'New' NIE numbers??

[tjtops]

Hi all. I was told last night by someone who purports to have been told by 'someone who really knows' ( ) that apparently there is now such a thing as an 'old' (being phased out) NIE number and a 'new' one which you have to get, along with two other certificates (he reckoned residencia and padron??) all-in-one if you need to buy/sell anything official where an NIE number is required.......eg car etc...
My 'informant' said the three 'certificates' are incorporated on one piece of paper, issued by Malaga police station.....
Sounds distinctly dodgy info to me, given the rules about padron and residencia.....does anyone know anything about this??

[Lavanda]

Not sure about this. We have an 3 A4 sheets; one with the N.I.E., one with the Padron which has the N.I.E. on it and one with the Residencia also with the N.I.E. on it. In practice I keep my N.I.E. number in my mobile phone address book and whenever anyone wants it - there it is. So far no one has asked to see any paperwork when simply buying things in shops but for other 'official' things I produce all three bits and the correct one is selected by whoever wants it.

[Beachcomber]

I don't see how this can be. A non-resident needs a NIE number but not a residence certificate or a padrón certificate and, anyway, the NIE and certificate are issued by MIR whereas the padrón certificate is issued by the local town hall.

The only truth I can see in this is that a resident could be issued with a combined NIE and certificate but not padrón. However, this is Spain and Spain (as we all know) is different so who knows?

[Jool]

Perhaps this may have come about as the prefix letter for NIE numbers has changed as they ran out of old ones.......and people her it as NEW numbers...??

[tjtops]

I agree with Beach...you don't have to be resident to get an NIE, but you DO have to have an NIE in order to buy stuff...although the other 'rumour' was they are having to phase those out as technically, EU citizens can't be classed as 'foreigners'....???
Anyway, they certainly wouldn't give residency straight away (I wouldn't have thought)....and many people wouldn't -- or couldn't -- be 'resident' but need NIEs....also I can't see how the padron could be incorporated -- especially as my 'informant' maintained they didn't need escritura, rental agreement etc etc to obtain this magic 'three-in-one'..which is why I thought it sounded dodgy!
What does concern me though is: is there a possibility that an 'old' NIE is or will be invalid??? Again, I can't see how or why but it is slightly worrying......
Even more worrying IMHO is the way that info of this sort gets passed around, like Chinese whispers, and people who don't know about forums like this are being misled -- and in turn misleading others??

[Jool]

Your NIE number is with you for lie. Spanish have an ID number and the NIE is ours......no matter what the Authorities like to pretend it is!

[tjtops]

That's what I thought Jool!

[Bongtrees]

Your NIE number is with you for lie. Spanish have an ID number and the NIE is ours......no matter what the Authorities like to pretend it is!

and what do the ¨Authorities¨ pretend it is then?

(Número de Identidad de Extranjero):

[Beachcomber]

Yes, exactly. The NIE also serves as the tax identification number (NIF) changing this would be an impossible task.

I think what Jool means is that although the Spanish authorities have been forced to abolish the residencia for European foreigners the number is far more important than the piece of card and is what is used to keep track of foreigners and their payment (or not) of taxes.

[Jool]

BT - NIE is purported to be Foreigner´s registration number but in reality its an ID number as you cannot do anything at all in Spain without it! So thank you Beach, to all intents and purposes it is an ID number, just not called that by name.

[Beachcomber]

The 'I' in both NIE and NIF stands for 'identificaión' so there's no getting away from the fact really.

[julian]

"changing this would be an impossible task."
impossible is nothing..well at least here anyway !!!

[Jool]

Yes since they just re-invented my house, added on and included a sports club, gave it back to the previous owner, changed the town we live in along with address and postcode etc, all without any documentation from anyone anything could happen!!

[katy]

Our postcode changed a few years ago, a few months later they changed the house numbering.

BTW according to my friend when you go to sign on at the jobcentre you cannot enter the website to see available jobs if you have a foreigners identification no.

[Jool]

Our new town does not even come within the jurisdiction of the town issuing the documentation and included on the address..!!

Your friends problem may be the one that NIE numbers are not the same number of digits as for spanish ID numbers, if she/he enters their NIE as a residencia number the system should accept it.........strange but true, we do it all the time now when our NIE numbers are not accepted and I don´t even have a residencia!!!

[pkates]

Yes, anything is possible! A few years ago the town hall changed the name of our street. I now don't receive any bills by post as a result. Tried changeing the address with telefonica to the new street name - but they insist this isn't possible without disconnecting the line and then waiting for a reconnection for the new address, even though nothing has physically changed . . . doh!!

This 'new' NIE issue is causing confusion - new members of staff we employ now have to get the 'green' NIE paper in order for the tax office to accept the paperwork - however - my 8 year old NIE document was accepted without any problem and all taxes + SS are being paid - strange!