Papers Permits and Contracts

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james

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Papers, permits and contracts
NIE

The Numero de Identificacion de Extranjeros, is like the British National Insurance number. Everybody who comes to Spain to work, or buy a house or car, must apply for this number. To be employed legally, and enjoy the benefits of the Spanish National Health Service, the NIE is THE number one requirement.
To apply you must present
· 2 photocopies of your Passport or I.D. card and the original
· 4 passport-sized photographs
· The official NIE application form, which is of course in Spanish, duly completed.


Work Permit
A Work Permit is required by all non-European Union citizens (except Switzerland and some South American countries) and is extremely difficult to obtain. A would be employer must first prove that all attempts to recruit suitable staff from the European Union have failed and that there is no alternative but to employ a person from outside. This may cause little problem for a top footballer like Ronaldo, but may be problematic for someone wanting to wash dishes in a bar. Contact the Spanish Embassy in your country before leaving for Ibiza.

Residencia
Since 1st March 2003 the 'Residencia' - a permit to live and work in Spain, is no longer required if you are a citizen of a European Union country or Switzerland. Now all that is needed is a valid passport or National Identity card on which your nationality is clearly stated. For citizens of almost every other country (some South American states have special arrangements) a Residencia is still required for stays of over 3 months, and you must apply within one month of arrival in Spain. If you plan to come here for less time, you will not need one.

Most employers will be able to help you apply for the Residencia. If you are on your own, here is a list of what you need:
· 2 photocopies of your Passport or I.D. card and the original.
· 3 passport-sized photographs.
· A valid work contract, the original and a photocopy.
· An accommodation contract/lease, the original and a photocopy.
· The official Residencia application form, which is of course in Spanish, duly completed.


The national police station, where all the documents must be presented, is situated on the Ibiza town ring road between the 'Multicines' cinema and McDonalds. Arriving by bus, continue along Avenida Isidoro Macabich, from the bus terminus, and the police station is opposite the end of the Avenue. There is now a system when on arrival every applicant is given a number denoting their place in the queue, and the policeman on duty, known as 'Sr. Buenos Dias' will tell you approximately how long you will have to wait. This may be up to 4 hours or come back the next day.
The easier way of obtaining both your Residencia, and your NIE number (which everybody must have) is to employ a Gestor, a kind of lawyer, to do it for you. They will charge a fee of about €50 for an NIE and €100 for a Residencia, but will ensure that all the paperwork goes through as smoothly as possible, while you get on with working and having fun.

Edit 23.1.04. from the beginning of february (so they say) 2004, foreigners' paperwork will be dealt with at the 'casa del mar' government building which is very close to ibiza casino.
Thanks to Stephen for this!
 
i was actually at the police statio about 3 weeks ago to be fingerprinted for my residencia (which i now no longer need but i re-applied for before the rule changes)

there are far fewer people there these days and the copper on reception is polite, but has a limited knowledge of English, and will issue you with a number for the queue. on his advice i spent 3 hours strolling about ibiza and drinking coffee before returning. i was then shown immediately to a seat (it's a miracle!) and arrived at the desk for my fingerprinting within about 5 minutes.

when i came here originally, i needed an NIE number to buy a car, doing it myself it took me a week of trips and hours of waiting in very unpleasant conditions before i actually got the number. Since that experience i have always used a Gestor to do the work for me - it's well worth the fee.

hope my personal experience helps
 
thanks boys... someone told me about this last year but everyone i spoke to since said you didn't need the NIE. Thanks for the info, must get that sorted...
 
I wouldn´t advise using a gestor if you´re just getting a NIE... maybe i was lucky but it was quite an easy process, i hardly had to say a word in spanish to be honest. all you need is your passport, 1 copy, 3 copies of completed NIE forms and you don´t need any passport photos. hope that helps...
 
I dunno if anyone would know this, but since I'm in Canada would I go to the Spanish Embassy to get an NIE form?
 
if you are from an ec country and are on holiday in spain you only need produce an e111 medical form (available from post offices in britain) to receive free medical treatment in the spanish health service.

if you are working here legally and have an nie number and a work contract you are entitled to a spanish national health card which entitles you to free medical treatment and you are allocated a doctor (general practitioner) as well.
 
security is a must-have on the island.
I remember seing a girl in a waiting room at the doctors in San An, she had stepped on a bottle on has glass under her foot, the bottle was litteraly stuck there!
She was crying on the phone, telling her dad in the other end of the line that the doctors refused to help her, as she didnt have any medical ensurance nor a legal working permit!
 
fusion said:
pardon me for my ignorance, but what countries are included in the ec countries?

The current member countires are:

Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Netherlands & UK.

During 2004 the following coutires are also joining:

Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia & Slovenia
 
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