Hi,
First of all I am new to this forum and I have found the infomation contained here to be very informative and invaluable.  I have been issued a non lucrative visa and will be arriving in Madrid in mid September.  My question is what do I need to do 1st, apply for my residence permit or apply for my NIE card once I arrive in Spain, I have read quite a bit of conflicting info.  I will not be buying houses or anything to do with taxes, so do I really need an NIE card?  I have friends that have lived there and opened up bank accounts, rented apartments, and got utilities without the use of an NIE card.  So I guess my question is can I apply for an residence permit w/out my NIE card, or do I need to have my NIE card 1st, than apply for the residence permit?

Also can someone confirm if this is the correct link to download the residence permit? I would like to fill it out before I get there, as I read very slow in Spanish:)
http://www.mir.es/SGACAVT/modelos/extranjeria/modelos_extranje/ex_00.pdf

I recommend to get a NIE, without that, you will pay more taxes on your paycheck.

Would this be the case if I was making my money entirely outside of Spain, from a US based company?  I will still be getting paid in US dollars, paying US taxes etc..  I know Spain and the US have a tax treaty that prohibits dual taxation, but I am still reading it. Any info on this would be greatly appreciated.

hmm, i only have some basic info for EU citizens, not US citizen.

the link you showed is the corredt page to apply for the NIE. Go to the Spanish embassy near you if you want one.

kochanie92 - 04 August 2007 11:22 PM

Would this be the case if I was making my money entirely outside of Spain, from a US based company?  I will still be getting paid in US dollars, paying US taxes etc..  I know Spain and the US have a tax treaty that prohibits dual taxation, but I am still reading it. Any info on this would be greatly appreciated.

Depends on how long you’ll be in Spain for. Any longer than a year and I’d suggest doing things by the books, which means getting an NIE and registering your income, etc. Otherwise you might as well just fly under the radar for your time here and save on the bureaucracy.

I’m not a laywer and this certainly isn’t legal advice, just friendly advice.

Many thanks on the below info.  I know that I will be there for 1 year and depending on how it goes possibly longer.  So maybe it makes sense to lay low for the initial year and if it goes beyond that, go by the book:)
Thanks again!