My Spanish partner and I are looking to have a “pareja de hecho” in order to live together, but looking at the requirements one of them is I need my passport and NIE number in order to prove my identity.

He’s a citizen so everything is straightforward for him but I’m the one that’s stressing. It seems I can apply for an NIE from the Spanish consulate in the U.K. or use a representative in Spain.

Our aim is for me to move by this time next year. I’m visiting him in November and February, would it be better to apply for an NIE in Spain or the UK? Does anyone have any experience with this?

if the embassy is close to you on the island, do it there as it can take months to get an appointment in mainland Spain and you need to be present - no representative can do it for you

Really, for the white-paper NIE itself? That's quite a wait - it certainly wasn't that bad when I applied. The main problem is that they don't want to give the NIE to UK (non-EU) nationals as we're supposed to get it during the residency application process. They'll basically tell you that you don't need to get it now and that it will be automatically assigned then.

We had to wait about three months in 2018 when we did ours.
The OP can either go to the nearest consulate and tell them they wish to move to spain with an EU partner.
Or just say you want to buy a property of a car for use on your 90 day holidays.

I got my NIE in 2014 through a company that advertised on the Internet. I had to get all the paperwork signed and stamped by a local Notary. Everything cost me (iirc) about £80 and came through the post after a couple of weeks. I got it primarily to be able to receive a monetary sum as a family member who lived in Spain had died. This was a couple of years before i moved to Spain. I don't know if this service is still available.

Steve

There have been reports that you needed some sort of pre-sale agreement when going down the property route, but maybe a car would be easier? Or just mention you want to buy a scooter asap?

One of my ex work mates got his NIE from the London consulate and they didnt ask for any contracts, this was a couple of months ago.
He said he was coming out for a month to look at buying off plan and said he wanted to do as much paperwork as possible while he was here.
They just said Ok and the white paper was with him at home in the Uk in a couple of weeks.

If you do it from abroad is fine, but if you were to walk in locally in Spain it would be a hassle to get the NIE that easily as a non-EU national.

I lucked out as the dragon guarding the gates to the NIE application didn't turn me away that day after I showed that I'm already resident in another EU country. And this was my third attempt because the previous two had failed with me being informed that a NIE will be assigned to me during the residency procedure for non-EU citizens.

Are you looking to get Spanish residency? If so ok I get what they are saying but if you plan on staying non resident but need an NIE how are you expected to get one ?

Go to the Spanish consulate in the UK either London, Manchester or Edinburgh and submit the application.

Steve

Yes I get that Steve my question was how does astera get one as i believe they are in Spain (I may be wrong). I get that if one is going for residency they get NIE as part of residency process but there are other reasons for needing an NIE other than residency and there must still be a way to get one other than for residency in Spain. It was very easy when we got one outside of residency to buy our house which was initially as holiday home so no residency applied for or required.

At the time I just wanted a NIE and when I said that I am moving they told me there's no need to get one now because one will be assigned to me during the residency application process. I still wanted a NIE and eventually got the application "through the door" by showing another EU residency permit (card) and somehow they took my docs and told me to come back next week or something like that.

But you are entirely correct in that you might need a NIE without wanting to move to Spain, in which case you have to give them a valid reason. From what I've heard if you mention property acquisition they apparently want to see some sort of pre-sale agreement. So my best suggestion would be to mention that you want to buy a scooter, perhaps? If they also want some sort of agreement then maybe just say you want to buy a new one from the salon.

Thanks for update , I got mine 18 years ago to buy a property but not residency, times have changed.

If they do that, the consulate will not help them. An NIE from the consulate is NOT for people moving to Spain

Two obvious reasons for a non resident needing an NIE are to be able to set up a power of attorney for someone on Spain or to receive a Spanish inheritance.