British Citizens to Legalize Passport Cover on NIE Number Application

19th of March 2009

A few days ago we were informed at the police station that an internal letter has been distributed which states that, from now on, when applying for a NIE number, British citizens must provide a legalized copy of the passport cover along with the page in which the personal details are shown. We were rather curious on why such a requirement was being imposed, as a passport cover provides, at first sight, little or no information. After doing some research we have discovered the reason: the authorities want to know whether the applicant is a citizen of Jersey, Guernsey or Isle of Man. Apparently, these Crown dependencies issue a passport which is very similar to the one issued at the United Kingdom, except for the fact the words "European Union" are not present on the cover.

british-passport

Later, we've learnt that instead of the cover, the authorities prefer to have a copy of the first page, which together with the information shown on the cover, it also provides the passport number.

636px-british-passport

As mentioned on the FAQ, the NIE application requirements for EU and non-EU citizens are different. The latter are required to provide some proof on the reasons why they are requesting the NIE number (a private purchase contract, a rental contract, etc).