✅ The #1 mistake people make when applying for their NIE (and how to avoid it!).

✅ Why some people don’t even need an NIE - and how to know if you’re one of them.

✅ How timing your paperwork right could save you weeks of hassle.

✅ Should you apply from your home country or wait until you're in Spain? (Irina’s expert advice)

Don't leave your paperwork to chance. This episode could save you time, money, and stress.

Planning to buy a property in Spain? 

Get in Touch with Our Guest Irina:

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So, good morning, Irina, and welcome back to the Costa Property Podcast. I'm thrilled to have you back with me this morning.

Good morning, Sandra. Thank you very much. I'm really excited to be back again as your recurring guest. Really appreciate you every time thinking of me. 

And today we're going to be jumping into a topic that's really important.  It's something that I get asked by every client that we work with, and it's the whole  topic of NIE numbers, TIE numbers, and CIA a super important one for I guess anybody with long-term plans in Spain. Right. 

Absolutely. It comes across everywhere, this topic. 

Amazing. So let's, let's jump right to it. So the first question that I always get asked is, what is the difference between an NIE number, a TIE number and a reside? Yeah. So what are they and why are they different?

Right, so before we start talking in more detail, it is important to mention and to distinguish that there are just two segments, number one is the NIE. NIE is just a number. It is a sort of foreign ID number, which is issued to anyone who has any type of professional, economic or social interest in Spain and want to engage in it.

It does not distinguish between EU or non EU citizen, but it distinguish you as a foreigner in Spain, because Spanish people have DNI. Now it doesn't confirm your residency status, and the number itself stays with you forever. It only changes if you obtain Spanish nationality, in which case you swap the NIE for the DNI.

This is number one. And then the second group is the residency permit. And, residency permit can be in the form of a EU residency certificate which is issued for EU citizens and very often referred to as green NIE. And the other document is the TIE which is issued for non EU citizens and is literally translated foreign identity card.

Now, the TIE is just the final step, final document of a usually quite lengthy residency application process for the non EU citizens. And it's the same, whether you, so it's just the final document confirming what type of residency permit. a person has obtained. It can be non lucrative residency, it can be digital nomad residency, a student residency, or EU dependent residency.

All those different type residencies at the end get a TIE document. I know there is a lot of confusion around those terms,  because very often N. I. E. is used also by Spanish people as the generic term related to foreign I. D. document. For Spanish,  If you're a foreigner, it means you have an N. I. E. so when they ask you for your ID document, they just say, give me your and I not specifying whether it is just a number, or it is a residency permit and that's why I think, the whole confusion comes around this term that it's most used terms when we're speaking about, 

i. D. document for foreigners

and that probably explains why people are so obsessed with it then, because by the time that they interact with you or I, they've probably heard this term a few times, but not really sure in what context they need it for. So they're just hearing N I E, N I E, and they're going into this panic mode of, Oh, you know, I need, I need to get my N I E number and I need to get it now.

Okay. That makes sense.  So, basically, what I hear from you there, Irina, is, is a topic that people get over complicated. They're over complicating. It's not as difficult as we think. We need to be conscious of the two segments, okay? And basically,  if you have an NIE number, it doesn't actually mean you're a resident.

That's a misconception that people have. 

Absolutely. Hundred percent.

 So if somebody's moving to Spain, and in the midst of relocating across, which one do they actually need? What do they need to start with, I guess? 

sO for if you're moving to Spain with an intention to reside in Spain, meaning you're planning to be living in Spain or staying in Spain longer than three months, your obligation is to obtain a residency permit.



EU citizens. It is a central EU registry certificate. It's a very long name of the document, which is a small,  card size, paper.

It's a paper document, which is of card size and has a green color. That's why it is very often referred to as green NIE.  And for non EU citizens, as we already discussed, it is the TIE card, which is just a reflection of their residency status, but the actual residency application is a much lengthier process, which involves several steps and, a lot of time as well. 

Now, the NIE  on its own, It is indeed a separate procedure, but it does not confirm your residency status. So in many cases, as you already mentioned, it is a completely unnecessary admin step, which is not required because NIA number is always issued along with the residency permit. However, for those who are not planning to reside in Spain but have some sort of interest in Spain, for example, they want to buy property or buy a car or open a bank account or  receive an inheritance, those people, whether they are EU or non EU nationals, they need to obtain the NIE number. Very often, as you already mentioned before, very often we see this obsession of people,  getting their NIE number as soon as they arrive to Spain. And although, as we already discussed, it may be absolutely unnecessary and just an extra. administration step. So, in each and every case,  individual assessment is required.

In some cases, indeed, it is advisable to get the NIA number before you apply for your residency. For example, if you are EU citizen and you come to Spain with an intention to find employment or self employment, NIA first because every employee is going to ask you for that.  Or if you are a non EU citizen planning to apply for your digital nomad residency and submit the application yourself, you need to get the NIE in order to get the digital certificate to submit the application.

