Thanks to my old friends at aduanas de correos, I am now in posession of a NIF.

For what it is worth, I am a US citizen and have residencia via a student visa, and no work permit. I was not aware that you could do this in my situation and was somewhat incredulous that it would work out, but it did.

I'm posting it so someone else who has a similar situation in the future might find this.

I ordered some musical equipment on the web from the USA a few weeks ago, and it was snagged by customs. To avoid the trip out to Barajas, I called and faxed the documents they requested. They were:

1. El aviso de llegada de envío postal internacional y hoja complementaria.

2. Copy of my residency card

3. Copy of bill for the merchandise

4. Copy of credit card statement showing the charge paid.

Next they emailed me the "Presupuesto" detailing the charges (duty, IVA, fees). I paid it at my local BBVA bank.

I was waiting for it to be delivered as they said it would. After a couple of days they call me back and say there is a problem, because my NIE (numero de extrajero) didn't show up in the system of tributos. They couldn't account for the payment I had made unless I was in the system. (Something like this, I'm still a little unclear). To make a long story short, I could either sign over the merchandise to someone else, or try to get myself listed with the tax people (darme de alta en el censo tributario como contribuyente).

I elected to try to get on the tax list, or at least to attempt that first, since I might need to have a real NIF for other purposes...

Anyway, after calling around I found out where the office for the centro/madrid was:

Ministerio de Economía y Hacienda
calle montalbán 6
(<M> banco de españa)

I filled out the form "Modelo 030," gave them a copy of my residency card, and that was it. The place was very organized and efficient, with different "take a number" systems and different windows/tables areas depending on the various services. Wait time was about 30-40 minutes.

They also gave me a printout of the sticky labels ("etiquetas") that th customs folks said I should ask for. What do people use these for? Does anyone know? Guess I will find out someday.

I hope that this riveting story has served at least some small purpose, and that it inspires guiris who are interested in further entangling themselves in the Spanish bureacractic system.

Saludos,
Christian