Wrong colour paper NIE number

I applied for my NIE number 9 years ago and have the original certificate which is on a yellow piece of paper.

I need to apply for change of ownership of my car at traffico in Alicante but have been told that a yellow NIE is not acceptable I need to change this for a NIE on a white piece of paper.

Does anyone know if this is correct and if so do I just reapply on form X14 again as if its a new application.

Any help would be appreciated

 Go to the corresponding  Police Office and request the new format there, bring the yellow paper, proof of your residency in Spain and  3 current photos.

Someone in this forum said that photo is not required amymore for NIE application. Is this true?

We recently obtained NIE numbers and no photos are required - you need to show your photo ID on your passports and take copies but you do not need seperate photos

Here is the story so far of my attempt to get the new green NIE which is officially known as "Certificado de Registro"

Went to my nearest Policia Nacional office where a helpful young lady selected a form EX-16 and partially completed it for me. She also gave me a completed a form Modelo 790 which you have to take to the bank, give them 10.00 euros and receive 2 stamped copies back.

She also told me that because I live in Sevilla province and not in Cadiz province where her office is located I would have to go to a different Policia Nacional office. She kindly wrote down the address for me. It was in Dos Hermanos, a 45 minute drive away.

Off I go to the bank but I am unable to make the payment because the cashier tells me that my NIE number is "incorrecto".

Undaunted I go to the address given only to be told, after a 45 minute queue,  that I was at the wrong address. Kindly given another address in Sevilla. Another 45 minute drive, but hey what else do ex-pats have to do.

At this address I am told that I am in the wrong office and must use the entrance around the corner. As I get there the occupant of the office goes for his tea break. Another 15 minute wait. On his return, guess what?, I am at the wrong office. Kindly given a map and off I go again.

Arrive a the new location to find a long queue. Looks promising. Wait for an hour in the queue to get a number and then get told to go straight in. Puzzled but am directed to another lady and explain that I cannot pay the fee because of my "incorrect" NIE number. She checks my number on her terminal and declares it to be correct. She crosses off the leading zero of the number and directs me to the nearest bank. She says there is no need to queue again simply come straight back in. Yippee! now we are shifting.

Off to the bank, 10 minutes each way plus 10 minutes in the bank. No problem this time, things are definitely looking up. Return to the office, go straight in and find a new occupant at her desk who asks me why have I come today. He directs me to another desk where a nice man gives me an appointment to return on 3.11.2010.

So far I have driven more than 200kms, spent 12 euros on tolls and face another 150km round trip and more tolls before I can achieve my object of getting my existing NIE number printed on a green piece of paper instead of white.

The real laugh is that I only need this form because the ITV station insist on it before they will test my car. And geuss what? they want a photocopy which will be on white paperwhich is acceptable.

Who said Spanish bureacracy was difficult.

I thought NIE's stay with you for life, unless you become resident.

My NIE is white and has the address of where I first stayed in Spain, and not where I live, and yet this is accepted everywhere I go.

Mrs TechNoApe also used her white NIE to purchase her car last November.

Are we getting confused with the White NIE certificate and the Green certificate of Residency?

You are quite correct. Your NIE number is yours for life.

However, Brussels has interfered, as usual, and you are now required to have the Certificado de Registro instead of your NIE or Residencia Card.

The only detail that has changed is the colour and format of the form.

In good spanish traditions some bureaucrats refuse to accept the old forms and insist on the new ones.

Where I live I cannot re-register my car without the new forms. Who am I to argue?

So does this mean that people with paper copies have to go and get their originals updated?

I think the simple answer is no until you get rejected when applying for something. It is after all only another piece of paper.

My local Guardia Civil said that the ITV should accept the old form and if they did not then they were "stupido" but how good is your spanish.

I have found that when a state employee digs in there is nothing more to be said. Comply or go back to where you came from. If only that would happen in the dear old UK.

Jeff...

