NIE processing in Spain and purchase administration
The NIE is your Spanish identification number, and you need it to complete a purchase, to apply for a mortgage and to pay tax on the property afterwards. An independent lawyer obtains it. Our job is that it starts early enough to never be the thing everyone is waiting for, and that the rest of the paperwork joins up around it. Most of what you have to supply goes electronically from Czechia, and a power of attorney means you do not fly back for every signature.
Who does what, and where we stop
Specialists handle the expertise. We make sure it all joins up. That sentence is on our homepage and this table is what it means in practice for the paperwork around a purchase.Almost none of the work below is ours. The independent lawyer does the legal work and is paid by you, not by us, and he acts for you and not for the seller. What we do is hold the calendar: knowing what has to be started, in what order, and how early, so that nothing on this list turns into the reason a signing date moves.
| What has to be done | Who does it | What that means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Before you can sign anything | ||
| The NIE | The independent lawyer | You supply the identification, the lawyer files the application. We agree with him when it starts, and the answer is nearly always earlier than a first-time buyer expects. |
| The power of attorney | You, before a notary | One appointment, and it does not commit you to buying anything. It is what lets the lawyer handle the rest without you flying back. |
| Translations | The lawyer’s office | Priced together with the NIE in the published purchase-cost tables, at roughly the amount in the cost section below. |
| A Spanish bank account | The lawyer, with the bank | Useful in practice for a cash purchase and required before signing a mortgage. It has its own page rather than a paragraph here. |
| Decisions that are cheaper made early | ||
| Proving where the money came from | You, for the bank and the lawyer | On a larger purchase this will be asked for. Get it together before you start moving money, not while a payment is already sitting in a check. |
| Whose name the property goes in | You, with the lawyer and a tax adviser | Ownership affects inheritance, tax and a future sale. Decide it before the purchase contract, not at the notary. If you are buying as a couple, have children, hold other assets in Spain or are considering a company, say so at the very first conversation. |
| After the keys | ||
| Utilities, water and the transfers | The lawyer, after completion | Standard part of the post-completion work. If something changes or goes wrong later, we help you find out who to call. |
| The annual tax deadlines | The lawyer or a tax adviser | Not ours and never presented as ours. What you get from us is knowing who holds them and when they fall. |
| The timing of all of it | Arevont | This row is the whole service. We do not obtain your NIE, we do not act under your power of attorney and we do not give tax advice. We make sure the people who do those things start in time and stay in step. |
Do I need a NIE to buy a property in Spain?Yes. It is the identification number for foreign nationals and you will need it for the purchase, for tax and for everything else around the property. A Spanish bank account is not required in the same way, but it is very useful in practice.
Who actually obtains it?Your independent lawyer. He is on your side, independent of us and of the seller, and the same office typically handles the account, the utility transfers and the annual tax filings afterwards. We agree the timing with him and then chase it.
The three moments it has to already exist
Waiting for a NIE at the moment you are supposed to be signing is an unnecessary way to complicate a purchase. That is the whole argument for starting it early, and it is easier to see once you know where in the process the number is actually demanded.
- If you are borrowing, at the applicationA Spanish bank wants the NIE in the document pack, alongside the tax returns and the payslips. A mortgage application here is measured in weeks rather than days, so a missing number does not delay the mortgage by a week, it delays the whole file.
- At completion, without exceptionThe number goes on the deed. There is no version of the signing that happens without it, which is why it is the one piece of paperwork that can move a fixed date.
- For everything after the keysTax filings, the utility contracts, the community, a future sale. The NIE stops being a purchase document the day you complete and starts being the number you are known by.
- And usually before you noticeOn our fifteen-step process this sits at step ten and runs in parallel with the legal due diligence, not after it. By the time there is a signing date in the diary the number should already exist.
- And one number for each name on the deedThis is not one NIE per purchase. Everyone who will appear as an owner needs their own, which means both spouses if you are buying jointly, and any children if the property is going into their names too. Each one is a separate application. Discovering that two weeks before completion, when only one of you has a number, is a bad week, and it is the most common version of this going wrong.
Do I have to travel to Spain for the NIE?Not necessarily, and for most of our clients it is handled without a dedicated trip. Whether you ever have to appear in person depends on the route and on your situation, and it is your lawyer who tells you that, not us.
