Non-Residency Certificate required by Spanish Banks
September 9th, 2008 @ 11:09 by lawbirdAll non-residents in Spain are required to obtain a non-residency certificate either if they already hold a bank account or if they are planning to open a bank account in Spain. Failure to do so may result in the bank blocking your account until this certificate is cleared. This implies that all invoices set as standing orders against your Spanish bank account, namely your mortgage repayments and utilities, will not be timely met.
The certificate must have been obtained in the 2 months prior to opening the Spanish bank account if you are opening a new one. This certificate will have to be renewed every 2 years. The process is identical to obtaining a NIE number. You may obtain it from either a National Police Station’s Foreigner’s Department or through the Spanish consulates in the UK or Ireland. You will have to queue and fill in the Spanish form with your NIE or passport number. The form is almost identical to the NIE number application.
If you do not wish to go through this hassle, you can always hire someoene in Spain to have it arranged for you. NIE Number Direct is currently offering this service for a very competitive fee. Please note that a Power of Attorney and a legalized copy of your passport is required.
Article from Times Online: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/mon…cle4691513.ece
Tags: certificate of non-residency, non resident bank account certificate, non-residency certificate
September 9th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
The never ending Spanish red tape nightmare!
Thanks for the informative site.
September 16th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Non-Resident Certificate, or the Never Ending Spanish Bureaucracy…
Some of you may have been advised by your bank that you need to provide them with a non-resident certificate or have the account frozen. The measure is still confusing as different lenders are applying existing legislation (a mixture of 1991, 1997 and …
October 21st, 2008 at 11:53 pm
I think is is absoultely disgusting that spanish banks do not even have the decency to tell you that your bank account has been frozen and you only get to find out when you default on a mortgage payment. Changes to rules are one thing that we all have to live with (Sept 9th 2008) but incompetence and lack of communication on the part of the banks is not acceptable. Having found out the hard way, I will have to make several trips to Spain to resolve this situation and I expect the bank to compensate me for their inefficiency. Fat chance! The trust between bank and customer has been destroyed which will further damage the housing market in Spain and the profit margins of the banks as well as payments to the tax authorities that come with house sales. If mortgage payments are not being made on a large scale it could cause a further meltdown of the banking system. I will be very reluctant in future to invest any money with a Spanish Bank as I can no longer trust them and will be withdrawing funds that I have there as soon as this situation is resolved. DS