Obtaining a Spanish NIE Number

To be appointed as a Director or Shareholder of a Spanish company you will need an NIE number – Número de Identidad de Extranjero.

The NIE is a process with the Police in Spain.

We will organise an appointment with the police or tax authorities to lodge the documents our fees for the services are as follows:

• Obtaining your NIE per director / shareholder – £660
• CIF number for a Company – £660
• Official translation by a sworn translator of the Certificate of Incorporation or Certificate of Good Standing to obtain the CIF number. – €400
• Dual Language Power of Attorney – £240 (English/Spanish)
• Legalisation/Apostille of documents in country of origin

The tax authorities are willing to issue a temporary number to a person for a variety of reasons; for example, when that person is a representative of a foreign company that wishes to invest in Spain, and where reasonable steps have been taken to get an appointment with the police.

Temporary NIE numbers

The tax authorities may issue a temporary NIE number to a person for if you need a number urgently because you want to incorporate a company in Spain, and where reasonable steps have been taken to get an appointment with the police.

Temporary numbers are live for three months

NIE Number by Power of Attorney

You will need to sign a dual language (English-Spanish) Power of Attorney, which is prepared and signed in the presence of a notary.

The notary will state that you are competent to sign and understand the text.  Once signed the POA is sent back to us where we will arrange for it to be legalised for use in Spain.

We will draft a double language Power of Attorney (English-Spanish) and instruct you how to get this legalised with apostille for use in Spain.

Obtaining the NIE number:

– we complete the application form
– pay the state fee
– make the appointment
– visit the police station and submit the documents
– return to the station to get the NIE document

We will also require an apostilled copy of your passport – only the photo page is needed if the country is in the EU.  As the UK is not part of the EU, all pages of a passport are needed for UK citizens. This is usually achieved by getting a notary to check the original passport and getting the “notarial” copy signed.

NIE Number by visiting Madrid

If you can visit our office in Madrid, then we will accompany you to the Commissariat.

To obtain your NIE we will require:

• A Power of Attorney notarised
• Copy of your passport legalised for use in Spain

The Power of Attorney only gives us the authority to complete and lodge the application with the Commissariat and obtain the document showing your NIE number.

Details we require for NIE application

• Full Name
• Sex
• Passport Nº
• Date of Birth
• City of Birth
• Nationality
• Name of Father
• Name of Mother
• Marital Status
• Reasons for your request NIE
• Passport Certified Copy

Fiscal Identity Number for your Company in Spain (CIF)

The CIF: The Certificado de Identificacion Fiscal (CIF) is the tax number for all companies in Spain, it also serves as the VAT number.

A CIF number is needed:

• If the non-Spanish company has to register for a tax in Spain- such as VAT or
• If the non-Spanish company is going to be the shareholder of a Spanish company

We require a Certificate of Good Standing showing details of your company from the Companies Registry where the company is incorporated and this needs to be apostilled for use in Spain.

Obtaining the identification number for a company will require a Power of Attorney.

Legalising a corporate body who will be shareholder

If a corporate body is going to be a shareholder, we need to legalise the company so they can sign public documents in Spain.

We therefore need:

• a Power of Attorney so that we can get the company legalised, this to be signed by one director (unless joint signatures)
• this Power of Attorney usually will include the power to incorporate a company on behalf of the shareholder
• the Power of Attorney is signed by the person who will be a director of the Spanish company – we can also add a clause stating that this person accepts the directorship on incorporation
• a Certificate of Good Standing from the registry stating that the company exists, stating details including incorporation date, registered office, type of company and director details, and needs to have an apostille for use in Spain
• the transfer of share capital- the minimum for a limited company is €3000. We will deposit this money in a bank suspense account

Company Shareholder Documents required

France – require an updated KBIS form from the Registre de Commerce

Germany – require a HRB Certificate from the Handelsregistereintragung

Netherlands – require a Uitreksel from the KVK (Chamber of Commerce)

Spaih – require a Nota Simple from the Registro Mercantil

USA – require a Certificate of Status from the Division of Corporations

UK – require a Certificate of Good Standing from Companies’ House