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How to get a Social Security Number in Spain (NUSS)

The Social Insurance Number (NSS) is requested by Import@ss online or by form TA.1 at Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social, and if you are hired by a company, it will issue the number.

Information material, not individual legal opinion: Prepared using IE; checked by a subject matter specialist before publication has not yet been completed; conditions apply to a particular situation and may change.
Short
  • NUSS …the card is issued by the healthcare system of the region and uses your number <x id="5… [1].
  • Number matches the number of the appliment (NAF): NUSS becomes NAF when you first start working to enter the system [1][2].
  • You can request Import@ss with identification via Cl@ve, SMS, DNIe or certificate. Without them, online application requires document (DNI, NIE or passport), email, photo camera and form TA.1 [2].
  • On paper, a signed TA.1 application is submitted to TGSS at the place of residence, together with a foreign card or passport. [3].
  • If you're a hired worker and no number, the employer asks for it. [2][3].

What is NUSS, and what is it for?

NUSS (Número de la Seguridad Social Insurance Number) is a personal identifier in the Seguridad Social System, which is needed to formalize the Alta as an employee or employer, receive benefits and pensions, and the health system of your autonomous community uses it to produce Tarjeta Sanitaria [2].

This is the same number as the NAF: when a person first starts an activity leading to a system, NUSS becomes NAF. [1][3]No extension is required: it is unique and permanent [1]. Tarjeta sanitaria and NUSS are different things: the card is issued by the health care system of the region and uses your number, but the number itself does not serve as a number. [2].

How do you get NUSS online through Import@ss?

Online number requested at Import@ss: this is a portal and an application of Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social (TGSS) available from sede electronica [1][2]The procedure depends on whether you have a way of identifying.

  1. I got an I.D. Enter via Cl@ve Permanente or Cl@ve Móvil, SMS, DNIe or certificate [2]In the appendix, click "Solicitar NUSS", enter personal data, contacts and home address; the system will assign a number and give a document confirming it [1].
  2. No identification. You can apply online to Import@ss without it. You need a document (DNI, NIE or passport), an e-mail address, a camera camera device and a completed form TA.1 [2].

Once the number is assigned, it is issued with a resolucion, which can be printed out. [2]How to obtain Cl@ve is described in the article on Means of identificationIf you already have a number, you can look at it in Import@ss or in a sheet, a contract of employment and a vida laboral certificate. [2].

How do you get NUSS on TA.1 paper?

The application for form TA.1 ("Socitud de número de la Seguriidad Social y variación de datos") is submitted to Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social or to Administration at the complainant's address. TGSS, in the description of the procedure, refers to the set: form TA.1, signed by the applicant, and the identity document: DNI, the alien card or passport. [3].

The maximum time limit for decision on the application is 45 days. [3]How to sign up for Seguridad Social, the details and order of the recording were not checked: specify on the TGSS website.

Who asks for a number if you're employed?

If you're hired by a company and no number, the employer asks for it himself. [3]The same order is described in Revista Seguridad Social: the company is the company that makes the number when it is hired. [2].

In other cases, e.g. self-employment or in advance of the number, the individual's application is available via Import@ss [2]The UGE permit for a digital nomad indicates that the teletrabajador must be registered with the Seguridad Social: an employee at Régien General, provided that the foreign company is registered as a non-resident and self-employed with RETA [4]For Autonomous Workers, FAQ mentioned that the PAE and CIRCE are quick to formalize the Alta [4]. More details in the article about social insurance on DNV.

What depends on your case?

What way you can do it depends on your status and access to identification. If you have not yet been granted a residence permit, you can only have a passport, and the order of an online application with a photograph will have to be checked at Import@ss. If you apply for a residence permit, the moment when an alta is needed at Seguriidad Social is determined by the permit: in certain categories of TIE, the application will be processed after the album. Please specify from the lawyer or the gendarme.

The first steps after approval, including the alta and the health card, are collected in the article First 30 days after DNV approvalB. The difference between number and affiliation in more detail in the article What is a social security number (NSS)The procedure for receiving DNV is described in DNV route sheetgeneral overview on the page Residence permit in Barcelona.

Frequent issues

How do you get your social security number?
Enter Import@ss after identification and look at the number in the private office or in the section "Acreditación del Número de la Seguridad Social", where you can download PDF confirmation [2]The number is also shown in the calculation sheet, the employment contract and the vida legal certificate [2].
Can you get NUSS without a digital certificate?
Yes. Import@ss can apply online without Cl@ve and certificate: document (DNI, NIE or passport), email, camera device and form TA.1 [2]. A paper application on the form TA.1 is accepted by TGSS at the place of residence [3].
How long do you want the social security number?
45 days ’ maximum time limit for decision on application, after which it is considered satisfactory [3]Import@ss is assigned to the document release system [1], but we have not found a specific period for applicants without identification, so lay the reserve.
Should NUSS be extended or changed when the job changes?
No. NUSS is one and permanent, no extension requires and is accompanying you all your working life. [1]In the first job, it becomes an association number (NAF): it is the same number that remains when the employer, region or regime changes. [1][2].
NUSS and Tarjeta Sanitaria: Is this the same document?
Tarjeta Sanitaria issues the health care system to your autonomous community, and it uses the number of the association to claim the right to help, but it does not itself serve as the Seguridad Social. [2]These are two different documents and receive them under different procedures.

Based on source

  1. Revista Seguridad Social · Guía para la solicitud y consulta del NUSS (22.04.2026) ↗
  2. Revista Seguridad Social · Cómo obtener el Número de la Seguridad Social (Importass, TA.1) ↗
  3. Seguridad Social · Procedimiento de obtención del Número de Seguridad Social ↗
  4. Ministry de Inclusion · UGE: frequent questions on teletrabajadores (paras. 6, 8, 9)

Sources are viewed on 02.10.2026. Consolidated texts and departmental reference pages are informative: legal application takes into account official publications, changes and specific circumstances. Material has not been personally checked by counsel.

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