Can anyone help us with advise please. We have our NIFs in an A4 paper size, can we change them to a better size in some official dep.?

For any important purchase we make they ask us for the NIFs and they are getting a bit tatty in my handbag!!!!!

A copy is perfectly adequate. In fact if making a purchase you just need to provide the number.

If you have a Spanish Drivers Licence then the number is shown on there. When I showed a copy of that A4 green paper I have been forbidden to be able to collect a parcel at the Correos.

I thought we could have some legal document the size of a card. Dreaming??????

Shame, we still have our UK driving licences...........

I was sceptical about changing over to a Spanish driving licence but it has paid dividends as it is the only ID I ever use. My passport and other forms of ID are filed and only come out if I have to produce them for official offices to photocopy them.

Rosemary

But it must be difficult to change the driving licence, do you have to have a medical, a driving exam etc, etc?????

A couple of points;

• are you being asked for NIE, NIF or 'residencia'?
• Is your A4 sheet white or green? - white is just your NIE whilst green is proof of having signed on the list of foreigners (AKA 'resiidencia')

If you have the green A4 sheet, then most extranjerias now offer this with a credit card sized cut-out. So, if you go back and ask for a replacement, then you may well get the size you are looking for.


@Casa Santo Estevo
This makes no sense unless they mean that the A4 sheet is NOT proof of ID so they are insisting that you show your passport in future (the only valid form of ID that us Brits now have).

No, it's very easy. Read this thread

http://britishexpats.com/forum/spain...thread-786975/

You "may" be asked for a medical certificate (easy to get), but you won't have to take a driving test.

Our experiences...mine and the wife.
Drivers Licence.
We first had our DLs from other European countries and registered it at traffico many many years ago. The law changed (was that in 2013?) Our DLs were still valid but we exchanged the original DLs for Spanish ones without any form of exam or medical. This covered (between us) all classes of vehicles) Note; that this is our experience what you may have found out could be different and we are not going to go into all the ins and outs. I am not will to start another one of those threads to which Fred has kindly linked too.
Note to the OP in the end you have to change your DL so why the reluctance?
As for the the experience at the Correos, yes the office blockhead,behind the desk needed our sheets of paper. He has even had an office get together at our casa rural, so it is not as if he does not know us. But the law says he needs to see ID with a number so that is what he got. Yes even with no photo on it. Spain!!
Also note that as a small hotel we have to conform to the law of Spain. We have to see some sort of ID of which certain details are taken and sent to the Guardia Civil. We cannot take copies as proof of ID in this case either.
You will also need ID when using a card to make payments in a shop. This requires a photo with a photo on it. Again a DL comes in handy.

Note that UK driving licences (the plastic EU version) ONLY need to be changed to a Spanish one once they expire (every 10 years for most of us).

So, you don't have to change a (valid and current) UK licence to a Spanish one if you don't want to.

Small shops may ask you for photo id, but my experience is large shops do not. For instance AlCampo, Ikea, et al have self service checkouts installed now. So whether you use them or the normal cashier neither asks you for photo id. Leroy Merlin used to ask for it, but no longer do so, same with Brico Depot.

I find the comments on the production of the NIE document quite interesting. Having only been living here for five weeks now the only time I have been asked to produce the actual form was to get the Telecom/WiFi installed in our apartment. Our Solicitor opened our Bank account and arranged all the utilities connections and associated Direct Debit payments. I am assuming that as he had obtained our NIE Numbers for us, in our absence, he sorted all that side out. However, since being here we have totally re-furnished our apartment, soft furnishings and electrical, we paid with a Caxton FX Euro Cash Card but not once were we asked for our NIE Numbers or to produce the documentation. I guess it's just like the UK, beaurocracy and officialdom varies depending on who you are dealing with ?

Hola

Actually there is another advantage in having a Spanish driving licence if you are 70 or over; the UK driving licence is renewable every THREE years, whereas the Spanish licence is every FOUR years

Davexf

It's 5 years not 4.