NIE and TIE in Alicante: the two acronyms that open Spain

You are sitting at an oak table in a notary office in the centre of Alicante, your signature about to fall on the deeds of your first home in Spain. And then the notary looks up, smiles, and says a sentence nobody warned you about: I need your NIE.

Welcome to the first rite of passage of any foreigner who sets foot in this country. Before the beers on the Explanada, before the first walk along Postiguet beach, even before learning that here lunch happens at two and dinner at ten, comes the paperwork. One letter, seven digits, another letter. That is what opens Spain for you.

Two acronyms, two different things

The NIE is a number. The TIE is a card. It sounds obvious, but the confusion is so common that gestorías in Alicante already have a five-minute script ready to explain it.

The Foreigner Identification Number, the NIE, is the fiscal and administrative footprint of the foreigner in Spain. A sequence with the format initial letter, seven digits, final letter, similar to the NIF carried by Spaniards. It is used to open a bank account, sign an employment contract, buy a property, file taxes, set up the electricity. Almost everything that matters. And, careful: it is the same number for the rest of your life and it does not expire.

The Foreigner Identity Card, the TIE, is something else. It is the physical plastic you carry in your wallet. It bears your photo, your fingerprint, your NIE, and the data of the residence permit the State has granted you to live here. It expires, gets renewed, and only non-EU foreigners with a residence authorisation hold one.

Who needs which

All foreigners with any economic, professional or social interest in Spain need an NIE. It does not matter whether you come to buy an apartment in El Campello for the summer or are moving for good. NIE.

The TIE, by contrast, is only needed by non-EU foreigners with a residence authorisation. If you have arrived with a digital nomad visa, a non-lucrative residence permit, a family reunification authorisation or a work authorisation, you have to apply for it as soon as you set foot on Spanish soil.

If you are a citizen of the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland and plan to stay more than three months, your path is different: you register in the Central Foreigners Registry through form EX-18. What you receive is not a TIE but a Certificate of Registration of EU Citizen, a small green slip showing your NIE. It has no photo and does not expire in the same way.

Requesting the NIE: two paths

You can request the NIE in Spain or from your country of origin. If you are already here, the usual path is the Oficina de Extranjería or the Comisaría de Policía Nacional, with an appointment booked at icp.administracionelectronica.gob.es. The form is the EX-15, downloadable for free from the portal of the Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones.

If you have not arrived yet, you can request it at the Spanish Consulate General of your place of residence. Physical presence is always mandatory, either yours or that of a representative with notarial power. The processing time from the consulate can stretch up to a month, and the NIE arrives by email.

In both cases you will need an original passport with a copy, the EX-15 form filled in, documentary evidence of the reason (a deposit contract, a bank pro forma to open an account, a sale authorisation) and proof of payment of the fee.

The 790-012 fee, the toll of the procedure

The cash step is called Modelo 790 código 012. It is the fee that pays for the issuance and renewal of foreigner identity documents. You fill it in on the National Police electronic headquarters, you print it and you pay it at any partner bank or electronically.

The amount varies according to the procedure. The assignment of an NIE at the request of the interested party is around 9.84 euros. The long-term or long-term EU card rises to about 21.87 euros. The figures are updated each year in the Spanish General State Budget, so it is worth checking the current amount on sede.policia.gob.es before generating the form.

The TIE, the physical fingerprint

The TIE only enters the scene once the administration has granted you the residence authorisation. The classic sequence: favourable resolution, appointment for fingerprinting at the Comisaría de Policía Nacional, presentation of the documents and a passport-sized photo, a wait of between thirty and forty-five days, and pickup of the card at the same police station.

The legal deadline to start the procedure is one month from your entry into Spain with the visa or from the notification of the resolution. Skipping it does not prevent you from obtaining the TIE, but it generates administrative delays that, during an already strained move, are the last thing you need. The regulation in force since May 2025, approved by Real Decreto 1155/2024, keeps this sequence and reinforces the digitalisation of some steps.

Buying a home without residing: the non-resident NIE

If what you are after is buying a home on the Costa Blanca but you have no plan to move for now, the non-resident NIE is enough. Without it, no Spanish notary will sign your deed, no bank will open a mortgage for you, and the Tax Agency will not accept the Property Transfer Tax return or the VAT return on a new build.

A comfortable route for those who cannot yet travel is to grant notarial power of attorney to a lawyer or gestor in Spain, apostilled at the corresponding consulate. With that power, your representative can request the NIE, open the bank account, sign the deed and pay the taxes without your having to land in Alicante until the day you pick up the keys.

Alicante in particular

The Alicante National Police Station centralises most of the procedures. For extranjería matters, the reference address is calle Ebanistería 4 and 6, in the Polígono de Babel, about ten minutes by car from downtown. The Comisaría Norte, on avenida de Los Condes de Soto Ameno 31, handles other police procedures. The standard hours for extranjería are Monday to Friday, from 9:00 to 14:00. No afternoons. No Saturdays.

An appointment is mandatory. It is wise to book it weeks in advance during high-demand periods, especially between March and September, when the province fills with international moves. The Oficina de Extranjería of Alicante, in charge of residence and work authorisations, operates from a different site than the police station, so it is worth checking the address when you book the appointment.

One detail you only learn afterwards: the document arrives dry, hand-delivered in five minutes, with no ceremony. You leave the police station with a piece of plastic or a sheet of A4 folded in four and, suddenly, Spain stops being a country where you are visiting and starts being a country where you sign, vote in some local elections if you are an EU citizen, contract the fibre, exist in the registries. That small piece of paper is the first line of your life here.

At ESYS VIP we walk alongside those who arrive on the Costa Blanca before the first procedure and well after the last. If you want to discover the homes waiting on the other side of the NIE, we invite you to explore our properties or contact us with no commitment.