If you use a professional, then this step is absolutely not necessary. For the retired people who come with their non lucrative visa, for non EU retired people, the NIA number is issued at the moment of them getting their visa stamped in their passport. So again, they don't need to apply for NIA beforehand.

And then when they come and arrive to Spain, they can, NIA number is just transferred to the TIA. In all occasions, if, the person has received NIE before getting the residency status, this NIE number stays the same and going later on to the residency card. 

Okay. Lots of information there and I think lots of things to consider, but really what I'm hearing from you, it's very important that an individual really evaluates their own plan when it comes to Spain to really assess, , what they need in order to move forward, because there's, , different requirements depending on your different circumstances, but I guess when it comes to  the most common type of people that  I am interacting with on a daily basis where they're buying a second property in Spain or by they have a long term plan to relocate to Spain.

You know, they require an NIE number, right? That's, that's important for them and their situation. Let's talk a little bit about how they apply and what to expect, because this is also an area that I see people get quite confused. Some people feel that they should apply in their consulates, in their home countries, and then some people would rather wait until they put their feet on the ground here in Spain.

So maybe let's jump into that part and help people to understand that piece a little bit more.

of course. So it's important to remember again that each of these, documents requires an own appointment and an own procedure, own requirements, and an own set of documents. So firstly, the NIE number. can be applied both in Spain and in the Spanish consulate in your current country of residency. 

Applying in Spain usually is much faster because the NIN number is very often issued either at the place or it's just in the matter of days, while in the consulate it normally takes several weeks time. The NIA number can be applied for either in person or through an authorized representative, which is especially convenient for people like you mentioned before, those who are buying a property, they can leave a power of attorney to their solicitor and then the solicitor applies on their behalf here in Spain, so they are not even involved.

Now, the EU Residency Certificate or Green NIE, which is a residency document and therefore it is only applied for in Spain and in person. It's not possible to apply through representation. And of course you need to apply for it then when you arrive here with an intention to reside. It doesn't make sense to apply for it if you are not planning to reside in Spain. And the same with the TIE, as it is also a residency type document. It is applied for in Spain and only in person. Because for this type of document, a fingerprinting  is involved.

So no representation is possible. Again, important to remember that TIE is just LENCY residency process, which involves a lot of steps beforehand.

So, 1 would need to start the process much more in advance before you can even come to the 

TIE. Each of these, procedures, and each of these documents requires an set of requirements, so own set of documents. It requires an appointment. In some cases, appointments are very difficult to get. It can take several weeks to even secure one appointment. one needs to to fill in forms to pay police fee in advance.

And of course, to make sure that the set of documents you present meets exactly the requirements for your individual situation, which is why the advanced preparation is always advisable. Like we already talked in one of our previous chats. 

Yeah, amazing, and I think as well for people that might be listening at home, and they're thinking gosh This sounds really complicated And they're maybe still a little bit confused about NIE and TIE. As Irina says, the TIE is the last step in a long residency Process and this is really for people that are based Outside of the EU that have a longer term intention of living in Spain so even if you're you know planning on buying a second home  and just spending part of your free time in Spain in line with the requirements.

That may not necessarily be something that you need to worry about at this point because TIE may not necessarily be the route for you. But I think as Irina correctly says, if you are a non EU citizen and your intention is to reside in Spain, then you need to investigate if that route is for you. And what I'm hearing from Irina with.

You know, with all of these things, preparation sooner than later, because we spoke about this actually in detail in one of our last chats about people coming over, not really understanding this side of the process, coming to Spain and finding that they don't qualify. So I guess  you want to ensure that  you're not in that boat, right? 

Exactly. Yeah.

Amazing, amazing. So if somebody is,   

Well, if it's a situation where you just want to have it as a second property, you absolutely do not have any intention to reside in Spain, at least not at the moment, then the only document which is relevant for you is the NIE number, NIE number certificate, which you will need to be able to complete on your property purchase and, this document you can,  obtain at any time of,  the process.

As we said, NIE doesn't confirm any residency status, so it is not affecting your tax residency situation or immigration status in any way, but it will be Absolute necessity to have it in place at the moment when you have found your property and would like to complete on it without it It will be impossible And if you're sure that this is something you're going to do then applying for nie rather sooner than later Is definitely good enough because as we said before Sometimes appointments are difficult to get, so imagine you are in the situation that you have found the perfect property, there are several people bidding for it, and you're the one who was the only person who has the NIE and can complete quickly, 

exactly. And people, you know, often write to us and ask this question, when should they start applying for this and  should they, can they apply themselves? Like, you can, but I always say don't because you don't know the system here. You likely don't speak the language if you do, fantastic,  but  I always encourage people to use a,  a professional service like yourself, Verena, as a relocation specialist, or if they're in the process where they've appointed a lawyer and you grant your lawyer power of attorney, because I just think that you want to make this process as easy as possible for yourself.

 So my advice is always use a professional before this. What would you say to that? 

