Before you can do anything in Spain — buy a property, open a bank account, set up a company, sign a contract — you need a NIE number. It stands for Número de Identificación de Extranjero, which translates roughly as “foreigner identification number.” Think of it as your Spanish tax identity. Without it you are invisible to the Spanish system. You cannot buy, sell, register, or legally operate in any capacity.
Getting one sounds straightforward. In practice it involves a notary, a solicitor, a police station, and a fair amount of waiting and chasing. Here’s exactly how I did it.
How I found out about the NIE — and the podcast that started everything
Long before I got anywhere near a notary, I was consuming everything I could find about living and buying in Spain. I’d been listening to the Advanced Spanish podcast at the gym — the host had grown up near Valencia and his episodes on the culture and the region kept pulling me in. One thing led to another and I found the Valencia Property Podcast on Spotify. I listened to practically everything on it.
Eventually I reached out directly. I spoke to Paul Murphy from their team on the phone — he and the rest of the Valencia Property Podcast team are native UK and Irish speakers, which made the whole conversation easy and reassuring. When I visited Valencia in February 2025 he met me in person, helped me get oriented, and connected me with a trusted local solicitor to get the NIE process started. They even arranged an appointment at Banco Sabadell to try to open a personal bank account at the same time. That didn’t work out — more on the Spanish banking nightmare in another post — but the NIE did.
What actually happens to get your NIE
The process works like this: you cannot simply walk into a police station and apply for a NIE yourself as a non-resident. You either need to attend in person with an appointment — which can be hard to get and requires you to be physically present in Spain on the right day — or you give a solicitor power of attorney to attend on your behalf.
I chose the power of attorney route because I was only in Valencia for a limited time and couldn’t guarantee being there on the day of the appointment.
Here’s what the process involved:
First, a visit to a notary to formally grant power of attorney to my solicitor to act on my behalf. He was wonderful with my two-year-old son who came along to every appointment that trip. The notary visit cost around €170 on the day.
Then the solicitor attended the police station, submitted the application, and collected the NIE once it was ready. His fee for this — including the official NIE application cost — was €450, payable once the NIE was issued and ready to send.
Total NIE cost via solicitor: approximately €620.
The bit nobody warns you about — the waiting and the worry
Once the application was submitted, I went home to London and waited. And worried.
I’d heard enough stories about people being scammed in Spain to make me nervous about handing over money and documents to someone I’d met once. The day after the NIE was meant to arrive I’d heard nothing. I chased.
He responded promptly — with the fee invoice and the NIE shortly after. Looking back through my emails he was completely professional and legitimate throughout. But in the moment, with a trip to Alicante already booked to open my company, the stakes felt high. Without the NIE that entire trip would have been wasted.
The lesson: chase early, but don’t panic. The process is slower and quieter than you expect, and good solicitors don’t always volunteer updates unless you ask.
The name mistake I only discovered months later
Here’s something I didn’t find out until I was standing in the tax office in Alicante trying to set up my company’s tax identity — the police had written my name slightly wrong on the NIE, missing a hyphen. It was only because my accountant was with me and knew the officer that we were able to get a corrected version issued on the spot. If I’d been alone it might not have been so straightforward.
Check your NIE the moment you receive it. Name, date of birth, passport number. Don’t assume it’s correct just because it came from an official source.
Shopping around matters
I did get a quote for company setup from the Valencia-based solicitor I’d been working with for my NIE. When I found a firm on the ground in Alicante the same work came in significantly cheaper. The NIE solicitor was a fluent English speaker and excellent — but for the company setup, being local to Alicante and knowing the people in the tax office turned out to matter more than language. More on that in the next post.
What I’d do differently
I’d use a solicitor again — the power of attorney route made sense for my situation and the cost was reasonable given what it covered. But I’d ask upfront for a clear timeline and a confirmation when the application has been submitted. The anxiety of not knowing where things stood was the worst part, and a quick email update would have prevented it entirely.
If you’re planning to buy in Valencia specifically, the Valencia Property Podcast team — Graham Hunt and Paul Murphy — were genuinely helpful, native English speakers, and well connected locally. They only operate in the Valencia region so if you’re buying in Alicante you’ll need a local contact, but the podcast itself is worth listening to wherever you’re buying in Spain.
What it actually cost — and what the power of attorney covered
My total NIE cost broke down as follows:
- Notary (power of attorney): ~€170
- Solicitor fee (application + collection + sending): ~€450
- Total: ~€620
It’s worth understanding what the €170 notary fee actually bought. The power of attorney I signed was drawn broadly — it authorised my solicitor to act on my behalf not just for the NIE application, but also at a future property completion if I needed him to sign at the Spanish notary on my behalf remotely. So that cost was doing double duty.
If you’re planning to buy remotely and need someone to sign for you at completion, you’ll need that power of attorney in place regardless of how you get your NIE. It’s worth asking your solicitor about the scope upfront — a broader POA costs the same notary visit but covers far more.
An alternative route: remote NIE services
Since getting my own NIE I’ve come across FastNIE, a remote service that handles the entire NIE process without you ever leaving the UK. No solicitor coordination, no notary visit, no police station appointment. You provide basic information and they handle everything. There are three tiers:
- Blaze — NIE in 30 days, £289 (most popular)
- Lightning — NIE in 14 days, £489
- Urgent VIP — NIE in 7 days, £689
There’s also a 10% discount if you order two or more NIEs — useful if you’re buying with a partner.
At £289, the Blaze plan is significantly cheaper than my solicitor route (€620 all in) — and the process is simpler. However, FastNIE handles the NIE only. If you also need a power of attorney to allow someone to complete a property purchase on your behalf remotely, that’s a separate cost you’ll need to arrange with a solicitor regardless.
So the right choice depends on your situation. If you have time and only need the NIE, FastNIE looks like excellent value. If you’re also buying remotely and need a POA for completion, it may be worth bundling the notary visit for both at the same time — in which case the traditional solicitor route starts to make more sense on cost.
I haven’t used FastNIE personally — my NIE predates finding them. But my husband still needs his, and I’m planning to use them and will update this article with a full account of how it went.