How easy is it to get a card in Ayamonte? No idea where the police station is, whether there will be large crowds, is there a translator available, and how long before you can collect it? Very new to this purchasing business, and have been quoted 1800 euros for solicitor fees just to purchase without any further help.

From memory. I think you will need your passports and 2 copies of your passports and 2 passport size photographs each. Probably best to take some utility bills for your Spanish address as well. Take these to the police station on the right going out of Ayamonte towards Isla Canela. There are no translators and probably no English speakers but if you take along a paper request of what you want in Spanish they will understand. Run a translation off on your computer of what you want. I think you have to be there early as they don't open all day.
Take the forms away and with your Spainish dictionary complete and return to the police station. Once accepted you will have to wait around 2 weeks to collect. Queues will depend on the time you get there and how many people are there. It really is a simple process that the police must have done 100's of times for the British. You don't need a solicitor for this.

Steve

By the way, you get a NIE number on paper. Not a card. Unless this has changed.

Steve

Are you intending to live here or just short holidays? If your stay is for more than 90 days then you should apply for "Residencia" from the start. Huelva Province now issue this as a green card and includes your NIE number. This is applied for using form EX18. If your stay is for less than 90 days then you can apply for just the NIE number (white A4 sheet of paper) and from memory the form is EX15 but may now be EX16. These forms are downloadable from the Government site together with instructions to complete.


Remember always that Google is your friend and that Google translate can be used for web pages.

To the best of my knowledge you cannot get the NIE or "Residencia" in Ayamonte. In 2004 we tried all the police stations and all said not here and the National Police sent us to Huelva to get our NIE's. We recently upgraded to Residencia and that had to be done at the Extrajanos office in the center of Huelva. To even enter that building you have to make an appointment online. The rules demand that you do the "residencia" in person and I think the same now applies to NIE although in the past you could use an agent.

Recently we needed to obtain NIE for our son. We were told by the town hall people that we would have to go to Huelva. Only Spanish can do this at a police station.

How things have changed since I got my NIE at the local police station

You can get your NIE in an hour or so.
You can only get you NIE in Huelva:
C/ Fernando el Católico, 36
21071 - HUELVA

Bring your passport and a photocopy
A copy of the reservation contract of the property you are going to buy.
Fill out the form in the office sign it, run around the corner to the local bank and pay the admin fee which is about 10 euros, come back hand in proof of payment and that's it.
Here is the form you have to fill in
http://extranjeros.empleo.gob.es/es/...rtificados.pdf

Hope that helps
Michael H

Thank you so much. We are just coming over next week for a few days as we have put in an offer for a duplex in marina asuri Manzana 3, and hoping to apply for a Nie card when we arrive. It will be a holiday home for the time being, not at retirement age yet. Lol. I also need a bank account. Just realising what a massive project we have taken on, but I'm sure it will be worth it..

Thank you .

Hola Mike, do you know if you have to make an appointment online for the NIE? You do for the Residencia and it can be weeks ahead before you can go.

please be aware that in some other parts the banks will only accept payment of the impuesto between 8.30 and 10.00/10.30 each day

they seem to spend more time explaining and refusing than actually taking the payment

Hi John & Kath,
No appt needed for NIE just walk straight in second desk on the left.

They will direct you to a bank in Huelva about 200m away around a couple of corners which took our €10.32 at 13.45 but we had to pay cash so needed to go outside to draw from the machine to pay the bill. So take a ten euro note and some shrapnel when you go.

Is that at the same office as mentioned above. When we went for the "Residencia" There was a guard at the door and the obligatory X RAY machine and nobody seemed to get past him without an appointment.

Just tell him it's NIE and the address is as above, beside the Casa Colon in Huelva