Applying from your own country

The two mechanics, briefly

Consular route. Every Spanish consulate accepts NIE applications from residents of its district and forwards them to the Dirección General de la Policía in Spain. You pay a consular fee locally, and the forwarding adds time: plan in weeks. You must apply to the consulate for your jurisdiction — a Londoner cannot file in Edinburgh.

Representative route. Under Ley 39/2015 you can act through a representative in Spanish administrative procedures. You sign a limited power of attorney before a local notary, get it apostilled under the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 in your own country, add a sworn translation into Spanish by an MAEC-appointed translator, and a lawyer in Spain submits and collects the file. Typical timeline once documents arrive in Spain: 2–3 weeks. This is where the apostille table below earns its keep — the apostille always comes from an authority in the country where the document was signed, never from Spain.

Who apostilles what, where

Irish embassies and consulates cannot issue apostilles — only the DFA offices in Dublin and Cork can. In the US, the state matters: a power of attorney notarised in Texas is apostilled by the Texas Secretary of State, not by Washington.

From the UK

Since Brexit, the UK is a third country for Spanish immigration purposes — but that changes nothing for the NIE itself. The NIE was never an EU privilege: economic, professional or social ties are the test, and buying property or inheriting in Spain qualifies a UK applicant exactly as before. What Brexit did change is everything around the number — visas and residence rights — so it pays to be clear on what a NIE number is and what it is not.

Spain maintains Consulates General in London, Manchester and Edinburgh, each covering its own consular jurisdiction; check which one your postcode belongs to before booking, because appointments at the wrong consulate are refused. For the representative route, your power of attorney is signed before a UK notary public and then apostilled by the FCDO Legalisation Office — the standard paper service is £45 and takes up to 25 working days; the e-Apostille costs £35 and takes about two. Practical detail for UK documents, notaries and HMRC paperwork is collected in this UK-specific NIE guidance.

From Ireland

Irish citizens are EU citizens, so the wider residence picture is simpler — but the NIE application itself is identical: same EX-15, same reason requirement. Do not confuse the NIE with the EU registration certificate you would apply for after moving to Spain for more than three months; that is a different procedure with a different fee.

The consular route runs through the Embassy of Spain in Dublin, whose consular office covers the whole of Ireland — one jurisdiction, one queue. For the representative route, your notarised power of attorney is apostilled by the Department of Foreign Affairs (Authentication and Apostilles Section, Dublin or Cork, €40). The stamp is physical only, so factor in postal time.

From the US

The US is carved into consular districts: Spain has consulates general in New York, Washington DC, Boston, Chicago, Miami, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco (plus San Juan), and your state of residence fixes which one you must use. District maps are on each consulate’s page — verify before booking, because districts do not always follow intuition (states are grouped, not adjacent).

For the representative route, the chain is: sign the power of attorney before a US notary public (check the notary public commission is current — an expired commission voids the apostille), then send it to the Secretary of State of that same state for the apostille. State-issued documents like birth certificates follow the same rule; only federal documents are apostilled by the US Department of State. Then the sworn translation into Spanish, and the file goes to Spain.

What applying from abroad does NOT change

• ✗ The number is the same. A NIE issued via a consulate or representative is identical to one issued in Madrid — same registry, same format.
• ✗ The fee logic is the same. In Spain the tasa is €9.84; consulates charge their own consular fee locally instead. Nobody legitimately charges you both.
• ✗ It is still not a residence permit. A NIE obtained from abroad grants no right to live or work in Spain — for what each Spanish ID actually does, see NIE vs NIF vs TIE vs DNI.
• ✗ There is no express lane. Consulates forward on their own schedule and the police resolution deadline is the same five days for everyone.
• ✗ The apostille cannot be skipped. No consulate or lawyer can waive it for a foreign power of attorney; budget for it in both money and time.

The full comparison of all four application routes lives in the NIE number in Spain guide.

⚠ Scams to avoid

• ✗ "The Irish embassy will apostille your power of attorney." It will not. Irish embassies and consulates cannot issue apostilles; only the DFA Authentication and Apostilles Section in Dublin or Cork can (€40, physical stamp only).
• ✗ "A Spanish apostille for your foreign documents." No Spanish authority can apostille a UK, Irish or US document — the apostille always comes from the country where the document was signed.
• ✗ Paid "consular fast-track". Consulates forward applications on their own schedule, and the police resolution deadline is the same five days for every file; nobody can sell you a shorter queue.