NIE and the Green Certificate in La Línea: an EU Citizen’s Guide
There are two pieces of paper every EU citizen ends up chasing here, and almost everyone confuses them. One is a number. The other is proof that you are allowed to stay. You need both, you get them in different ways, and the system that hands them out runs on the speed of mañana. Here is the honest version.
The number and the certificate are not the same thing
The NIE — Número de Identidad de Extranjero — is just your foreigner ID number. You need it to do anything that involves money or signatures: open a bank account, sign a rental contract, buy a car, start a job in Gibraltar and get paid into a Spanish account. Getting the number alone does not make you a resident. It is a string of digits, nothing more.
The green certificate — the certificado de registro de ciudadano de la Unión — is the one that matters if you are staying longer than three months. It is a small green card, or sometimes an A4 sheet, that registers you in the Registro Central de Extranjeros and carries your NIE on it. This is the document a landlord, an employer, or the SAS health centre will actually ask to see. For most people moving to La Línea, the green certificate is the real goal; the bare NIE is for people who only need a number for a one-off transaction.
Where you actually go
This is done at the Policía Nacional, not the town hall. La Línea has its own comisaría, and some trámites can be done there. The full Oficina de Extranjería for the whole Campo de Gibraltar, though, is in Algeciras, at Avenida Fuerzas Armadas 6, open Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 14:00 and not a minute later (Policía Nacional, sede electrónica). Which office you are sent to depends on the trámite and on where there happen to be appointments — and appointments are the whole game.
The cita previa is the hard part, not the paperwork
You cannot just walk in. Everything runs on the cita previa — the online appointment — booked through the national portal (sede.administracionespublicas.gob.es). The honest truth is that for months at a time the system shows no hay citas disponibles, no appointments available, for every office within driving distance. People refresh it at 8am, at midnight, on a Tuesday for no reason, until a slot appears and they grab whatever date and town it offers. This is not a glitch you can solve by being organised. It is the single biggest reason people give up and ask someone local to do it for them. We come back to that below.
What it costs
The government fee is small and it is the only money the state takes. You pay it before your appointment using the tasa modelo 790, código 012, filled in online and paid at almost any bank, then you bring the stamped receipt to the window (tasa 790-012, Policía Nacional). As of June 2026 the NIE-only assignment is around €9.84 and the registration certificate is in the region of €12. The exact figure can shift with each year’s budget, so check the amount the form shows you when you fill it — do not trust a number you read in a blog, including this one.
What to bring so they don’t send you home
For the green certificate as a resident, the office will want: your valid passport or national ID and a photocopy; the completed form (EX-18 for the registration certificate, EX-15 if you only want the bare NIE); proof you paid the 790; and evidence that you meet the residence conditions — usually that you are working, or self-sufficient with funds and health cover, plus your empadronamiento. Bring the originals and photocopies of everything. A missing photocopy is a wasted morning and another appointment three weeks away. The clerk will not photocopy it for you, and the shop that does is closed for lunch.
If you would rather not do this alone
We know someone. Patricia is local, she does this paperwork for a living, and she speaks the language of the counter clerk that you and your translation app do not. She books the cita previa, fills the forms, and goes with you to the office so that nobody at the window sends you home over a missing photocopy. She is not a lawyer and she does not do visa cases — she handles the in-Spain steps: appointments, forms, empadronamiento, and standing next to you when it counts.
- NIE / green certificate (EU citizens): €80 if the trámite is done at the La Línea police station, €110 if it has to be done in Algeciras — the higher price is the car run to the Extranjería office there and back.
- TIE / residencia (British citizens): from €120 in La Línea, from €150 in Algeciras. The British process has more steps, so it takes her longer. (Provisional — confirm the exact figure with Patricia.)
We do not take a cut. We recommend Patricia because she is good at this, not because anyone pays us to. Her prices are hers and can change — agree the figure with her before she starts. Government fees (the tasa) are separate and are paid to the bank, not to Patricia. This is a personal recommendation, not professional or legal advice.
Britons, this is not your page
If you hold a British passport, none of the above applies cleanly — since Brexit you are a third-country national and your document is the TIE, a different and heavier process. We have written that up separately: Residencia & TIE for British citizens. For the appointment scramble itself, EU and British alike, see how to actually get a cita previa. And for the bigger picture of settling here, start at the Moving & Living guide.
Fees, forms and office hours are correct to the best of our knowledge as of June 2026 and change without notice. This is a resident’s guide, not professional or legal advice. Confirm current requirements with the Oficina de Extranjería before you rely on anything here.
