NIE Number for an Internship in Spain: A Complete Practical Guide

The Spanish state distinguishes between residence (vivir en España) and economic activity (actuar en España). An Erasmus+ internship — whether a paid stipend or an unpaid Convenio de Prácticas — counts as economic activity, which means the NIE requirement is triggered the moment your host company needs to file your name with the Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social or with the Agencia Tributaria.

• EU/EEA/Swiss interns staying more than 3 months — required for any paid placement and for the Certificado de Registro de Ciudadano de la Unión.
• Non-EU interns — issued automatically as part of the student visa (visado de estudios) and TIE card.
• Short EU placements under 3 months — technically optional but in practice required by many host companies for payroll, by banks for account opening, and by landlords for rentals.
• British interns after Brexit — treated as third-country nationals; the NIE comes via the student visa process, not the EU certificate route.
• Dual nationals with one Spanish nationality — do NOT request an NIE; you already have (or are entitled to) a DNI, which supersedes it.

If you're unsure which bucket you fall into, the deciding question is your passport at the time of application — not your country of residence or your university's nationality. A French student studying in the UK still applies through the EU route.

These three documents are constantly confused and the confusion costs interns weeks of wasted appointments. The NIE is a number; the other two are the physical documents the number lives on.

• NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero) — a 9-character code (letter + 7 digits + letter, e.g. Y1234567Z). It is your permanent identifier and never expires.
• Certificado de Registro de Ciudadano de la Unión — the green A4 paper or credit-card-sized green certificate issued to EU/EEA/Swiss citizens registering for residence over 3 months. It carries your NIE.
• TIE (Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero) — the plastic biometric card issued only to non-EU citizens. It also carries the NIE plus your photo, fingerprints and the validity dates of your visa.
• DNI (Documento Nacional de Identidad) — Spanish nationals only. Not applicable to interns from abroad.

Practical implication: if an EU intern is told by a host or a landlord that they need 'a TIE', it is a mistake — EU citizens never receive a TIE. The Certificado de Registro is the correct supporting document, and the NIE printed on it is what the host actually needs.

Pick the route that matches your situation before booking anything.

• Route A — in Spain at a Comisaría de Policía (Oficina de Extranjería). Book a cita previa on sede.administracionespublicas.gob.es, select 'Asignación de NIE' or 'Certificado UE' for the Foreign Office, and bring the documents below.
• Route B — at a Spanish Consulate in your home country. Slower (4–8 weeks) but useful if you want the NIE before arrival to sign a rental remotely.
• Both routes issue the same NIE. The number does not expire; the EU Registration Certificate it sits on does.

For non-EU interns there is effectively only one route: the student visa application at the Spanish consulate in your country of legal residence, which automatically assigns the NIE before your arrival. You then exchange the visa for the TIE within 30 days of entering Spain at the Oficina de Extranjería — that exchange does not change the NIE; it only issues the plastic card.

The cita previa portal is the single biggest pain point of the entire process. The system is notoriously unstable, sessions expire after a few minutes, and slots in Madrid and Barcelona are released in unpredictable waves. A clean process beats a fast one.

• Go to sede.administracionespublicas.gob.es → Cita previa para Extranjería.
• Select your province. For Madrid choose 'Madrid'; for Barcelona choose 'Barcelona'.
• Select 'Policía – Asignación de NIE' (no residence) OR 'Policía – Certificados UE' (EU registration with NIE on it).
• Enter your passport number, name and nationality exactly as they appear on your passport — accents and hyphens included. Mismatches at the appointment void the slot.
• Pick any available slot at any office in the province. Do not insist on the closest comisaría — every office issues the same NIE.
• Save the PDF confirmation immediately. The system does not re-send it and the slot is forfeited if you cannot show the confirmation code.

Bring originals AND photocopies of everything. Spanish administrative offices will keep the copies and stamp the originals; without copies the appointment is rescheduled.

