Hola,Iam buying a small property in the Priorat region.last month i tried to get an NIE at the police station in Reus and after spending hours in line, i was told that as a non-EU citizen i would need my passport stamped and a visa to get the document. The real estate agent has never dealt with an american and was unsure.I have looked online and i can't find any mention of a visa or having my passport stamped.Furthermore, the lufthansa ticket agent in Barcelona told me that they do not stamp passports there. nort

topic moved. BOINK!

Hi Nort --

Try reading this article on buying property in Spain. It might help point you in the right direction!

Get yourself a Hestor quick and make sure it is someone who is familar with property ownership and the laws regarding non-EU citizens. I own property in Madrid and it is a lot of paperwork an documentation. After 3 years, I still dont have a NIE but use my passport and other identification. Becareful, there is a lot of fraud... Even the locals are getting ripped off.

Buying property and having a NIE are too different issues. You sure can buy property being a non resident. You need to take precautions as the ones described in the article chica posted.

On the other hand,the NIE is the identificación card number equivalent to the DNI the spaniards have.

When you are granted permanent residency you enter in the national identificación system, which they will assign you a NIE which represents the full information on your person.