My wife and I both have NIE’s, our 3 children do not have any form of Spanish ID. They are all below 10 and are here on their British passports but I am sure that they need some kind of national ID. Also what is a family ID card and how do you obtain? Generally having 3 kids is considered as having a large family here so you can get discounts on schooling items like books etc. Just need to know how to get one.
Appreciate any help.
Thank you
Tom

Hi Tom,

When I read your post my first reaction was - children don’t need anything until they are 16 yrs old - however I mentioned it to my Spanish wife who was in the NIE office the other day with a client and she said there were some people in there getting NIEs for children BUT she is unsure of their nationality and any other details. I have put some links below but to be honest I think you need to check with your local town hall (responsible for schools) or if you have one the Officina for Extranjeros.

I think the card for families you mention is for Non EU…...

N.I.E. (EX14) / RESIDENCIA (EX16)

Application Forms and the
Regulations Governing EU citizens in Spain document.

http://extranjeros.mtas.es/

For forms - Click: Modelos de Solictudes

Or direct link
http://extranjeros.mtas.es/es/general/procedimientos_Solicitudes_index.html

For the Regulations document (from Home page)
Click UK flag & R?gimen de los ciudadanos Comunitarios en Espa?a

Let us know how this works out and what region you are in…....

The main reason why I am asking is that when I try to include my dependents under my Social Number for public medical, the guy in the office asks me for my kids NIE? Also the family ID card has a photo of the family together and is for extended families. Usually in Spain larger families members are included on the libros de familia (marriage certificate doc). Another instance of the requirement of this family ID is when you are registering your kids for a new school.
Thanks for your replies
Tom

I don’t know what the legal requirement is, but my daughter has an NIE number (she’s 3) and I got one for her as soon as she was born. If adults are here for more than 3 months they are legally required to obtain residency and an NIE number and it could be the same for children as they apply in their own right. That’s to say when I filled in the form for my daughter I first filled in the part about having the right to live in Spain through me as her mother, but in the extranjeri? office they said that as she is a UK passport holder she has to apply in her own right like any EU citizen.
Regardless of the rules, it’s certainly easier with an NIE number, as it’s recognised by everyone. Your children will be under your social security number regardless of whether they have an NIE or not.
As for the libro de familia, as far as I understand it as non-Spanish people you can only get one if your children are born here or if you were married in Spain. For example, I wasn’t married in Spain but my daughter was born here. I have a libro de familia and her birth appears in it but our marriage does not. However, you don’t need a libro de familia to get familia numerosa. I’m not sure exactly how you go about it as I have only one child, but I know someone who is EU and without a libro de familia but with the familia numerosa document.

Thank you for your reply. As I delve further into this process I seem to open more pandoras boxes which are not clearly defined for foreigners. For instance, I went to my local ambulatoria to register my family, gave them my SSN and asked to put my family in there too so we would all get public medical cards. The guy told me to go to the local SS office and have them included within my SSN. So I went to this office and what a mess, they wanted translated birth certificates and a mountain of papers filled out. Well I did the papers and there was always something else. Gave up! The guy in the ambulatoria did tell me that even though my dependents are not included under my SSN they were still in the computer and they would receive treatment if necessary. Im paying my taxes and have private medical but im still entitled.
I think I will do the NIE for my kids and the familia numerosa. One day they will have to do it so sooner rather than later.
My wife and I both have NIE and my work sorted out my SSN and other work related paperwork but we have not applied for residencia, you mentioned that we are supposed to do that within 3 months, would appreciate guidence on that task - been here since Aug 2007.
My kids were all born in different countries so their birth certificates are in different languages - can translations into Spanish be done at relevant consulates?
Thanks for your replies and advice.
Tom

Okay, I’m trying to think back about how I went about all of these things but it’s all a bit blurry and the laws change so often it’s hard to say exactly what to do!
The first thing I’d suggest is to apply for residency for all the family together at the same time. This way the kids will get an NIE number and be resident for the schools, doctors etc. Before, as EU citizens we had to first get the padr?n and then the residencia but this has certainly changed where I live and I think nationally, so it’s now first the residencia and then the padr?n. For the residencia for each person you need to hand in the filled out form (see Robi’s link above) and photocopy, 4 photos with white background, copy of all pages of passport, you will probably need your marriage certificate and translation (why I’ve no idea but I had to hand mine in) and I think that’s it. Once you have your resident certificate you need to take that along with the passport to the town hall to get the padron. At this point I think they might ask for birth certificates of the children as well to show that the children actually belong to you, ie. something with parents?names on. These also need to be translated (consulate or any sworn translator can help).
THEN… once you have all this getting the children registered with a doctor is easy! You say you have private care - get them a medical card anyway. Go to the medical centre for your area and register them. You’ll need the residence certificate, passport and possibly the padron as it has your address and shows you are eligible for that medical centre (in the catchment area). The children will be allocated a paediatrician and be given a little book which includes their medical history, vaccinations, etc. which the schools sometimes ask to see, especially for the young ones to check they are vaccinated. You can use this book with private doctors but I don’t know if private doctors can issue you one if you see what I mean.
I’m sure you’re still going to come up against a ton of problems but the best advice I can give you is to get the residencia. Once you are legally here everything becomes much easier and more automatic - also as you were working here last year think about doing a tax declaration as you might get something back as you have children you get bigger tax breaks (but first you have to be resident!)

Thank you for the info.
Funny that I have my Padron but no residencia. Another story - Picked up my wife’s NIE (id card as she is not from the EU) with Photo & fingerprint etc. The first office I went to 6 months ago to do the paperwork and submit original marriage certificate and pay the fee, told me that I would get all of my original paperwork back from the office where I would pick up my wife’s NIE. So we picked up her card, requesed my original documentation back but they did not have it. The lady just gave me yet another address to go to in Madrid to try and find our original marriage certificate. Did you have to do the same or know anything about this?
I am taking so many days off work to run around offices. It is so inefficient and illogical here Im surprised they get anything done.
Will research your earlier reply about residencia.
Appreciate your advice
Tom

I didn’t hand in my original wedding certificate but a copy. They looked at the original when I handed in the application and stamped the copy to convalidate it - the same with the translation.
I completely agree with you about the inefficiency of it all, but there are a lot of people to keep in jobs and streamlining it certainly wouldn’t help with that! I’m not sure it’s not the same in all countries these day though…

Thanks Sallok, I did go with photocopies but they insisted on the original one. Will research & get mine back and post info as Im sure others will have the same issue.
Tom