• Passport or national ID + photocopy of every page that contains data or a stamp.
• Form EX-15 (NIE) or EX-18 (EU Registration Certificate) completed and printed in duplicate.
• Proof of the reason for the request — your signed internship offer or Convenio de Prácticas works for EX-15; for EX-18 you also need proof of health insurance and financial means (~€600/month).
• Tasa 790 código 012 — pay the fee (€9.84–€12 depending on form) at any Spanish bank before the appointment and bring the stamped receipt.
• Two recent passport-size photos (32×26 mm white background).
• Empadronamiento (proof of address from the local town hall) — only required for the EU Registration Certificate, not for the bare NIE. If your placement is under 3 months, skip this.
• Private health insurance certificate — must explicitly state 'cobertura equivalente al Sistema Nacional de Salud, sin copagos ni carencias'. A standard travel-insurance policy is usually rejected.

If you are arriving on Erasmus+ funding, the EU policy minimum (€600/month) is comfortably covered by the Erasmus grant + your home support. Bring a printed copy of the Erasmus grant letter as financial-means proof in addition to a bank statement.

The bottleneck is the cita previa, not the in-person appointment. In Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, slots open in waves and fill within minutes. Refresh the booking site daily at 09:00 and 15:00 Spanish time and accept any slot in any nearby comisaría — they all issue the same NIE.

• Cita previa: 1–4 weeks wait in major cities, 1–7 days in smaller cities.
• Appointment itself: 15–30 minutes; you receive the NIE on paper the same day.
• Plastic TIE card (non-EU only): collected separately ~4–6 weeks after the fingerprinting appointment.

While the NIE is a national document, the experience of obtaining it varies sharply by autonomous community. Plan for the city you'll actually live in, not the average Spanish city.

• Madrid — slots are scarce; the Aluche office is the highest-volume issuer. Aravaca and Pozuelo open additional slots midweek.
• Barcelona — the Mallorca and Rambla Guipúscoa offices are saturated. Try Hospitalet de Llobregat or Badalona, both 20 minutes from the centre.
• Valencia — generally easier; appointments within 1–2 weeks year-round except September.
• Andalusia (Seville, Málaga, Granada) — usually 1 week wait. The Málaga office allows walk-ins in the first hour for EU citizens on some days.
• Balearic and Canary Islands — slow in tourist season (May–September). Apply before the season starts or use the consulate route.

Many interns lose another week after receiving the NIE because they don't know what to do next. Use the same afternoon to chain the dependencies.

• Photocopy the green certificate (or the resolution sheet) immediately — laminate the original and never carry it day-to-day.
• Send a high-resolution photo to your host's HR and to your university's mobility office on the same day.
• Open a Spanish bank account — N26, Revolut and BBVA Online accept the NIE the day it is issued. Avoid traditional branches that require a 24-hour data-sync delay.
• If your placement is paid, forward the NIE to your host's payroll so they can begin the NUSS (Número de Seguridad Social) request — see the social-security guide below.
• Register your address (empadronamiento) at the local town hall within 30 days; many regions tie healthcare and bus passes to this.

• Form EX-15/EX-18 filled in the wrong language version — use the Spanish version, not a translated PDF.
• Tasa 790 paid with the wrong código (012 is the only correct one for NIE).
• No proof of economic activity attached — a forwarded email offer is not enough; the signed Convenio de Prácticas or host-company letter is.
• Health-insurance proof missing the required wording ('cobertura equivalente al Sistema Nacional de Salud, sin copagos').
• Name mismatch between the passport and the booking — even an accent (e.g. 'Léa' vs 'Lea') voids the appointment in some offices.
• Booking the wrong service ('Toma de huellas — Expedición de tarjeta' is for the TIE card, not the NIE itself).

If your appointment is voided, you do not lose the Tasa 790 — it is valid for the same code 012 at any future appointment within four years. Keep the stamped receipt safe.

