How to get a Spanish NIE from the Spanish Consulate in London

Recently I visited the Spanish consulate in London to get a NIE, this was quite an experience and I'd like to blog about this to place it on the web for others to be able to read.

The embassy has an unimpressive 2.0 rating out of 155 reviews on Google which made me dread to visit this place.
 

 

First lets go through what you need to bring and what you need to do beforehand.

Do you need an appointment to apply for a NIE at the London consulate?

 No you do not need an appointment, but you might need to wait a long time to get inside the consulate to meet the person handling the NIE applicatoins.

What do you need to bring (and what happens if you don't bring it)

 This is not said clearly anywhere on their website so here is a list based on what we brought and on the events when we visited the consulate.

• Two filled out EX15 forms,.
• The two forms should be filled out when you bring them to the Consulate aside from the final Signature field, Do not sign the final Signature field in the form, this needs to be signed in front of the person responsible at the Embassy.
• You need to print this form BEFORE you visit the consulate, they will not give you this form so make sure you print it and bring it along.
• You need to complete this form in CAPITAL LETTERS, they will make you fill it out again if you don't use CAPITAL LETTERS.
• Note that the form consists of two pages and the second page needs to be handed in as well.
• Download my guide on how to fill out the form here
  >> How to fill out EX15 - JPG
• A Photocopy of your passport (the page with your face and passport number)
• If you do not bring this copy they will send you out to the nearest Timpson shop to copy your passport.
  They wll absolutely NOT copy your passport for you, even if this is what embassies/consulates do in the rest of the world,
  Just to repeat this so you can save time when you carry out your visit, the Spanish embassy will not copy your passport for you, you need to bring a copy.
• If you are not British or an EU citizen, you need to also provide a copy of the page containing proof of your right to stay within the UK.
• £6,90 fee for the NIE, to be paid cash with exact change.

The queue outside the consulate

The Spanish consulate is located within an ancient building that wasn't built to be an office, this means not many people can be inside the building at the same time, and so there are always two queues outside of the embassy, one going right and one going left.

Don't be discouraged by the queue outside of the embassy, it always has a queue, you must however pay close attention to the embassy representative that is standing outside of the building keeping track of the two queues. This person is your key to get into the embassy, she will ask you for your errand and will keep track of when it's your turn to enter.

Once it's your turn to enter a policeman will check you for bombs and weapons and also scan any bags in an airport style x-ray scanner.

The 3rd floor

Here you will sign your form in front of the official in charge, you likely will have to wait on a wooden bench outside the notary's office while he/she handles other NIE applications. If you have filled in our application correctly (look at my guide) you won't have to do it again. If you haven't filled out the application and am lucky enough for them to have spare forms, you will need to complete the form now and the notary will be irritated because "you haven't done your homework".

Note at this stage that if you didn't bring a copy of your passport you will be sent out of the consulate to go and take a photocopy of your passport, it pays to have read this guide and to come prepared.

Remember to not sign the form unless the notary says for you to do so as the signing has to take place when this person can see it.

The basement

Once the notary has witnessed your signing and stamped your application you need to bring your documents down to the basement of the building. Find the window that says cashier, please bring as exact change as you can (£6,90) as they DO NOT take cards and there is no guarantee that they will have change if you only bring bills with you.

Congratulations

If you went through the above steps your NIE application will be sent in and you might expect an email within two to four weeks with your new NIE number.