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What is my Spanish Support Number and how can I find it?

If you're carrying out official processes online in Spain you may be asked for your Support Number or "Número de Soporte". What is this number for and where can you find it on your Spanish residency document?

Published: 8 November 2021 17:14 CET
Updated: 28 April 2024 14:43 CEST
Spanish Support Number
Why do you need a Support Number and where can you find it? Photo: StartupStockPhotos / Pixabay

As most foreigners in Spain are well aware of, Spanish bureaucracy in Spain can be pretty complicated and confusing.

When it comes to carrying out official processes online, your NIE (Foreigner Identity Number) can help you to access certain government websites, often with the help of other means of identification such as your Cl@ve PIN and your Digital Certificate. 

But one of the extra numbers that foreigners get asked for to gain access or carry out actions on these official sites is the Support Number or Número de Soporte. 

READ ALSO: 25 official matters you can do online in Spain

What is my Support Number used for?

Your Support Number is a type of ID number that you’ll need to type into the Spanish Tax Agency or other government websites in order to carry out a procedure online.

They will need this number in order to validate your identity, and more often than not foreigners will get the message on screen “Introduzca soporte válido” (write correct support number) when they get this number wrong.

In most cases, it’s Spain’s tax agency – la Agencia Tributaria–  which requires this support number for processes such as presenting your tax documents, paying fees and fines and requesting appointments.

You may also need to log on in order to see messages that the Tax Agency has left for you.  

As of April 7th, you have also been able to present your income tax corresponding to 2020. 

Screen on Spain’s tax agency website where you’ll need to enter your Support Number. Source: Agencia Tributaria

Where can I find my Support Number?  

Your Support Number can be found on your identity document, such as TIE or green residency certificate, but the location of it will depend on which type of document you have.  

How to find your support number on your TIE or residence permit 

If you are from outside of the EU you will receive a TIE or residence permit in order to be formally registered in Spain. This is your foreigners’ Spanish ID card. It contains your personal data, photo and type of authorisation to live in Spain.

Usually, the number you will need on your card is your NIE, which begins with X or Y. 

Your support number however is different. This is the number found in the top right-hand corner. It consists of 8 digits and starts with the letter ‘E’. 

Highlighted in red is where you can find your Support Number on your TIE.
 

READ ALSO – Reader question: Does Spain’s TIE residency card always have an expiry date?

Green residency certificate

For those of you that have the credit card-sized green residency document for EU citizens, you will find your support number on the back of the document in the bottom right-hand corner.

Here’s where you can find your Support Number on your small green residency certificate. Source: Agencia Tributaria

When you introduce your support number online from your residency card, it will need to be preceded by the letter ‘C’. If your number has less than 8 digits, you will also need to put a ‘0’ in front of the number. For example, if the support number on your card is 8254321, then you will enter C08254321.

For those with the older A4-sized green residency sheets, the support number is in the top right corner.

On Spain's A4 green residency document for EU citizens, the support number is in the top right corner.
On Spain’s A4 green residency document for EU citizens, the support number is in the top right corner.

If you have the older A4 residency document featuring your NIE, then your support number will be found in the top right-hand corner and be filled out the same way with a ‘C’ in front.

Some foreigners in Spain have reported that they’ve had problems using their support number after being issued a new residency document.

This could be because, unlike the NIE number which remains the same forever, the support number does change. 

According to Hacienda’s tech support team AEAT, the best thing to do in such case is to fill in a form to explain the problem that is occurring.  

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EXPLAINED: How Spain’s new Social Security app works

Whether you're self-employed, an artist, a student or a domestic worker, Spain's new social security app aims to simplify and streamline bureaucratic processes you might need to do when it comes to managing your working life and pension.

Published: 17 September 2024 11:04 CEST
EXPLAINED: How Spain's new Social Security app works

Spain’s Social Security Ministry has launched a new free mobile app aimed at simplifying and synchronising tax, pension and working life procedures, allowing you to better access records and update information.

The app is specifically aimed at easing the bureaucratic burden on the self-employed, domestic workers, artists and young people studying or doing work experience.

Spain’s Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, presented the app this week, stating that it represents “a great step forward for citizens to have a closer and more fluid relationship with Social Security.

Through this application, personal data can be updated and verified; detailed information on contribution bases can be accessed and your Work Life report can be easily downloaded, among many other services.”

In Spain, your ‘Working Life report’ is known as el informe de vida laboral. According to the Social Security website, it is “a document that contains information on all the periods contributed by the worker to the Spanish Social Security system.” In other words, all the information on your entire employment history in Spain.

READ ALSO: How to check how long you have left to get a pension in Spain

The app essentially moves over the various processes usually done on the Social Security portal or in Spain’s social security offices so users can receive a more personalised service including tailored alerts and the ability to download documents to their mobile phones in offline mode.

It also allows users to easily check the details of their working life including for who and for how long they’ve worked somewhere, the type of contract they have, the working day or the relevant collective bargaining agreement, as well as information on contribution bases and how much they are owed in the event of sick leave and for calculating your pension.

How do I access and use the app?

First you’ll need to download the app from the Google Play or Apple App store. Once you’ve downloaded it to your phone, there are three ways to log-in in and register:

  • Permanent Cl@ve
  • Digital certificate (Android only)
  • SMS

READ ALSO:

Once registered and logged in, push notifications can be turned on as well as a biometric access — either fingerprint or facial recognition.

Once this has been done, you can access your personal information, whether it be working or pension matters, and all the normal procedures you’d previously do via the portal can be carried out and all this information can be downloaded in files.

What can you do with the app?

As mentioned earlier, the new app basically aims to streamline the processes you’d normally do via the Social Security Ministry portal or in person.

This includes checking your social security number or requesting one, consulting your tax contribution bases and employment history, updating your personal details, or managing tasks for the self-employed, domestic workers artists or young people doing work experience, such as registering or deregistering as economically active and downloading supporting documents.

READ ALSO: How to de-register as self-employed in Spain

Focus on young people, freelancers, artists and domestic employment

The application offers four different profiles to use the app: self-employed, domestic employment (for both employees and employers), artists and trainees.

The autónomo profile allows you to access all the information and procedures available if you are registered or are about to start self-employment, including registration and de-registration, modifying your contribution base, consulting tax receipts, and estimating your contributions according to your income, among other things.

In the domestic employment section, whether you yourself work domestically or are going to hire someone to work at home, you can consult all the necessary information such as calculating the contributions to be paid, registering and de-registering, updating the salary information and the working hours of the employee, or consulting payslips issued.

READ ALSO: The rules for hiring a domestic worker in Spain

For artists, you can manage your inactivity, request a refund of income from contribution bases or deregister from the working artists’ register.

For students doing internships or work experience (alumnos en prácticas in Spanish) the app is useful for both those about to start their internships and for those who’ve already started them, with access to their personal profile, a guide to resolve doubts, information to find out about the benefits of pensions contributions and they can carry out procedures such as requesting the social security number, downloading the Work Life Report and consulting contribution bases.

READ ALSO: How self-employed workers in Spain can get a better pension

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