• Married interns with a non-EU spouse — apply separately; the EU route does not extend automatically to the spouse unless you also file an EU-family-member application (EX-19).
• Interns under 18 — a parent or legal guardian must attend; bring a notarised authorisation if travelling alone.
• Short-term remote placements (host in Spain, intern abroad) — the NIE is still required if the host pays a stipend. Use the consulate route.
• Renewing a TIE alongside an internship extension — start at least 60 days before expiry; the renewal cita previa is a different service from the initial assignment.

Almost every rejection at the counter comes from a badly completed form rather than a missing document. EX-15 is two pages; only the highlighted blocks matter for an intern. Complete it in the official Spanish PDF, print two copies and sign both.

• Block 1 — DATOS DEL EXTRANJERO/A: leave the N.I.E. box empty (you don't have one yet). Copy your surnames and given names exactly as printed in the machine-readable zone of your passport, including second surnames and accents.
• Nacionalidad / Fecha de nacimiento / Lugar de nacimiento: use the country name in Spanish (Francia, Italia, Alemania, Polonia). Dates are DD/MM/AAAA.
• Domicilio en España: your placement address is acceptable if you don't yet have a rental contract — write the host company address and the province.
• Teléfono and e-mail: use a number you can answer while in Spain. Some offices call to confirm before issuing.
• Block 2 — DATOS DEL REPRESENTANTE: only if a gestoría or a relative files on your behalf. If someone else attends, they must also carry a signed power of attorney (autorización) plus a copy of their own ID.
• Block 3 — MOTIVO DE LA SOLICITUD: tick 'Intereses económicos, profesionales o sociales' and write in the free-text line: 'Realización de prácticas formativas Erasmus+ en [company name], [city]'.
• Block 4 — DOMICILIO A EFECTOS DE NOTIFICACIONES: an address where post can actually reach you. Never leave it blank — resolutions are notified there.
• Bottom of page 2: place, date and signature. The signature must visually match your passport signature; offices do compare them.

EU/EEA/Swiss interns staying more than three months file EX-18 instead of EX-15. The output is the green certificate that carries your NIE, so you only file one of the two — not both.

• Block 1: same identity data as EX-15. Leave the N.I.E. box empty unless you already hold one from a previous stay.
• Block 3 — SITUACIÓN: tick 'Trabajador por cuenta ajena' if the placement is paid and declared to the Seguridad Social, or 'Estudiante' if the placement is unpaid and part of your studies.
• As 'Estudiante' you must attach a university enrolment or Erasmus+ acceptance letter, health insurance with no co-payments, and a written declaration of sufficient resources.
• As 'Trabajador por cuenta ajena' you attach the host's contract or Convenio plus, ideally, the alta in the Seguridad Social — that combination replaces the resources and insurance proof.
• Tick the box for 'Certificado de registro' and note the office (Comisaría or Oficina de Extranjería) where the appointment is booked.

Choosing 'Trabajador por cuenta ajena' when your placement is genuinely paid is the lighter path: no insurance certificate, no financial-means test, no €600/month proof. Interns default to 'Estudiante' out of habit and then spend a week gathering paperwork they never needed.

The fee is small but the payment proof is non-negotiable: without the stamped receipt the officer will not open your file. There are three ways to pay and they are not equally reliable for someone who has just landed.

1. 1
   1. Generate the form

   Open the Policía Sede Electrónica Tasa 790_012 page, choose the correct concept — 'Asignación de NIE a instancia del interesado' or 'Certificado de registro de residente comunitario' — and fill in your name, passport number and Spanish address.

2. 2
   2. Check the amount auto-fills

   In 2026 the assignment of NIE and the EU registration certificate both sit at €9.84–€12 depending on the concept. If the amount box stays empty you ticked no concept — go back rather than writing a figure yourself.

3. 3
   3. Download and print three copies

   The PDF prints as 'ejemplar para la Administración', 'ejemplar para el interesado' and a bank copy. Do not print only the first page.

4. 4
   4. Pay

   Option A: at any Spanish bank counter with the printed form (they stamp it). Option B: at a CaixaBank or BBVA ATM using the barcode. Option C: online with a Spanish debit card and Cl@ve/certificate, which returns a digital NRC receipt.

