Hi all,
I'm currently completing my 140hr TEFL course which I hope to have finished soon (fingers crossed) I want to work in Southern Spain in particular Andalucia, Almeria, Alicante and Valencia. I speak fluent Spanish as I have worked in Spain before and did years and years ago teach English to children to Torre Pacheco, Murcia. I also have a NIE and social security number. I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice/recommendations on any of the above areas to work. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks

Nikki

Hi Nikki,
Quick question. I am coming over to Spain in September to teach for a year or so and was wondering if you knew if you could apply for a NIE and social security number before arriving there? I have dual citizenship for Australia and Spain so I wasn't sure if you needed an Spanish address first?

Thanks
Ryan

When I applied for mine I had to give an address in all cases, although I didn't have Spanish citizenship.  Do you have any friends or family in Spain that would let you use their address?  Getting your social security number is easy anyway, you just present yourself in any relevant office with your passport and a couple of photocopies and pretty quickly you'll have your number.  That part took me about 10 minutes.  They won't make photocopies for you in the office, you have to take them with you.

You should apply for an appointment for your NIE asap, although I think in smaller towns you can get one the same day if you queue for a bit.  When I first came here people told me that I had to go to a police station and apply for my NIE and in fact the net is full of contradictory information, mainly because, I think, they changed the rules last year.  

The thing is that you also need empadronamiento - everyone is supposed to do this, even illegal immigrants can have this certificate, but it is important.  It's pretty easy to get but you must prove your address.  If you have the tennancy you can do it all yourself but if you are sharing or sub-letting then the person who has the contract must sign the form and provide a copy of their DNI.  Depending on the circumstances, you may also need to provide a bill in the name of one of the people who has empadronamiento at this address.  Recently I did this for myself and my flatmate - you may be able to get someone else to go into the office and obtain it for you as long as you have signed the form, which you can download here:

https://sede.madrid.es  - gestiones y tramites - padron y otros documentos personales - alta (under this click padron municipal - alta y modification......)

then on the right hand side of the page under 'impresos' you will find a downloadable pdf file.  I tried to copy the link but for some reason I can't paste it.

However, you may be in luck because on this page it says that you can apply for your NIE from a different country by going to the Spanish embassy or consulate: www.euroresidentes.com

although it is aimed at Europeans, so the question is how Spanish is dual nationality?  I suggest you contact your local emabassy or consulate and ask them.  I should imagine that you have the right to apply just as much as another European.  It says at the bottom of the page that you need to go personally for this, so I don't think anyone can do it for you.  Then you could get empadronado when you arrive.  You should be able to work with your SS number and NIE.  In fact, if you decide to do it all when you arrive you can work with a certificate you can download called 'justficante de cita' which proves that you have an appointment for the NIE - I did, anyway.

I had to pay about 10€ for my NIE, this involved going into the office before the appointment to collect all the forms, paying in any bank and getting a receipt, then taking everything into the office.  It's a bit of a pain if you aren't forewarned of this procedure.  Hopefully in your country there will be English speakers to help you!  

@AlixM09 Thanks for this, very useful information! I'm also moving to Seville in September after passing my CELTA in April. at the moment I have little experience and, although I am applying as much as possible, I have a feeling I will have to wait till I'm over there so I can go into schools face to face. I have a friend who I am planning on getting a flat with (he is already over there) if getting NIE is a quick job though I will wait till my first week and go straight into a bank. I have an British passport, the only thing I wanted to ask people is about getting Spanish bank accounts? Do you have to give information for job and your NIE number?

I was able to open a non residents account with Lloyds international without a NIE and they did want proof of profession, but I just gave them my TFL certificate,although this turned out to be a crap account!  When I got my NIE they changed it to a residents account, but it was still crap, so I've just opened  cuenta nomina (an account designed to have your wages paid into it) with ING internet bank after it was recommended to me, but you still need a NIE and you can't use your card until your company pays your first wages.  They do offer savings accounts and 'cuenta sin nomina' too, which are supposed to be good.  Otherwise, you'll have to check them out, but be careful as some banks are currently being nationalised after going down due to the crisis, like Bankia and possibly Santander.  Anyway, what they say on the website may not always be rigidly applied, you'd have to go in and ask, after all, I'm sure they'd rather have your money than not!