How to apply for a Spanish NIE from India: which consulate to use
In this article
Short answer. To apply for a Spanish NIE from India, start with your registered address: two Spanish consular offices serve the country — the Embassy’s Consular Section in New Delhi and the Consulate General in Mumbai. The office covering your address processes your application, but the NIE itself is assigned by Spain’s General Commissariat for Immigration and Borders, and it arrives by email.
This is an independent guide by E-Residence, a private service. It is not an official website of any consulate and does not control appointments; every procedure in it links to its official source. Recheck the official page on the day you act.
For the wider picture of how consular NIE applications work, see our guide to NIE applications at Spanish consulates outside Spain. Here, the focus is India and its two offices.
Which office covers your address?
The consular districts follow Spain’s official division of India, and the two offices sit at opposite ends of the country: New Delhi takes most of the north and the east plus four neighbouring countries, and Mumbai takes the west and the south. Residence is the starting point — not nationality, and not the office with the most convenient appointment. The list below matches each office’s published district.
| Where you live (registered address) | Office | Start here |
|---|---|---|
| Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Punjab, Bihar, Meghalaya, Chandigarh, Jharkhand, Manipur, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Tripura, Haryana, Odisha, Mizoram, Delhi NCR, Sikkim, Lakshadweep, Rajasthan, Ladakh, Assam — plus Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka | Embassy Consular Section, New Delhi | New Delhi NIE page |
| Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana — plus the union territories of Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Puducherry | Consulate General, Mumbai | Mumbai NIE page |
If your address does not map clearly to one of these lists, confirm it with the office before contacting it rather than guessing. The embassy’s official consular-office directory for India is the source of these districts.
The consular NIE route: what applies across India
Both offices follow the same national procedure, with local differences in how you book and what you bring. The shared points, as published by the offices themselves:
- A NIE can be requested directly in Spain or at the consular office for your country of residence. From India, that is the office covering your address.
- You apply in person or through a duly accredited representative — and the physical presence of the applicant or the representative is always mandatory. Do not read the representative route as one that removes attendance altogether.
- You must state the economic, professional or social reasons that justify the application, and offices may ask for documents proving them.
- The standard document set is an EX-15 form (original and one copy), a valid passport with a copy of the data page (EU citizens may use a national identity document), proof of residence in the consular district, and a completed Modelo 790, Código 012 with the fee paid.
- The consular NIE is identification, not residence. A NIE processed through a consulate is not valid to reside in Spain and does not accredit residence there, and anyone planning to settle in Spain must check visa requirements first.
- The consulate does not issue the number. It is assigned by the General Commissariat for Immigration and Borders, part of Spain’s Directorate-General for the Police. The consulate cannot speed up processing, and the NIE is sent to the applicant by email — so put a working notification address on the form.
Prefer to prepare your application with E-Residence? Start an NIE enquiry — a private service that helps you organise the paperwork before you contact the office. An enquiry does not create, confirm or replace an official appointment.
Office by office: how each one runs NIE applications
New Delhi — Embassy consular section
New Delhi does not take bookings by phone or through an online calendar. It asks you to send all documentation scanned in colour — both sides, PDF, one file per document, numbered — to emb.nuevadelhi.nac@maec.es, and an appointment is then assigned as soon as possible. Read that sequence carefully: the document set is checked before any appointment exists, so an incomplete or unnumbered set is the most likely reason for delay. On fees, the office says the fee is paid at the Consular Section at the time of the appointment, and points to its fees and payment methods link for the amount. The same page carries its consular district, which extends beyond India to Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. New Delhi NIE page
Mumbai — consulate general
Mumbai starts the same way, with an email rather than a booking system: write to cog.mumbai@maec.es to request an appointment. Its fee information is the most concrete published in India — the office lists its 2025 fee as 877 rupees, payable by demand draft in favour of “Consulate General of Spain” or by UPI after scanning the QR code. Note the date on that figure: it is a 2025 amount, so confirm the current one with the office before you instruct a bank draft. Mumbai’s consular district covers the western and southern states plus the union territories listed in the table above. Mumbai NIE page
Addresses and map links
| Office | Address | Open the map |
|---|---|---|
| New Delhi | 4, Golf Links, New Delhi – 110003, India | Google Maps |
| Mumbai | Express Towers, 3rd floor, Barrister Rajni Patel Marg, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021, India | Google Maps |
These are the offices’ published addresses, including the floor for Mumbai. The map links are navigation aids built from those addresses — they do not confirm which service a building hosts, and they are no substitute for the office’s own page. Check the address there before travelling.
