01Anatomy of the number
Nine characters. An opening X, Y or Z, a block of seven figures, then a check letter computed from everything before it. That last letter is why a single mistyped figure gets caught the moment someone enters it.
It is personal and permanent. Spend a few years elsewhere, return to Zaragoza for a new contract, and the old NIE is still yours. Mislaying the paper that shows it changes nothing either.
02Number, certificate, card
"My NIE" can mean three objects. The bare number. The green certificate handed to EU citizens who register as residents. The TIE, a photo card for non-EU residents. Each one displays the same nine characters.
Which object you end up holding depends on your passport and on the length of your stay, never on the name people give it. Pinning that down is step zero of every case we open.
03Where Zaragoza will ask for it
- Your contract and payroll, be it at a logistics platform, a plant or an office
- The social security sign-up your employer does before your first shift
- A Spanish account for wages or a grant
- Leases, deposits, electricity and internet contracts
- University enrolment and student services
- Buying, registering or insuring a car
- Income tax returns and any freelance activity
- The notary: buying a flat, granting a power of attorney
04How it is obtained
Form EX-15 asks for it, the Modelo 790 (código 012) pays for it, and an appointment booked on the cita previa portal is where both are handed in. Abroad for now? Spanish consulates accept the request too.
Each step is short. What makes it smooth is a reason backed by a document, and a slot booked under the right procedure.
In Zaragoza
Here, numbers are assigned by the Brigada Provincial de Extranjería y Fronteras, Avda. de Valencia n.º 50. That office's police page lists "certificados y asignación de NIE" among its procedures, so expect your appointment there unless your cita previa confirmation names another address.
Brigada Provincial de Extranjería y Fronteras de Zaragoza
- Address
- Avda. de Valencia n.º 50, 50005 Zaragoza
- Phone
- 976 791 495
Handles
- NIE certificates and assignment
- EU citizens (régimen comunitario)
- TIE issue
- return authorisations (autorizaciones de regreso)
- students
- extensions (prórrogas)
- non-lucrative residence
- asylum
- travel documents and identity documents (cédulas)
The police page gives no opening hours: go at the time your cita previa confirmation gives.
Questions
The number, never. A TIE card carries an end date and is renewed, but the number printed on it does not move.
Not by itself. The certificate showing it has no photo, so your passport or national identity card keeps doing that job. Non-EU residents show their TIE.
Usually not: employers need it to register you with social security before day one, so file the request as soon as the offer letter arrives.
Yes. Each foreign family member, however young, receives their own.