Different provinces, different rules...

quote...The real laugh is that I only need this form because the ITV station insist on it before they will test my car. And geuss what? they want a photocopy which will be on white paperwhich is acceptable... unquote

Here in Granada province I have presented my car to two different ITV Centres over the years and  never yet been asked to produce NIE; proof of payment of Road Tax and Insurance and sight of the car documentation were required by the main Granada ITV Centre on the A92. At the Loja ITV centre, just the car docs...

Check out this link to ITV Centres throughout Andalucia; maybe you can find a station a little more cooperative...

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Techno, our Certificates of residency (green forms) bear the same numbers as our NIE's (issued when we purchased our property).  Don't think they change the number for residency certificates.

You only appreciate the system in the UK once you face the Spanish bureacracy! The whole Spanish system is ineffecient, complicated and the people in charge are incompetent and lazy to say the least.

How long does it take to apply for a National insurance no in the UK? 30 mins!!

Well, if not happy, go back to the UK, only to face the gloomy sky and grim looking towns, something noone wants to do!! 

In an ideal world, I would have the UK system and the Spanish climate, wouldnt that be great?

Once you get an NIE number it appears everywhere residencia, padron, spanish driving licence etc. It makes life much simpler than the UK with only one number to remember

"In an ideal world, I would have the UK system and the Spanish climate, wouldn't that be great?"

Sun-seeker. in an ideal world I would like to take the bureaucrats, especially the ones from Brussels, and put them with the Politicians on an isolated atoll in the middle of nowhere.... and then nuke the b******s!

Then we could all finally relax in the sun, without the need for any forms in the first place, whatever the colour!

"I am not a number, I am a free man!" 

We don't agree that the whole Spanish system is inefficient and the people in charge are incompetent and lazy, though we know that it applies in some cases.  When we registered on the padrón everybody was helpful and it didn't take long, although admittedly we did have to go back a couple of days later for the certificate, which was ready for us to collect.  When I went to the Social Security office with my form for free healthcare, they printed off my EHIC card on the spot!  Bearing in mind that this is a small Spanish town rather than a city, we thought it was much quicker and easier than in the UK.  Such a shame that they have now changed the system and we need to get the card from the UK!

Sue

You only appreciate the system in the UK once you face the Spanish bureacracy! The whole Spanish system is ineffecient, complicated and the people in charge are incompetent and lazy to say the least.

Sunseeker, I couldn't agree more.  I try to have as little to do with Spanish organisations/companies as possible.  It's not worth the hassle.  In my experience of southern Andalucia, there's just no work ethic at all here, which is a little strange given that unemployment is 35% in Malaga province.

Any person dealing with administration, courts, police and tax offices knows only too well how true this statement is.

Their job is to slow you down and be deliberately obstructive. Most of these public offices will not answer telephones and we all play the queueing game wasting all day.

I write this not as a foreign person but from what my Spanish colleagues tell me. I rarely enter these offices myself but this is what my learned Spanish colleagues report back and how delighted they are when they have found a back door to be able to present some form for stamping or pay some tax etc. Powers of attorney, documents, apostille certs and translations all scrutinised and rejected for petty reasons. Recently a police officer rejected an NIE application becuase apostille cert was out of date. I didn't think they expired but don't have time to find out so just present at another police station and smile a bit more and no problem. I have learnt no point arguing becuase then your application will get lost for ever or never rise to the top of the pile for stamping and these guys have memories!!!!

The fact gestorias exist is the very proof of this bureacracy. It's like a black cab driver doing the London knowledge test.

It's a great feeling when you have finally figured how how to do something but sadly then they change all the rules and forms and you're right back at square 1.

Of the 65% in Andalucia working I think 50% are in fact civil servants.

It seems for every simple task you have to visit a bank to pay fee/tax and then 2 or 3 offices after that and as for the vast amount of supporting documentation required at each step I'm chopping down a tree a day but I keep asking where do they file it all? I would love to find the answer to that question?

I also feel many Consulates work the same way. I have not had a passport for 2 months but can't blame the Spanish for that. If I don't get one soon I will ask to be deported.