Degiro asking For DNI

Hi Guys

So registered with DeGiro and during the authentication process i was asked about my DNI Number. That is a Document that People in Spain have. Since i was born in Switzerland having a Spanish Citizenship i don’t have that Document.

So i called up those Degiro Guys and they told me i need to make that Document in order to get my Account validated. That doesn’t make much sense to me so i told the Guy and he said to Call the Helpline in Spain. I did not call to Spain but came here to ask if someone heard of this yet.

Thanks for the Help

Did you set your (fiscal) residency to Spain instead of Switzerland? And why?
I don’t get why would they ask you for it otherwise.
At least I don’t recall there was any requirement on (tax) documents related to citizenship/nationality when I was doing my registration.

Did you set your (fiscal) residency to Spain instead of Switzerland?

Nope i triple checked that. They ask me for my residency address so i type in my address in Switzerland. Then they ask for the City and Country i was born. There i put in Basel and Switzerland. Next Question is if i have a Passport for another Country that is in the EU so i say no since i’m only Spanish. Then that stupid Question of the DNI comes.

I don’t get why would they ask you for it otherwise

Well your absolutely right. There is no need of my DNI Number since i have nothing in Spain. I tried to explain that to the Guy in Austria that picked up my Call and he kept going that i need DNI. When i told him that DNI means “Documento National de Identification” and highlighted the word National he told me to call the Guys in Spain.

At least I don’t recall there was any requirement on (tax) documents related to citizenship/nationality when I was doing my registration.

Of Course not. Anything i Pay is here not in Spain. never lived there and never paid no taxes there. Makes no sense at all.

Thanks for your Input

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Ok, I see you still have the same problem…

They are asking your DNI because is like the AVS in Switzerland. It’s used all around as unique identifier. It’s used, like the AVS, for taxes matters, police identifications, etc.

It’s know popularly in Spain as DNI but officially it’s the NIF (Numero Identificación Fiscal)

I remember that I gave to IB because they asked. When I put my Swiss address they asked where was my tax country and I told them Switzerland.

I told the guy, (also by telephone) that I didn’t have any problem if they insist in register my DNI as tax payer since I clearly told them that I was living in Switzerland, paying taxes in Switzerland, working in Switzerland and I didn’t have anything to see with Spain for more than 20 years.

In some point I let them know that would be their KYC fault if they register my DNI as tax number…and… magically they changed to my AVS :wink:

Go Generador de datos para pruebas generate a random NIF and give to them :wink: They will ask for your AVS once they remark that you are living in Switzerland.

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I am with InteractiveBrokers and they also asked me for my Italian Fiscal Number, despite never having worked or payed taxes in Italy.

So I guess it’s some regulatory thing that they just have to do. Unfortunately it seems quite annoying to get one…

In a pinch I would use that Gerenator from above to generate the control digit of your Passport id, and just give them that. E.g. the Id number if your passport should be in the format A9999999900. Ignore the A and the 00 at the end, and use that (+ the generated control digit) as your NIF.

Do. Not. Call. their first-level call center. This is not DeGiro-specific, but applies to other financial service providers as well. First level they‘ll usually be going by their script only in such circumstances. Even if they knew better, they might be prohibited from telling you otherwise. In any case, they aren‘t likely to have or find an answer on the spot.

Instead craft a very brief message in text and carefully explain the conundrum to make sure it gets forwarded to someone in Compliance who knows their shit. You don‘t have a DNI. Why you don’t have it and need it. That and how it’s only distributed to Spanish residents (which you haven’t been). That you want to provide appropriate data.

Also, what‘s up with you guys suggesting to use a generated number? You can‘t be serious, are you?

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It’s know popularly in Spain as DNI but officially it’s the NIF (Numero Identificación Fiscal)

Thing is that i never was a resident in Spain so i dont have a Fiscal number either.

