ID cards in Spain
 

Hi All

I'm thinking of moving to Spain in the near future and amongst one of the many things I'm thinking of doing is getting an one of the new UK ID cards. It's a bit of a effort to be honest - registering on the website, getting an appointment and going along to the passport office to do the registration - but a colleague said that life in Spain can be a bit irksome without an ID card, because you have to carry your passport all the time (some Spanish police requirement about identity?) and also it can be hard to use a credit card if you don't have one?

What I wanted to ask is this - is it worth the hassle of getting one before I move? Or won't it make much difference if I don't bother? To be honest I could also do without spending the £30 on one either but if I need to, I will.

Grateful for advice!

Adzil

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

UK driver's licence is sufficent for your needs, cheaper too!

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

Appreciate your time answering, thanks. I don't drive for medical reasons though.

NB - A driver's licence is actually £50 these days.

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

I find life without my ID card quite awkward and cumbersome at times. And yes, carrying a passport is a real pain!

The trouble is that the UK ID card won't have your Spanish ID number on it, and I don't suppose it will have your Spanish address either. So its use will be a bit limited. Fine for the weekly trip to the supermarket though.:rolleyes:

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

A UK driving license is not legal proof of identity in Spain, it´s been covered several times.
To the OP, yes I think this would be a good idea assuming that it is recognised over here which I would imagine it is.

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

A UK ID card, if you can get one, is as valid a form of ID as a passport and you can travel in the EU with an ID card in place of a passport which is why a number of Ex-pats are campaigning to get the UK government to allow them to be issued to non UK residents which currently is not possible.

It has been covered on this thread.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=653189

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

Hi

If I understood correctly "You could do without spending the money" - if money is that tight then don't come to Spain - it aint that cheap no more !!!

Davexf

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

Hi Fred

I'm going off at a tangent here a bit, but I was looking at this in some depth on Monday after I saw a news item on the ITV news, which is what set me off thinking about the subject in the first place. As far as I can see, if you're an expat who still has an address in the UK you can get an ID card now. They don't seem to exactly going out of their way to publish this aspect though, and the focus seemed to be on young people in London.

Anyway, to explain after the news story I googled 'ID cards in London' and found a press release from the home office which says quote "...until 30 June, people across the UK who have registered an interest through the Directgov website will be able to apply for a card."

Once you've registered on the website: https://info.ips.gov.uk/ipscw/reg
you can call up the passport line and get an appointment. So I did, and it seemed pretty straightforward. Now I'm just weighing up if I should go through with it or just cancel it.

The situation might be a bit different for expats who've permanently moved, as the website says you do need to be resident in the UK, although I imagine some expats will still also have a UK address. That said, the website only asks you to tick a box saying you are resident and give your postcode. As long as you have a UK address you can use, I don't see how they could tell if you are actually resident or not. I presume they need the address to deliver the card to, as I think they use the same delivery method as for a passport - my new one arrived via a courier recently.

I don't think they are making it particularly easy though, as they only seem to have offices doing cards in London and Manchester at the moment. Clearly it's not being aimed at expats, but with a little effort I'm sure anyone could get one if they were on a visit back to the UK. The only other requirement apart from being a UK citizen seemed to be having a valid or recently expired British passport. Most expats will have one of those I think :).

Adzil

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

Lol! I've got a load saved up, but I'm just tight!

Adzil:D

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

Adzil. This has been covered in other threads but I will just mention it here.

I have not seen the application form but if they say 'resident' that does not mean 'have a c/o address' and The Perjury Acts/Theft Acts might well apply to false statements.

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

I seem to remember reading that you have to have an interview. This could potentially be the tricky bit if you are "claiming" to be UK resident.

If you do go ahead, I would be interested to hear your experiences - is it really an interview or just a formality.

Bearing in mind that the government are desperate to get the scheme off the ground they may well be happy to to turn a blind eye to the residency issue if you have a British Passport as a British Citizen.

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

I well remember how expats used to complain bitterly about the Spanish system of having to carry photo ID, whereas back in in the UK you were free to walk about with just a handkerchief in your pocket. I believe the Spanish government caved in to political pressure from the UK and agreed that only a registration was necessary, without a photo ID.

And now we’re all complaining and even support the photo ID system back in the UK. It seems we want to have to identify ourselves to the authorities at every turn, what happened to all that freedom we campaigned for?

What’s wrong with our passports? And driving licences? Why do we need anything else?

When we have to produce ID in Spain, it’s usually to pay for something, and if they don’t accept what we produce, they won’t get paid.

As for bending the truth a little to get a UK ID, I really don’t see the point, what on earth would you do with such a document in Spain?

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

I don't have a driving licence

a passport is an awkward size

obviously a card would just be so much easier to carry

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

You would use it instead of a passport (within the EU/EAA) as it qualifies as a National Identity Document just like a Spanish DNI card.

It also costs a lot less than a passport and is easier to carry.

They seem like two valid reasons.

Re: ID cards in Spain
 

Fair enough, if the Spanish authorities will recognise a UK ID card in the same way as a Spanish DNI one. But we’re not signed up to Schengen, doesn’t that mean that we would still need our passports as well? If all you’ve got is the UK ID and they ask how you got into the country, what would you say?

Like most expats I know, I carry a miniaturised copy of my passport as ID, not at the airport or when I’m driving, but on all other occasions it’s accepted. I’ve never known anyone, usually a trader, not to accept a passport number instead of a NIE.