A small fee (around 10 to 16 euros approx.) is needed to apply at an authorised National Police station either for:

i) a NIE number or

ii) a TIE photo card as a British citizen who has already registered as living in Spain before 1st January 2021 (Option on form to mark: ‘Certificado de Residencia de Ciudadano Comunitario’.)

*Note: If you are instead asking for a TIE for the first time having acquired a residency visa from a Spanish consulate in the UK (the post-Brexit route), the option to tick on the form is ‘TIE que documenta la primera concesión de la autorización de residencia temporal, de estancia o para trabajadores transfronterizos’.

The fee is paid in advance at any bank of your choice and you take a stamped receipt to the police station with you from the bank along with the rest of your application details.

The tax form is called 790-012 and is a standard form used for paying lots of different taxes/fees for immigration matters, so on the form you need to tick the right box for the service you are paying for.

This form can now only be filled in online and printed out to take to the bank. It is no longer given out at police stations nor immigration offices and cannot be filled in by hand.

The form is very quick to complete and can be filled in by clicking here. (External link). You complete it then press the blue button at the end to get a copy you can print out and sign.

Guidance notes: As the form is in Spanish, below is some advice in English for guidance only (correct at January 2024 and subject to change without notice).

Please note:

1. Don’t forget to take with you all the other documentation you need. This is just an unofficial translation of the tax form as a guide.
2. If you are asking the National Police to issue you or swap you to a TIE photo ID card (Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero) as a British citizen who has already registered that they were living in Spain before 1st January 2021, (beneficiary of the Withdrawal Agreement from the EU), still tick the fee option below that is marked Registry – ‘Certificado de Residencia de Ciudadano Comunitario’. 
3. Remember, as a British citizen claiming you were living in Spain before 1st January 2021 (the end of Brexit), if you do not already hold green documentation (a green sheet of paper or small green card), there is a two-step process. To apply for a TIE you first need approval of your residency by applying at the provincial Immigration office and, once you have this approval, you have just one month from the date you receive approval to apply separately to the National Police for your TIE to be issued.
4. If you are instead asking for a TIE for the first time having acquired a residency visa from a Spanish consulate in the UK (the post-Brexit route), (NOT a beneficiary of the Withdrawal Agreement from the EU), the option to tick on the form is ‘TIE que documenta la primera concesión de la autorización de residencia temporal, de estancia o para trabajadores transfronterizos’.
5. The same options as stated above are used when renewing a TIE after it has expired, whichever is relevant to you.

If you already hold a green document (a green sheet of paper or small green credit-card-sized paper) you are NOT obliged to swap to a TIE. Your green documentation remains valid if you are living in Spain to prove you are resident. However, it is recommended you change it as it is much easier to use to prove your residency rights.

(See Living in Spain from the UK government for more details).

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(We welcome feedback from you based on your actual experiences so we can help other users).