Digital certificate and Cl@ve

FNMT certificate vs Cl@ve: what is what

The practical rule: Cl@ve gets you in the door; the certificate signs on your behalf. For anyone settling in Spain, the FNMT certificate is the tool that keeps paying off — it works on nearly every sede electrónica login page and needs no code sent to a phone.

How to get the FNMT certificate: step by step

The FNMT "Certificado de Persona Física" is free and issued in three stages — request, acreditación, download.

1. Request the certificate online. On sede.fnmt.gob.es, choose "Persona Física", enter your NIE and email, and follow the software instructions for your browser. You receive a código de solicitud (request code) by email.
2. Prove your identity (acreditación). Pick one of the four routes below — video identification, in-person appearance, DNIe, or the FNMT mobile app.
3. Download and install. Once acreditación is confirmed, download the certificate on the same device and browser you used for the request. It installs into the browser’s certificate store.
4. Back it up. Export the certificate with its private key to a password-protected file. This backup is also how you move it to your phone.

If you would rather not shepherd the request, acreditación and installation yourself — or you are not in Spain to appear in person — the FNMT digital certificate service run by the team behind this site handles the procedure end to end.

The four ways to prove your identity

Acreditación is the step people get wrong. As of the current FNMT procedure, there are exactly four routes:

• Video identification — an online video check against your identity document
• In person (acreditación presencial) — a short appointment at a registration office (tax offices, Social Security offices and others act as acreditación points)
• With a DNIe — Spanish nationals using their electronic ID card and a reader
• Through the FNMT mobile app — identification from your phone

Note what is not on the list: Cl@ve is not a way to obtain the FNMT certificate. Guides that describe a "get the certificate with your Cl@ve" shortcut are out of date — the two systems are independent, and each verifies your identity its own way.

Four years, then a 60-day renewal window

The persona física certificate is issued "por un periodo de cuatro (4) años" — it expires after several years, not never. Renewal opens during the last 60 days of validity and is done from the FNMT sede with the certificate you already hold. Miss the window and the certificate expires — you start over from the request stage, acreditación included. Put a reminder in your calendar the day you install it.

Putting the certificate on your phone

The certificate lives wherever you install it — including your phone, which is what the "digital certificate app" searches are really about. The route is the backup file: export the certificate from your computer’s browser as a password-protected file (.p12/.pfx), transfer it to the phone, and import it in the device’s settings (iOS: profile install; Android: security settings). After that, sede electrónica logins work from mobile browsers too.

What about Cl@ve, then?

Cl@ve is worth registering for even if you hold a certificate — some portals, such as Social Security’s Import@ss, are built around it. Registration requires a DNI or NIE (foreigners also present their passport), a mobile number and an email; it is done online or in person at any Cl@ve registration office. Registration is only needed for Cl@ve PIN (one-time codes) and Cl@ve Permanente (a standing password) — if you log in with a certificate or DNIe, no Cl@ve registration is required.

Two places you will use all this within your first months: requesting a volante after your empadronamiento at your town hall, and getting a NUSS before your first job.

⚠ Scams to avoid

• ✗ "Your certificate is about to expire" phishing. Renewal emails with links are the standard lure — real renewal happens only at sede.fnmt.gob.es, from your own browser, in the last 60 days of validity. Never renew from an emailed link.
• ✗ Imitation "FNMT" download portals. The certificate is issued free by the FNMT-RCM; look-alike sites charge for the download or, worse, issue nothing and keep your identity data.
• ✗ "Get your certificate instantly with Cl@ve" offers. Cl@ve is not an acreditación route — a service promising a certificate through Cl@ve is describing a procedure that does not exist.