Go Generador de datos para pruebas generate a random NIF and give to them :wink: They will ask for your AVS once they remark that you are living in Switzerland.

i will check that out thank you

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In a pinch I would use that Generator from above to generate the control digit of your Passport id, and just give them that. E.g. the Id number if your passport should be in the format A9999999900. Ignore the A and the 00 at the end, and use that (+ the generated control digit) as your NIF.

On my passport i got a Number on the top RIGHT with a format like AAA000000

and underneath another with format AA111111111111

and i need a NIF right ?

Go Generador de datos para pruebas generate a random NIF and give to them

That did the Job. Perfect. Thanks allot.

I know, is the Spanish method :joy:

Don’t worry… after more than 20 years here I’m more swiss than the swiss born here :wink: Normally I don’t cheat, specially with taxes and/or Swiss authorities …

It’s just for start the application and later you change. I did because they (the computer system) didn’t accept anything except my DNI/NIF because my nationality was Spanish.

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I know, is the Spanish method

Yeah you have to be “de pura cepa” to understand :joy:

Funny thing is after i put in the generated NIF they asked for the tax residency and my AHV Number. :smile:

I told you!!! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

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I’d still don’t recommend using generated numbers (unless explicitly instructed to do so).
Purposely providing not wrong - but made up - data to a financial services provider where you invest your money? What are you gonna tell them, if they do a compliance review on your account? “No, I just made one up using an online generator?!”

I would recommend against it. And I wouldn’t be surprised if it lead to further problems down the line.
Speaking of which…

As far as I understand, this would be not even a correctly formatted number for PillePalle. Because it’s a resident Spanish NIF. Whereas PillePalle stated he has never has been a resident of Spain.

Spain seems to use a (subtly) different numbering scheme for non-residents, where the NIF starts with an “L” (see here).

Thing is, you could have easily applied for one from the Spanish authorities.

By following the advice from this thread, you might now have indicated a NIF for resident Spaniards - while at the same time claiming you’ve never lived there.

Does it matter and will anyone find out?
Well, you’ll most likely be getting away with it.
Especially if nothing else is wrong with you and your account. Maybe DeGiro was overzealous and isn’t going to use or report with this number anyways. Maybe there isn’t any substantial difference between resident NIFs and non-resident NIFs (however, why otherwise would they make such an obvious distinction in the number format?). I don’t know. That’s all just from my five minutes of quick research online.

But it illustrates the point: You might have - unwillingly - thrown out a clue that there is something wrong.

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Thing is, you could have easily applied for one from the Spanish authorities.

you obviously never had to deal with Spanish authorities. :joy: Also why apply for something i will never use unless i am a resident in Spain? Makes no sense.

Spain seems to use a (subtly) different numbering scheme for non-residents, where the NIF starts with an “L”

I checked that document but is not shown where that number should be on a passport and i don’t any kind of L n my Passport.

Well we see now what happens. Case is still open an someone is looking into it.

Well… you might use it to open a brokerage account, couldn’t you? :wink:

As I understand it (though I am not Spanish), it’s assigned on request - not supposed to be in your passport.

As I said, you probably don’t have to worry in your particular case.
I’m absolutely of “taking shortcuts” in life. In some cases. I just wouldn’t do it by given straight-up fictitious (made up) identifying data to a financial services provider (at least not if I intend to keep any substantial amount with them).

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Hi ,Could you registered in DEGIRO? Im having a similar issue I only own spanish passport but I living in Ireland. What number of nif did you use? thanks!

It surprises me that you don’t have the ID card of your only citizenship, so I guess it does too for DeGiro, and they don’t want anything dodgy due to regulation.

Instead of fighting DeGiro, it will probably be much easier to go to the Spanish consulate and get it. Don’t you need to carry an ID in Switzerland? The passport and that piece of paper they call a permit are not very practical…

Or you can always try with Interactive Brokers, that is better IMO, you will get to those 100K with some effort sooner that you expect. I’m not 100% sure but I think my EU ID was not required.

No, because the ID cards are only issued in Spain. You can only get a passport at the consulate…

Not really. That would also be the fiscal number for a Spanish citizen living abroad with a valid ID card. The ID stays the same unless the passport number.