What the application involves, and what actually decides the wait
This is the part we can describe but do not perform. The NIE is assigned by the Spanish police, on a standard form and against a standard fee, and it is your lawyer who files it. What follows is what to expect, taken from what the authorities themselves publish. The procedure itself, step by step, belongs in our guide.
What buyers assumeWhat the official position is
- There is one way to apply, and it is the same for everyone
- There are two. From inside Spain the application goes to the police, directly or through an immigration office or a police station. From outside Spain it goes through a Spanish consulate. Which one applies to you depends on where you are when the application is made, and the two do not behave the same way.
- The number takes weeks to come out
- Once an application has been registered, the authority has a maximum of five days to resolve it, and silence after that counts as a refusal rather than as a delay. The issuing itself is not where the time goes.
- So it is quick
- Not necessarily, and we will not give you a number. What is not published by either route is how long it takes to reach the point where an application is registered. It depends on the appointment, and it differs between offices and between consulates. We plan around that uncertainty instead of promising a date, and we start early precisely because we cannot promise one.
- A NIE is the same thing as Spanish residency
- It is not. A NIE on its own is a number for people who have an economic, professional or social reason to deal with Spain, which is exactly what buying a property is. An EU citizen who later intends to stay longer than three months registers separately and receives a registration certificate, which carries the same number and is often called the green NIE. Buying does not put you into that second category.
The practical consequence is the same either way: nobody can hand you a guaranteed date, so the only real control anyone has over this is starting it early. That is the part we own.
Sources
How long does it take to get a NIE?We will not put a number on it, and we would treat any agency that does with suspicion. The legal deadline for deciding a registered application is short. What nobody publishes is how long it takes to get an application registered, because that depends on appointments that vary by office and by consulate. Starting early is the only reliable answer.
What a power of attorney takes off your calendar
A power of attorney is the single document that decides how much of this purchase you have to attend in person. With one in place your lawyer can carry out a large part of the paperwork on your behalf, including the completion at the notary. Without one, every signature is a flight.
- It can be signed long before you buy anythingIt does not commit you to a purchase and it does not have to wait for one. Signing it while you are already on the coast for a viewing trip costs you an hour of a day you are spending here anyway, and it simplifies everything that comes later.
- Signing it from Czechia is possible, and it costs moreIt usually means additional formalities, an apostille and a translation. Nothing about that is a problem, but it is work and it is money, and it is the reason we mention the notary while you are here rather than afterwards.
- It carries most of the adminThe NIE, the account and the rest of the paperwork around the purchase can largely be handled for you on the strength of it. You are not travelling back to Spain for individual documents.
- And it carries the signing itselfYou do not have to be at the notary. If your lawyer holds the appropriate power of attorney he can complete the purchase for you, and we are there on the day watching the handover either way.
- Tell the lawyer at the start what you want it to coverA power of attorney is drafted for a purpose, and it is not one universal document that covers whatever comes up. Say early what you want to be able to do without flying, so the scope is decided at the drafting table and not discovered later.
One warning, and it is the reason we do not treat any of this casually. A forged power of attorney is a known way that property fraud is committed in Spain, alongside fake listings and the "our bank details have changed" email. Never pay anyone or sign anything on the strength of a document you received by email without checking it with us or with your lawyer first.
Can all the paperwork be done without me coming to Spain?Almost all of it. With a power of attorney the NIE, the bank account and the signatures can be handled remotely. The one visit we genuinely recommend has nothing to do with paperwork: it is seeing the property and the street with your own eyes.
Can I sign the power of attorney in Czechia?Yes, but it usually means further formalities, an apostille and a translation. If you are coming on a viewing trip anyway, signing it here is faster and cheaper, and it does not oblige you to buy.
Buying a property is not the same as living here
This is the most misunderstood part of the whole subject, so it is worth stating plainly. Owning a property in Spain does not give you the right to live in Spain, and it does not on its own make you a Spanish tax resident. They are three separate questions with three separate answers.For a foreign buyer the good news is that the first one is largely a non-issue. As an EU citizen you do not need a visa, and if you later decide to stay longer than three months you register and receive a certificate. The purchase itself does not depend on any of that: you can own a property here as a non-resident, and a large part of the process can be handled through a power of attorney.Tax residency is judged on your actual situation, not on what you own. If you are thinking about spending most of the year here or moving permanently, deal with it with an adviser before you move, not after. We are not immigration or tax advisers and we will not pretend to be one. What we do is make sure you are not buying on a wrong assumption, and connect you with someone qualified for your situation.
