Identification in Spain

FiestaInSpain

I'm an Irish citizen working in Spain. Here it is legally required to carry identification on your body and is also necessary to use your credit card. The problem is that Ireland has no national identity card and Spain no longer issues a card to workers within the EU. I don't have a driver's licence and I hate the idea of bringing my passport around with me given how valuable it is.

I've already contacted the Irish embassy in Madrid who said there is no other option but to bring my passport with my always. This seems like an extremely clumsy solution which I would prefer not to do. Perhaps I've overlooked another option. Can anybody clarify?

long range shooter

FiestaInSpain wrote: »

I'm an Irish citizen working in Spain. Here it is legally required to carry identification on your body and is also necessary to use your credit card. The problem is that Ireland has no national identity card and Spain no longer issues a card to workers within the EU. I don't have a driver's licence and I hate the idea of bringing my passport around with me given how valuable it is.

I've already contacted the Irish embassy in Madrid who said there is no other option but to bring my passport with my always. This seems like an extremely clumsy solution which I would prefer not to do. Perhaps I've overlooked another option. Can anybody clarify?

Try and get another passport;)Atlest you have 2 in case.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=64603588

Cushie Butterfield

The chances of you being stopped & asked for ID are very slim. What you could do is carry some form of photo ID together with a photocopy of the photo-page of your passport.

In the unlikely event that you do get stopped & they have a problem with what you have you could say that you have mislaid your passport & were waiting a few days until you can do a thorough search of your home before reporting it missing & getting a replacement, or that you only discovered it missing an hour or two earlier & plan reporting it lost the following morning.

Meanwhile you should consider getting a Driver's Licence.

FiestaInSpain

Cushie Butterfield wrote: »

The chances of you being stopped & asked for ID are very slim. What you could do is carry some form of photo ID together with a photocopy of the photo-page of your passport.

In the unlikely event that you do get stopped & they have a problem with what you have you could say that you have mislaid your passport & were waiting a few days until you can do a thorough search of your home before reporting it missing & getting a replacement, or that you only discovered it missing an hour or two earlier & plan reporting it lost the following morning.

Meanwhile you should consider getting a Driver's Licence.

Well, I'm not worried about that as much as using my Visa card. You can only use it with a form of ID. :-(

keithclancy

Bizarre,

I've lived on the Continent for almost six years, have traveled all over the place and never needed my Passport to use my Visa card since Chip and Pin came in.

I don't carry my passport either, don't know about Spain, but in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands its only an issue if you do something wrong and do not have identification.

Unless the cop is a total asshole though your Driving License is fine (In the Netherlands a foreign driving license is not legally acceptable identification, e.g. you cannot buy a car with a foreign license)

One other thing, if you do 'lose' your current passport and get a new one, traveling on the old one is a serious offense.

cailinoBAC

Yes, I often get asked for passport when I'm using credit card. The thing is, I''m working in Gibraltar so using my passport every day, so I don't even give it a second thought.

mayotom

I always carry a copy of my passport photo page, shrunk to credit card size and Laminated, This is Stamped/notorised by the Policia National.. Technically it is not a legally acceptable ID, however common sense prevails and it is usually accepted. As for using your ID with credit card, this is becoming less and less common, I have used it twice this week in Mercadona without ID

cailinoBAC

I haven't been asked in Mercadona either ever or for as long as I can remember. Carrefour always at the start (2 and a half years ago) but less now, thankfully.

K.Flyer

I know exactly what yo mean OP..
If you do not have a licence you can, as we did, take a very high resolution scan of the photo page of your passport, shrink the image down to somewhere between a credit card and driving licence size (big enough to be readable), get the image laminated and pop it into your wallet.

I always used mine for paying with a cc in a shop and quite a few times at their heavily armed road checkpoints with never a problem.
It looked so well some people actualy thought it was an official item!
Hope that helps.

K.Flyer

cailinoBAC wrote: »

I haven't been asked in Mercadona either ever or for as long as I can remember. Carrefour always at the start (2 and a half years ago) but less now, thankfully.

Agreed.
As people get to know you in suoermarkets etc. the occurance of being asked for id decreases, like yourself after a while I would rarely be asked for id in the local area. It would only be required if paying for something in a different town.
Also I found that chip and pin has reduced the requirement for id greatly.

crazy8

It is compulsory for everyone to carry ID in Spain at all times from what I understand(there may be a loophole where if it is within a certain distance from you and you can ask the police to bring your ID to the station later, but that could just be a pub-fact).

They used to give foreigners a ID card(NIE) similar to the ones spanish people have(DNI). They stopped that about 5 years ago and now only give a piece of paper with the NIE number. Which is pretty useless unless you have photo ID, i.e. your passport(a driving license can be rejected as it's not an accepted form of identification here). Not clear on why they stopped issuing the NIE cards with photos... seems like a form of institutionalised discrimination.

Chip-and-pin is coming coming about in Spain very slowly. You need ID for so many things.

crazy8

And it could be made a lot easier if it didn't take 6 weeks and 80€ to get a new passport from Ireland. Needing an authorised witness to sign the application form is ridiculous too. You would think the embassie would be able to issue them.

K.Flyer

crazy8 wrote: »

It is compulsory for everyone to carry ID in Spain at all times from what I understand(there may be a loophole where if it is within a certain distance from you and you can ask the police to bring your ID to the station later, but that could just be a pub-fact).

They used to give foreigners a ID card(NIE) similar to the ones spanish people have(DNI). They stopped that about 5 years ago and now only give a piece of paper with the NIE number. Which is pretty useless unless you have photo ID, i.e. your passport(a driving license can be rejected as it's not an accepted form of identification here). Not clear on why they stopped issuing the NIE cards with photos... seems like a form of institutionalised discrimination.

Chip-and-pin is coming coming about in Spain very slowly. You need ID for so many things.

Commonly confused years ago as a NIE card and sometimes a foreigners resident card was the un-laminated yellow cc sized piece of paper with your NIE number on it that you received if you were entitled to avail of medical / hospital care, much like our medical card, its has now been replaced by an orange chip and pin card.
The NIE was only ever a document and a card was never issued with the document.
It is the number that is issued to all non-nationals who have any fiscal affairs in the country.
The DNI refers to the photo ID Spanish National Identification Card which all Spaniards have.
There was a time that if you were a non-national and resident full time in Spain for more than 6 months you were obliged to apply for a residents card. It was more or less the same as the DNI card with your photograph, details and thumb print.
But that has changed and now and they do not isssue them anymore to foreigners and you now get a green resident certificate with no photo id which you are now obliged to apply for after 3 months if you intend to make Spain your country of residence.

schween

K.Flyer wrote: »

But that has changed and now and they do not isssue them anymore to foreigners and you now get a green resident certificate with no photo id which you are now obliged to apply for after 3 months if you intend to make Spain your country of residence.

The TIE (the card) is only issued to non-EU citizens. EU citizens are issued with the NIE only, as they are expected to use their country's national ID which we don't have.

K.Flyer wrote: »

Agreed.
As people get to know you in suoermarkets etc. the occurance of being asked for id decreases, like yourself after a while I would rarely be asked for id in the local area. It would only be required if paying for something in a different town.
Also I found that chip and pin has reduced the requirement for id greatly.

Once in the past few years I wasn't asked for ID. I use my card a few times a week and always get asked for ID.

OP have you considered getting an Age Card from Ireland? I'm a bit old for an Age Card but I applied for it when I was home once and I haven't had any problems with it here. I just tell them it's the Irish National ID, sure how would they know?