5. 5
   5. Keep every copy

   Bring the stamped 'ejemplar para la Administración' to the appointment and keep your own copy. If your appointment is cancelled, the same paid tasa remains valid for a future appointment — it is not consumed until it is filed.

Appointments last 10–30 minutes and are conducted in Spanish. Knowing the sequence removes most of the stress and prevents the two mistakes that send people home: an unsorted folder, and answering the 'motivo' question vaguely.

1. 1
   Arrive 15 minutes early

   Bring the printed cita previa confirmation with its 'justificante' code. Security at the door checks the code before you can enter the waiting area; late arrivals over 10 minutes lose the slot.

2. 2
   Take a number and wait for your ventanilla

   Screens display the appointment code, not your name. Sit where you can see the screen — codes are called once.

3. 3
   Hand over the folder in order

   Form on top, then the tasa receipt, then the passport with photocopies, then the Convenio and insurance. Officers process in that order and an unsorted folder invites a reschedule.

4. 4
   Answer the purpose question

   Expect '¿Para qué necesita el NIE?'. The correct answer is short and specific: 'Para realizar prácticas Erasmus+ en [company], necesito el NIE para el convenio y la nómina.'

5. 5
   Sign and collect

   You sign the resolution and receive the A4 NIE sheet or the green certificate immediately. Check the spelling of your name and the NIE letter-digit sequence before leaving the counter — corrections later require a new appointment.

Cita previa

The mandatory pre-booked appointment slot. No walk-ins in most provinces.

Justificante

The PDF proof of your booking, carrying the code you must show at the door.

Ventanilla

The service window/counter where your file is processed.

Resolución

The signed administrative decision that assigns your NIE — the document you walk out with.

Gestoría

A licensed administrative agency that can book, file and accompany you for €60–€150.

Officers rarely switch to English. Five phrases cover almost every exchange in a NIE appointment.

• "Buenos días, tengo cita previa para asignación de NIE a las [hora]. Aquí está el justificante." — Good morning, I have an appointment for NIE assignment at [time]. Here is the confirmation.
• "Vengo a realizar prácticas Erasmus+ en [empresa] durante [x] meses." — I'm coming to do an Erasmus+ traineeship at [company] for [x] months.
• "Aquí tiene el modelo EX-15 y el justificante de pago de la tasa 790 012." — Here is form EX-15 and the proof of payment of tax 790 012.
• "¿Me puede confirmar que el NIE ya está activo en el sistema?" — Can you confirm the NIE is already active in the system?
• "¿Necesito volver para recoger algún documento?" — Do I need to come back to collect any document?

If your Spanish is limited, you may bring a friend as an interpreter — most offices allow one accompanying person. They cannot sign for you unless they carry a written authorisation and their own ID.

Budget realistically: the fee is trivial but the waiting time has a real cost when a paid placement cannot start.

Working backwards from a start date: begin the process 6 weeks before arrival if you can use the consulate, or book the cita previa on your first day in Spain if you cannot. Do not wait until the host asks for the number.

Almost every blocked application maps to one of these eight patterns. Match the symptom before rebooking anything.

Run through this list the evening before. If any line is unticked, reschedule rather than turning up incomplete — a wasted slot costs weeks.

• Cita previa justificante printed, with the code visible.
• EX-15 or EX-18 completed in Spanish, printed twice, signed in blue ink.
• Tasa 790 código 012 paid, stamped or with the digital NRC receipt.
• Passport valid at least 6 months beyond your placement end date, plus photocopies of every data and stamp page.
• Signed Convenio de Prácticas or host offer letter on letterhead with CIF and dates.
• Health-insurance certificate with the required Spanish wording (EX-18 student route only).
• Proof of means: Erasmus+ grant letter plus a bank statement (EX-18 student route only).
• Two passport photos, 32×26 mm, white background.
• Empadronamiento certificate if your province requires it for the EU certificate.
• A folder — literally. Loose documents get lost between the door and the ventanilla.