Can I buy a property even though I do not live in Spain?Yes. Buying a property and Spanish residency are two different things. You can own a property here as a non-resident, and a large part of the process can be handled through a power of attorney.
What we will need from you
Most of the purchase is done by us, the lawyer, the agents, the developer and the bank. What we need from you is decisions, documents and a handful of specific moments. This is the documents half of that, and most of it you send electronically from Czechia.| What is needed | Who is asking for it | How it usually goes |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Passport or national ID card | The lawyer for the NIE application, the notary at signing, the bank for the account. | A scan to start with. The original is needed where a document is actually signed. |
| Your address and contact details in Czechia | The lawyer and the bank, as part of standard identification. | Sent electronically with the rest. |
| Where the money comes from | ||
| Bank statements | The bank, the lawyer or the developer, as proof of where the funds came from. | Electronically, and worth preparing before you start moving money rather than after. |
| Proof of the source of the funds | Same three, on any larger purchase. This one is not optional and it is where transfers get held up. | Typically statements, documents on the sale of another property, income or dividends. What is right depends on your situation. |
| Documentation for a more complex structure | The bank, if the money comes from the sale of a company, from investments or through anything layered. | Start this one earliest. It is the one that takes the longest to assemble and the one that stops a transfer dead. |
| Only if you are borrowing | ||
| Two or three years of tax returns | The Spanish bank, as part of the mortgage file. | Electronically. Translations where the bank asks for them. |
| Payslips, or company accounts | The Spanish bank, to establish the income behind the application. | Electronically, with the tax returns. |
| A credit register check | The Spanish bank. | Obtained in Czechia and sent on. |
| Statements for any existing loans | The Spanish bank, to see what is already committed. | Electronically. The NIE sits on this same list, which is the practical reason it cannot be left late. |
| Only if you are using a power of attorney | ||
| The power of attorney itself | Your lawyer, so that he can act for you. | Signed before a notary. Here during a trip, or from Czechia. |
| An apostille and a sworn translation | Only where the power of attorney was signed in Czechia rather than in Spain. | Additional formalities and additional cost. This is the practical argument for signing it while you are here. |
Where this sits in the purchase
The full purchase is fifteen steps from the first call to the keys. The paperwork on this page is step ten, and it does not wait for step nine: it runs alongside the legal due diligence. Step seven is shared with the legal page, which owns the lawyer introduction while this page owns the power of attorney.Steps 7 and 10 of 15
- The lawyer, and the power of attorneyWhenever it makes senseIf you want it, we introduce you to an independent lawyer while you are here, and you can go through the legal and tax questions with him face to face. If you decide to continue, the power of attorney can be signed at the notary during the same stay. You do not have to buy first: it can be prepared a long time in advance and it simplifies everything afterwards. It can also be signed from Czechia, which usually means further formalities, an apostille and a translation.
- NIE, the account and the paperworkIn parallelThe NIE is your Spanish identification number, needed to complete the purchase. The lawyer files it, and handles the bank account and the rest of the paperwork as required. A power of attorney lets him do a large part of it on your behalf, so you are not travelling back to Spain for individual documents.
Doing the paperwork yourself, or with us
The same documents, handled two ways.| On your own | With Arevont | |
|---|---|---|
| Getting the NIE started | You work out which route applies to you, find the appointment and track it yourself. | We agree the timing with the lawyer at the start of the process and he files it. Early, because nobody can promise a date. |
| When you find out it is missing | Often at the point you are supposed to be signing, which is the most expensive possible moment. | It runs in parallel with the legal due diligence, so it is finished long before a signing date exists. |
| Every signature after that | Another flight, or a document sent back for a formality nobody mentioned. | A power of attorney, agreed in advance for what it actually has to cover. You do not fly back for each document. |
| The language it happens in | Spanish or English, with the offices and the bank, on their timetable. | Czech, from the first call to the keys, with people who are on this coast. |
| Who is watching the deadlines | You are, across the lawyer, the bank, the notary and the registry at once. | One contact for you. Dozens of things we keep an eye on. |
A purchase where you never attend the notary
This is not a client story and we are not presenting it as one. It is the sequence the process actually allows, put in order, so you can see which parts genuinely need you in the country and which do not. Every step in it is something we do on ordinary purchases.- The selection happens on calls and videoTwenty to sixty minutes on the first call to work out what you are looking for, then a first selection. On the properties you are seriously considering we can film the property or call you live from it, so a shortlist can be cut down without anyone flying.
