# What is a NIE? > The NIE is the personal, unique foreigner's identity number assigned by the police. It is the number, not the TIE card. - Page: https://autonomo.eus/blog/what-is-a-nie - Last checked: 22 October 2026 Short answer. The steps are on the guide. The NIE is the Número de Identidad de Extranjero, a personal number the police assign to a foreigner for identification. **It is a number, not the card. The card that shows your legal situation in Spain is the TIE.** This page describes the number. It does not say that any named person can have one, and it does not set out an appointment. ## What it is [Article 205 of the regulation approved by Royal Decree 1155/2024](https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2024-24099) says that foreigners for whom a procedure has been opened to obtain a document allowing them to stay in Spain, those who have had an immigration file opened, and those who relate to Spain because of economic, professional, social or any other interests, are given, for identification, a personal, unique and exclusive number, of a sequential character. The article says that personal number is the foreigner's identifier. It must appear on all documents issued or processed for them, and on the notes stamped in their passport or similar document, except on visas. The same article says the NIE is granted by the Dirección General de la Policía. In the cases in the first paragraph it is granted of its own accord, with a limit for visas: of-its-own-accord grant applies only to visa procedures that allow the holder to stay in Spain more than 90 days in any 180-day period without a long-stay or temporary-residence authorisation. Of-its-own-accord grant does not apply to foreigners who relate to Spain for economic, professional or social interests. They have to ask that body for the number. The article lists two conditions for that request: that they are not in Spain in an irregular situation, and that they state the reasons they are asking for the number. This page repeats those conditions as the regulation writes them. It does not decide that a reader meets them. The article says the person can ask for the NIE in person from the Dirección General de la Policía, directly or through an Oficina de Extranjería or a police station. If they are not in Spain when they ask, they ask the Comisaría General de Extranjería y Fronteras through a Spanish consular office abroad. The procedure must be resolved within five days of the request entering the register of the competent body, and the resolution must be notified in that period. If that period ends with no answer, the request is understood to have been refused. The same rules apply to certificates of resident and of non-resident. The [police page for assignment of a NIE on request](https://sede.policia.gob.es/portalCiudadano/_es/tramites_extranjeria_tramite_asignacion_nie.php) describes that on-request case: assignment of a NIE for foreigners who relate to Spain because of economic, professional or social interests. It repeats the two conditions, the five-day period, and silence as refusal. It says the request goes to the Dirección General de la Policía, directly or through Oficinas de Extranjería or police stations, and through consulates if the person is not in Spain. The documents it names are the application for a NIE and certificates (form EX15) and proof of payment of fee 790, code 012. The competent body it names is the Dirección General de la Policía. It cites Organic Law 4/2000 and Royal Decree 1155/2024. How to book and what to take is the guide, not this answer. The card is a different document. [What is a TIE?](https://autonomo.eus/blog/what-is-a-tie) is that definition. Article 206 of the same regulation lists the ways a foreigner's situation in Spain can be shown, among them the passport, the visa, the administrative resolution, the tarjeta de identidad de extranjero, or the certificate of resident and non-resident. The NIE is the number. The TIE is one of the documents. The [Import@ss practical guide](https://portal.seg-social.gob.es/wps/portal/importass/importass/Colectivos/trabajo+autonomo/guia) mentions the NIE in one Social Security sentence: if you are a foreigner and your country of origin is not in the European Union, the guide says that to register as autónomo you will need your NIE, the NUSS, and the work and residence permit. That is what the guide says the alta asks for. It is not a decision about a person's immigration case. EU citizens' registration is a different procedure, on [Register as an EU citizen](https://autonomo.eus/steps/eu-citizen). The tax registration, which is not this number, is [Register with your Hacienda](https://autonomo.eus/steps/register-hacienda). ## What is different in Euskadi The NIE is assigned by the national police, under the regulation and the police page above. Those texts do not create a separate number for Álava, Bizkaia or Gipuzkoa, and they do not give that number to a different body in one territory. The body that grants the NIE stays the national police. ## Where to read the steps The card, the appointment and the fee for the TIE are on [The TIE card](https://autonomo.eus/steps/tie-card). EU registration is on [Register as an EU citizen](https://autonomo.eus/steps/eu-citizen). The short glossary entry is in the [glossary](https://autonomo.eus/steps/glossary). The tax registration that sits next to settling here is [Register with your Hacienda](https://autonomo.eus/steps/register-hacienda). ## Official sources - [BOE: Royal Decree 1155/2024, article 205](https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2024-24099) - [Policía Nacional: assignment of a NIE on request](https://sede.policia.gob.es/portalCiudadano/_es/tramites_extranjeria_tramite_asignacion_nie.php) - [Import@ss: practical guide for self-employed work](https://portal.seg-social.gob.es/wps/portal/importass/importass/Colectivos/trabajo+autonomo/guia) --- Free, independent information. Not an official government website or a gestoría. General information, not legal, immigration or tax advice. Confirm current requirements with the authority before you act. Report a mistake: a@halawa.io. Source: Autónomo.eus (https://autonomo.eus).