Spanish NIE Statistics 2026: Certificate Registration Counters and Madrid Application Waiting Times
Description
Supporting datasets for the company-funded research report by Kay Ventouris, How to Be a Digital Nomad LLC: National assignment rate and time to assignment of the Spanish NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero) in 2026: a retrospective analysis of 159 certificates with projections for 2027 (Edition 1, 12 September 2026). Original study, methods and report: https://howtobeadigitalnomad.com/spain-nie-statistics/ Original report DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.22729954. CGEF_registration_numbers-1.csv contains certificate dates and the final six digits of certificate registration counters in 161 rows across 35 dates, as released with the report. NIE_waiting_times_dataset.csv contains application dates, certificate dates and elapsed calendar/working days for 141 applications through a single legal representative route in Madrid. The data cutoff is 9 September 2026. The report estimates assignment rates using registration counters and reports a median waiting time of 10 calendar days in the studied cohort. National estimates depend on the assumption that the counters reflect national NIE assignments; they are not official government totals. Waiting-time results describe this specific Madrid route and must not be generalized to all applicants, consulates or Spain as a whole. Annual 2026 totals and 2027 figures in the report are projections. The publishing company provides NIE services and funded the work. This is an author-deposited supporting dataset; independent peer review is not established. The CSVs reproduce the study’s publicly shared data, with no names or complete NIE identifiers. Cite the original study and retain its methodological limitations when reusing the data.
Files
Steps to reproduce
Use the methods and limitations in the original report: https://howtobeadigitalnomad.com/spain-nie-statistics/ (DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22729954). Read the CSV dates in YYYY-MM-DD format. Use CGEF_registration_numbers-1.csv to examine certificate date and registration-counter progression; reproduce period-specific assignment-rate estimates only under the report’s stated counter interpretation and working-day conventions. Use NIE_waiting_times_dataset.csv to summarize the provided calendar_days and working_days for the Madrid representative-route cohort. These variables measure application-to-certificate time, not a national appointment-wait estimate. Consult the report for exclusions, period definitions, counter assumptions and projection calculations. The two CSV files are reproduced without alteration from the publicly released study materials. This deposit adds no new observations or validation of national coverage.