Well, that's also definitely my advice. And yeah, I mean, the processes itself is not really complicated, but what I wanted to talk also about is,  what I see happening with people because they don't have enough knowledge of the,  process or confusing even the terms.  For example, as we already said, NIE is the most commonly used term when we talk about the foreign ID document.

And it's not just foreigners to blame, it's also Spanish people. So It is very often confused between the NIE just a number or NIE or let's say a residency document which contains the NIE. So what I see on a daily basis in the foreigners,  office or foreigners department office of the police where these procedures are taking place, I see lots and lots of people are just being sent away because they booked their own appointment.

They booked the appointment to get the NIE number and in reality they wanted a residency, or vice versa. They brought a completely wrong set of documents, again, preparing for the NIE, but they needed a residency, and just people sent away, they lost time, they lost money, they,  super frustrated. Same people contact me first time and say, I want an NIA number, help me to get an NIA number, and then after verifying the situation, we establish that it's not actually even the NIA number that they need to.

So again, if they would have tried to do it themselves, they would have gone through a wrong process and,  ended up doing it again twice. Yeah. All of this leads to a lot of confusion on the social media, people are asking for advice using their own terms, they are getting their own advice and then all of that leads to further frustration and confusion and then at the end Spanish red tape is blamed for everything.



So using a professional there would help you to avoid these mistakes and at the end on very many occasions will save you time and money.

Yeah. I totally agree with you. And I think why would you put that extra pressure on yourself going to these appointments where you're not familiar with the process, the terminology. You may not have the language or the level that you need to navigate through this situation. I just think you're going to put yourself in an unnecessary scenario.

So, and you're absolutely right. Then we see situations where Spanish bureaucracy and red tape is blamed for this. But really, it's because entering into the situation, you haven't understood how the landscape is going to work. And why should you? It's not your home country, right? I think that when people are preparing for this part of their process, they absolutely should work with a professional. I think that going at this alone is just really not necessary.

You're going to start your experience in Spain. potentially on the back foot because you're going to get stressed out. So, always, I think, hire a professional like Irina that can support you with this type of process to avoid unnecessary stress. That would always be my advice when it comes to questions around applying for the NIE number.

Amazing. Irina, you do this day in day out. You help hundreds of people navigate the different types of documentation that they need to stay in Spain and reside in Spain. , from your professional point of view, is there anything else that you think people should think about or be aware of as they're starting to prepare to get their paperwork in order?

Right. Well, yeah, as we already discussed the common misconception about confusing the terms, which would,  if you use a professional, you would save yourself time and cost. Another misconception I see people believe that,  the appointments are very easy to get. So again, they come to Spain and think, okay, we'll sort it out, everything in Spain.

We don't need to prepare in advance. This is not always the case.  Sometimes appointments really,  take several weeks to secure.  So,  one need to keep it in mind when preparing. So again, preparing in advance, reserving enough time, and using a professional. So just  to summarize.

Quickly what we, have discussed before,  number one, NIE is just a number. It is issued to both EU and non-EU citizens. It doesn't confirm your residency status, but it stays with you forever. And then later goes on to your residency card, which for EU citizens is called,  green, NIE, or EU certificate.

And for non eu,  TIE  number two. Don't fall into the so called NIE trap when all the documents are called NIE. Make sure to clarify for yourself which exact document is applicable for you, which set of requirements and documents is required. And then once all of that is clear, make sure to, number three, make sure to reserve enough time and,  start advanced preparation in order to save yourself time and cost.

Great advice. So I think if you're listening at home and you have your eyes on Spain this year, be it you want to buy a bolt hole in the sun, you know, that's what you're thinking of. You want to start your Spanish journey by first buying A holiday home in the sun, listen to Irina's advice there.

, you're going to need an NIE number for that. Don't wait till the last minute. , it can take some time to get the appointment. And as I'm going to repeat again, hire a professional to help you with it.  Make your NIE appointment details through the professional and you will save yourself a lot of headache because then essentially you're ready.

You have your number and you're in a position to start to accelerate your property search.

Correct, yes.

amazing. So Irina, that was like a really Effective, productive tour through NIE numbers, TIE numbers, the differences, the confusions, some of the misconceptions, and the mistakes that you see people make. So I think that was, that was so helpful for anybody that's sitting at home listening and these are the things that they already need to start thinking about now.

As always, Irina, how can our listeners reach you? If they want to talk to you further about using your services,  how can they get in touch?

I can be reached through my website,  www. malagexpat. com. Anybody, there is also a lot of information on my website, also around the topics of NIE, TIE, certificate residency, the difference between NIE and residency and so Uh, Anybody can contact me through there by sending an inquiry or through my social media,  so, Links like Instagram, it's malaga.

exped, or my,  Facebook,  malaga. exped, as well, or LinkedIn, 

Amazing. We will put all of Irina's details in the show notes of this episode. But if you're not following her on Instagram, please do. You'll see so many success stories about how she's been able to help people potentially like you make their Spanish dream a reality. So do give her a follow and you'll find all of her details here in the show notes of the episode.

We hope that you've enjoyed. Thank you for stopping by and ciao for now.