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.

On this page:
The number and the certificate are not the same thing ·
Where you actually go ·
The cita previa is the hard part, not the paperwork ·
What it costs ·
What to bring so they don’t send you home ·
Britons, this is not your page ·
Questions people actually ask

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. The law expects you to register within three months of arriving, so it is not a someday job. 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 (icp.administracionelectronica.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). The two fees are below. 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.

Trámite	Form	Government fee (tasa 790-012)	Where
NIE number only, any foreigner	EX-15	€9.84	Policía Nacional: the La Línea comisaría, Av. Menéndez Pelayo 2, for the trámites it lists; otherwise the Oficina de Extranjería in Algeciras
Green certificate — EU registration, carries the NIE	EX-18	€12.00	Same offices; Algeciras: Av. Fuerzas Armadas 6, Mon–Fri 9:00–14:00
The cita previa itself	—	€0	sede.administracionespublicas.gob.es — a slot sold for €50–200 is a free slot scalped by a bot

Amounts set by Orden PJC/617/2025, in force since 16 June 2025 and the order that fixes these fees. Read at source and checked on 5 September 2026. The form shows you the live figure when you fill it in.

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.

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.