- One trip does the two things that need youThe viewing itself, and the notary appointment for the power of attorney. The lawyer meeting fits into the same stay. Signing the power of attorney here rather than from Czechia saves the apostille and the translation.
- The NIE and the account run in the backgroundStep ten, alongside the legal due diligence rather than after it. The lawyer files the NIE and deals with the bank, and neither needs another trip.
- The documents go electronically from CzechiaIdentification, the proof of where the funds came from, and the mortgage file if there is one. You send most of it from your desk.
- The lawyer completes at the notaryWith the appropriate power of attorney he signs the deed for you and the property becomes yours. We are there on the day, watching the handover through to the keys.
One trip is enough. And we would still rather you came, because a coast is not a document.
How much does it cost?
- Buyer0 €Our coordination is not billed. What you pay for on this page is the lawyer, the notary and the official fees, and none of it comes to us.
- Developer or seller
- New build
- 2,5 to 6 %
- Resale properties
- 1,5 to 4 %
- ArevontOur fee is part of that commission, and only if a purchase happens. The lawyer we recommend pays us nothing for the referral, which is the point of recommending him.
The NIE and the translations appear in our published purchase-cost tables as a single line of about ~150 €. It is worth knowing that this line is flat: it is the same figure at 350 000 €, at 500 000 € and at a million, because it is a fee and a translation and not a percentage of anything. On a large purchase it is one of the few costs that does not scale.The notary fee for the power of attorney is a separate cost and we do not publish a figure for it, because we do not have one we would stand behind. If it is signed in Czechia there is an apostille and a sworn translation on top. Ask the lawyer for the number at the point you decide to sign, and ask before, not after.The calculation above is indicative. Exact costs vary slightly with the price of the property, the mortgage and the specific transaction.
If you ultimately decide not to buy, you pay us nothing.
What we do not do, and what we cannot promise
We do not obtain your NIE. An independent lawyer does, and he is paid by you and works for you. We are not a law firm, we do not act under your power of attorney and we do not give tax or immigration advice. When you need a lawyer, a tax adviser or an immigration specialist, we introduce you to someone we trust and stay your main point of contact throughout.We will not tell you how long the NIE will take. The legal deadline for deciding a registered application is short, but the time to get an application registered is not published by either route and varies between offices and consulates. Anyone who gives you a confident date is guessing. We start early instead, which is the only part of it anybody actually controls.The whole purchase can be done remotely with a power of attorney, and we would still rather you came at least once. Once is enough and twice is better. A property is a place, and video is a good filter but a poor final decision.And buying here gives you no residency rights on its own, nor does it make you a Spanish tax resident. If either of those is part of why you are buying, settle it with a qualified adviser before the purchase rather than after it.
Frequently asked questions about NIE and administration
- What does the NIE cost?
- In our published purchase-cost tables the NIE and the translations sit together at roughly ~150 €. It is a flat amount rather than a percentage, so it is the same figure whatever the property costs.
- What can a power of attorney not do?
- It does the paperwork, not the deciding. It does not choose a property, agree a price or commit you to anything, and it does not remove your lawyer’s duty to advise you before a step is taken. It is also drafted for a scope, so tell the lawyer at the start what you want to be able to do without flying.
- Do I also need a Spanish bank account?
- It is very useful in practice, and it is required before you sign a mortgage, because the monthly payments come from it. How the account is opened has a page of its own rather than a paragraph here.
- Will buying a property make me a Spanish tax resident?
- No. Owning a property does not on its own make you a Spanish tax resident. That is judged on your real situation, including how much time you spend here and where the centre of your economic and personal interests is. If you plan to spend most of the year here, take advice before you move.
- Will I have to prove where my money came from?
- On a larger transaction, yes. The bank and the other parties will want documentation on the origin of the funds. If it comes from the sale of a company, from dividends, from investments or through any more complex structure, sort the paperwork out before you start transferring, not while a payment is being held.
- Who handles the paperwork after the keys?
- The lawyer completes the post-completion administration, transfers the utilities and helps with the annual tax obligations, usually with a tax adviser. We stay your contact here on the coast, so when something changes or goes wrong later you know who to ask.