What this guide does not confirm
- Processing times. No office reviewed here publishes a current processing time for the NIE. The number is assigned by the Commissariat and sent by email; ask your office if you need a working estimate.
- Current fees for both offices. New Delhi takes payment at the appointment and points to a fee page for the amount; Mumbai’s published figure is a 2025 amount of 877 rupees. Take the current figure from the office on the day you pay.
- Which document proves your residence. Both pages describe the standard document set including residence proof but do not list, in the material reviewed here, exactly which Indian document the office accepts. Ask your office before you send the file set.
- Waiting times for an appointment. New Delhi assigns an appointment after receiving your documents and says only that this happens “as soon as possible”; Mumbai assigns one on email request. No waiting-time figures are published.
- A walk-in service. No page reviewed describes accepting NIE applications without an appointment. Presence is mandatory, but arrange the channel first.
Want a second pair of eyes on your document set before you email the office? Send your situation through a short NIE enquiry. We flag gaps before the office does — an enquiry does not replace or speed up the official procedure.
Frequently asked questions
Which Spanish consulate in India covers my address?
It depends on your registered address. The Embassy’s Consular Section in New Delhi covers Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Punjab, Bihar, Meghalaya, Chandigarh, Jharkhand, Manipur, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Tripura, Haryana, Odisha, Mizoram, Delhi NCR, Sikkim, Lakshadweep, Rajasthan, Ladakh and Assam, plus Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The Consulate General in Mumbai covers Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, plus the union territories of Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu and Puducherry. Confirm your district with the office before contacting it.
Consular-office directory for India
Do I need proof of residence in India to apply through a consulate?
The standard document set for a consular NIE includes proof of residence in the consular district, and the districts here are not interchangeable — New Delhi covers most of the north and east, Mumbai the west and south. New Delhi asks you to send your documentation in advance, which is the point at which it will see your address; if your situation is unusual, ask the office what will establish your residence before you email it.
New Delhi NIE page · Mumbai NIE page
Can someone else submit the application — do I have to attend in person?
You apply in person or through a duly accredited representative, and the physical presence of the applicant or the representative is always mandatory. In India both offices work through email first: New Delhi assigns an appointment after receiving your scanned documents, and Mumbai assigns an appointment on email request, so the email is the way in, not the application itself. If you use a representative, expect the office to ask for the representative’s identity document plus a power of attorney that expressly authorises them to file the NIE application.
New Delhi NIE page · Mumbai NIE page
Does the consular NIE let me live or work in Spain?
No. A NIE issued through a consulate is an identification number: it is not valid to reside in Spain and does not accredit residence there. If you plan to settle in Spain, check the visa and residence requirements first — that route starts in Spain, not at the consulate. The consular NIE is useful precisely for the paperwork that a number unlocks: property, tax, vehicles, contracts and similar matters connected with Spain.
National Police — NIE assignment procedure
Who assigns the NIE, and how long does it take?
The number is assigned by the General Commissariat for Immigration and Borders, under Spain’s Directorate-General for the Police — not by the consulate, which cannot shorten processing. The NIE is sent to the applicant by email, so put a working notification address on the form. This guide does not confirm a processing time for either office in India: no figure was published in the material reviewed here, so treat any estimate you are given as unconfirmed.
National Police — NIE assignment procedure
Where do I get the EX-15 and how do I pay the fee?
Open the forms from your office’s NIE page: EX-15 for the application and Modelo 790, Código 012 for the fee. Payment differs by office. New Delhi takes payment at the Consular Section at the time of the appointment and points to its fees and payment methods page. Mumbai lists its 2025 fee as 877 rupees, payable by demand draft in favour of “Consulate General of Spain” or by UPI after scanning the QR code. Take the current figure from the office on the day you act.
New Delhi NIE page · Mumbai NIE page
Choose your next step
You can run the whole process yourself through the official channels above — it costs the official fee and, in most cases, one appointment in India. Recheck your office’s page on the day you act, because document lists, fees and email instructions change.
Prefer to prepare with E-Residence? Start an NIE enquiry and describe your purpose in one or two sentences. An enquiry does not replace the official procedure; it helps you arrive at it prepared.
For the full service picture, see NIE in Spain.
Editorial note: procedures, forms and local practice can change. Recheck the official links on the day you submit your application.
Official sources
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs — Spanish consular offices in India — the official district list used for the table above.
- New Delhi — Embassy Consular Section: NIE — scanned-document email route, appointment assignment and payment at the Section.
- Mumbai — Consulate General: NIE — email booking, the 2025 fee and the demand draft / UPI options.
- National Police — NIE assignment procedure — the national procedure behind the consular route.
Last checked: 30 September 2026.