Reading official letters and notices

It is for anyone considering, planning or going through a move to Spain. By the end, you should be able to sort any official letter or electronic notice, read its deadline correctly and recognise the common letters from the tax agency, immigration, traffic, Social Security and town halls. It also covers electronic notifications, registered mail and burofax, and letters in Catalan, Basque or Galician.

Start with "What to do first when you get an official letter in Spanish". It walks you through finding the sender, the type of letter, the action required and the deadline. After that, go to the page for the sender or the situation that matches your letter.

Key rules

• Correction request: A request to correct or complete your file must usually be answered within 10 working days, or the application can be treated as withdrawn.
• Appeal windows: Against a decision you generally have 1 month to appeal to the same or a higher body and 2 months to go to court, counted from the day after notification.
• Unopened notices: An electronic notice you do not open within 10 calendar days counts as rejected, so it is treated as delivered and the deadlines start running.
• Counting deadlines: Deadlines in days are working days, which exclude Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, and they start counting the day after the notice takes effect.
• Traffic fine discount: You can pay a traffic fine with a 50% reduction within 20 calendar days of the day after notification, but paying means giving up the right to appeal in most cases.
• Driver identification: The vehicle owner must identify the driver within 20 calendar days of the request, and not doing so is a fine of 500 to 1,500 euros.

Reading official letters and notices: the whole process, step by step

• Work out who sent the letter, what kind it is and what it asks (What to do first when you get an official letter in Spanish): In the first hour after you get it

• Keep the envelope, receipt or electronic proof, and photograph everything; get help from a gestor, lawyer or social services if there is a fine, seizure or tax debt: On the same day

• Open electronic notices before they count as rejected (Electronic notifications you may be missing): Within 10 calendar days of the notice being made available

• Collect postal notices after the first slip is left (Registered mail and post office collection slips): Within the holding period shown on the slip; refusing a letter still counts as delivery

• Count the deadline correctly (How deadlines in Spanish letters really work): Starts the day after the notice takes effect; deadlines in days are working days

• Answer a request to correct or complete your immigration file (Reading a letter from the immigration office): Within 10 working days, or the application can be treated as withdrawn

• Answer a tax agency request or file your comments (Reading a letter from the tax agency): Usually within 10 working days, or as the letter states

• Pay a traffic fine at the 50% reduction, or identify the driver (Reading a traffic fine and driver identification request): Within 20 calendar days of the day after notification

• Answer Social Security, SEPE or town hall demands (Reading letters from Social Security and your town hall): Usually 10 working days for requests; debt demands and benefit decisions carry their own periods

• File an appeal against a decision and keep the filing receipt (Making sense of Spanish government websites): 1 month to appeal to the same or a higher body, or 2 months to go to court, from the day after notification

• Pay or challenge a tax enforcement order before seizure of accounts or wages (Reading a letter from the tax agency): Payment is due by the 20th of the month if notified between the 1st and 15th, or by the 5th of the next month if notified from the 16th

Documents you may need

Payments and receipts

• The envelope and the acknowledgment of receipt for a paper letter — What to do first when you get an official letter in Spanish
• The filing receipt — Making sense of Spanish government websites (sede electrónica)
• Acknowledgement of receipt — Registered mail (burofax) and post office collection slips

Other documents

• The letter itself — What to do first when you get an official letter in Spanish, When an official letter arrives in Catalan, Basque or Galician
• Certificate of the text sent — Registered mail (burofax) and post office collection slips
• The missing or corrected documents listed in the requerimiento de subsanación — Reading a letter from the immigration office (extranjería)
• Proof that you submitted your reply — Reading a letter from the immigration office (extranjería)
• A written request — When an official letter arrives in Catalan, Basque or Galician
• A copy or photo of everything you received — What to do first when you get an official letter in Spanish
• An electronic certificate — Electronic notifications (notificaciones electrónicas) you may be missing
• Your DNI electrónico — Electronic notifications (notificaciones electrónicas) you may be missing

Reading official letters and notices: questions that cross several articles

What must an official notice tell me so that it is valid?

A valid notice must give the full text of the decision, say whether other appeals are still open, and name the appeals available, the body to file with and the deadline. See What to do first when you get an official letter in Spanish.

Who has to receive official notices electronically?

Companies, other legal entities, professionals who must belong to a professional association and their representatives must deal with the administration electronically. Individuals can choose, though self-employed people are often obliged by tax and Social Security rules. See Electronic notifications you may be missing.

Which day does my deadline start if I never open an electronic notice?

Your deadline starts the day after the notice counts as rejected, which is after 10 calendar days unopened. The count then runs in working days, skipping weekends and holidays. Read Electronic notifications you may be missing and How deadlines in Spanish letters really work.

Which receipt proves I filed something online on time?

The automatic receipt from the electronic registry proves your filing, showing the date, time and documents sent. A confirmation on screen is not enough, so save the receipt. A filing on a non-working day counts as made on the next working day. See Making sense of Spanish government websites.

What does each type of letter ask me to do?

A request to correct your file asks for documents, a hearing invites your comments, and a decision tells you what to comply with or appeal. An enforcement order, such as a tax one, means you must pay or appeal in the period stated.