(If you have ever been to Spain, you know that everything that includes government issued documents can be a HEADACHE.

Would you believe me if I told you that I’ve been married to a Spanish, and living in Barcelona for almost 2 years and only a week ago did I get my personal ID document delivered? This has been an ongoing issue that has definitely taught me a whole lot about patience, but if I had known somebody that had already gone through this whole process, and would have explained how to get my NIE in Spain, it would have saved me up to months of waiting and frustrating moments. Hopefully, my experience these past years (and all of the rookie mistakes I made) can help some of you expats in getting your paperwork in order a bit more efficiently than it was for me.

So, who can benefit from these tips? Anyone who is married to a Spanish, needs a NIE, and has no European Union citizenship. In my case, Costa Rican.

The day after our Costa Rican wedding, we went to the airport with plans to build a life in Spain. We thought it would all go smoothly… but it didn’t. Here are the steps you should follow if you plan on doing something similar with your European spouse:

• Take all you marriage documents in a folder when you get to the airport. Apparently, airlines have an order to not allow anyone without a EU document to get on a one way ticket to Europe. Of course, this makes sense in order to prevent people from staying without proper reason, but after you get married to a member of the EU, you are legally allowed to live there as well. If your NIE has not come through (i’m guessing it hasn’t and that’s why you are reading this), then make sure that you bring your documents in order to prove that you will be living with your husband/wife under legal rights. In our experience, they first told me I could NOT get on the plane and would have to buy a round-trip. After speaking with the manager, showing our marriage papers and explaining the situation, they allowed us to get on board. Hopefully you get luckier than we did and get to avoid this.
• You’ve arrived to your EU home! Next step is legalizing your marriage certificate. Remember when I said this was our first mistake? If you are still planning your wedding details, try to sign the marriage legal paperwork in the country you will be living in, because otherwise, you will need to certify the papers, get both of your birth certificates, present criminal records and make an appointment (in our case it was a 4 month waiting time). In this appointment they will check the documentation, give you a “love test” (where you have to prove that you are actually married for love and not for the ID), and if you pass, they will send it to Madrid and mail you back a registered Spanish marriage certificate and a little “family book”. In our case, 4 months later, it arrived when we weren’t home so we had to call Madrid and ask them to re-send it (Another 3 months) until we finally received the document.
• After this, now that you are finally legally married in Spain, you have to sign up at your local police station and give them your address, so that they can add you to the system in what they here call “empadronamiento”. The office will give you a document that says where you live and this will be really important for the next paperwork.
• Next step is making the appointment on the Spanish government website, under a reason called “solicitud de autorizaciones”. The categories differ on what part of Spain you are living in, but in my case, since Barcelona has such a large population, it took 6 months until I managed to get an appointment.

FYI, after asking a friend form the government, they finally told us what was up with the appointments. Apparently, some lawyers hack into the system and reserve every appointment to later sell them at expensive prices. I’m guessing that if you are in desperate need to get you documents, and hire a lawyer, they will get you a quick appointment but I didn’t know about this info beforehand. Also, you need to have certain browsers for the system to let you enter and make appointments, so make sure you are using Firefox/internet explorer otherwise the appointments will never appear.

• When the appointment date finally arrives, make sure you have every document they’ve asked for you to bring. The specifics can be found on their website, but overall, they ask for your marriage certificate, passport, spouse’s ID, bank statement, insurance letter and the “empadronamiento” paper you got in step 3. They will then give you your NIE number (not the card) and you must wait around a month and a half for them to approve your procedure.

Another tip: they will tell you to wait until you receive a letter to your home’s mail that says you have been approved. You should use this website instead. In my case, I checked it every couple of days and when it said it was approved, I took a screenshot and took it to the next appointment. The letter arrived 1 month later so don’t wait for it, because they are both equally valid!

• Next step is making the final appointment. The name of this one is called “toma de huellas”. Here, you will only have to take a picture for your ID, the screenshot (or letter) of approval, and your passport. After they register your fingerprints, they will give you a paper that can count as a NIE meanwhile you wait for the card, and finally, 1 month later, you can go and pick it up!!

It’s a very happy day when you get this document, and it won’t expire for another 5 years. Another option is to wait 1 year after getting your card, and since you are married to a Spanish, you can also apply for citizenship. I’ll keep you posted on how the procedure for that goes!! 🙂

Hope this helped! Any questions be sure to message me on instagram or email, xo!