Documentation for the issuance of the idCAT Certificate

What does a citizen need to obtain the idCAT?

To obtain the idCAT, according to Law 6/2020, of November 11, and the conditions of use of the service , you only need to:

• Be over 18 years old (you can apply from the day after turning 18)
• Have one of the following identification documents in a valid state (not expired):
  • ID card (from any of the Schengen area member countries ),
  • Passport
  • NIE (must have a photograph, if not, additional document must be provided)
• Have an email address

NOTES about identification documents:

• To issue the idCAT Certificate, only the identification documents listed in the previous list are accepted.
• Foreigners can prove their NIE number by providing the following documents:
  • TIE: in addition to the NIE, it has a photograph and, therefore, is used to issue the idCAT with this card. Please note that according to the applicable regulations, the validity of the TIE card is extended until the resolution of the extension request, provided that the renewal has been requested up to 90 days after its expiration and the corresponding resolution is pending ( Regulations for the development of the Organic Law on the rights and freedoms of foreigners in Spain ).
  • European Union citizen registration certificate: it is necessary to provide another official document with a photograph (for example passport or ID card from the country of origin).
• The administrations have their applications configured to allow electronic processing with certificates made with NIF and NIE; however, it is not common for them to allow access with certificates issued from a passport or DNI from other countries. The procedures that can be carried out independently of the accrediting document contained in the certificate are those that have nothing to do with the public administration, such as, for example, signing documents.

Identification document models:

	The DNI certifies the identity of the holder, as well as their Spanish nationality. From April 2, 2025 and in application of RD 255/2025 , the digital DNI will also be accepted as long as it is displayed in the official MiDNI application. More information at https://www.midni.gob.es/ . The obligation to accept it is not until April 2, 2026, as the public and private sectors have until then to prepare the measures to accept it. National identity documents from any of the countries that are members of the Schengen Agreement are also accepted . In the case of ID cards from other countries, a photocopy must be provided in addition to the original.
	The foreigner identity card (TIE) is a physical document that proves the legal residence of a foreigner in Spain. There may be two card models, pre-2020 and post-2020.
	European Union Citizen Registration Certificate Document that certifies the registration of citizens of the Union in the Central Register of Foreigners. This document must always be accompanied by a document with a photograph, ID card or Passport
	Passport is a personal identification document with international validity, which identifies its holder, issued by the authorities of a country.

In the event that a citizen provides an accrediting document that has an incomplete date of birth, this data must be written in the “Date of birth” field as it appears on the accrediting document. There are some documents (NIE's and DNI's from other countries) in which the date of birth appears without specifying the day and month of birth, and only the year appears. In these cases, instead of the day and month values, “X” appears (XX/XX/1965).

In order to be able to issue the idCAT certificate, the citizen must have reached the age of 18. Therefore, since the day and month of birth cannot be verified, for the purposes of counting the age of 18, it must be assumed that the date of birth was 01/01.

In the event that a person wishes to validate the idCAT with an ID card without a letter (the old ones), the citizen will be asked if they have the card on which the Ministry of the Interior reported the letter that corresponded to each number. In this case, a photocopy and certification of this Ministry card will be made and attached to the submission file.

If, on the contrary, the citizen does not have the card with the NIF letter, we will not be able to issue the certificate, since the document they have is a DNI, and not a NIF (which has letters).

It is not common, but it can happen that a foreign person does not have a surname, and only has the name on the accrediting document. In this case, the system is prepared to be able to issue the idCAT, although it gives a warning to avoid that it is an error, and the idCAT without surnames is not issued to a person who has them on their accrediting document. The cases in which an idCAT without surnames can be issued are when the accrediting document is a NIE, DNI from other countries or a passport, that is, if the document is a NIF, the person's two surnames must necessarily be indicated.