Organization identity validation for a Spanish self-employed individual (autónomo) — which business identifier and documents?

Question

Organization identity validation for a Spanish self-employed individual (autónomo) — which business identifier and documents?

Domingo González Ruiz 20

I want to onboard to Azure Artifact Signing (Public Trust) as an organization

based in Spain (EU). I am a self-employed individual ("autónomo" / sole

proprietor, a natural person), not a registered company (S.L.). I therefore do

NOT have articles of incorporation or an entry in the Mercantile Registry

("Registro Mercantil").

What I do have:

A Spanish Tax ID (NIF).
A tax-authority business registration ("alta censal", form modelo 036/037) proving I am registered as a self-employed business with an economic activity.
I can obtain a free DUNS number if needed.

Questions:

For the Business Identifier, should I use the Tax ID field with ESP + my NIF (no separators), following the documented Swiss example (CHE104079670)? Or should I provide a DUNS number instead?
Which documents does the validation team accept as proof for a sole proprietor that has no incorporation documents? Is the "alta censal" (modelo 036/037) acceptable as the business registration evidence?
Is the EU sole-proprietor path supported? Individual onboarding is US/Canada only, but EU organizations are eligible — does a Spanish autónomo qualify under the organization path?

I want to confirm this before submitting, to avoid exhausting the 3 validation

attempts. Thank you.

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Answer 1

Hi Domingo González Ruiz,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A,

NIF or DUNS? The documentation does not prescribe a specific format per country beyond using a recognized business identifier. The Swiss example (CHE104079670) follows the ISO 6523 / GLEIF LEI-style country prefix + registration number pattern. For Spain, the cleanest and most commonly accepted approach is to use your DUNS number (formatted as DUNS + 9-digit number) since it is globally recognized by the Microsoft validation team and is verifiable in public directories. Your NIF alone may not be reliably resolvable in the third-party verification systems used during validation. Get your free DUNS at dnb.com/duns-number and use that as the Business Identifier.
The official documentation states:

When providing official business documents, such as business registration form, business charter, or articles of incorporation that list the company name and address.

Your alta censal (modelo 036/037) from the AEAT is a government-issued business registration document that lists your business activity, tax ID, and registered address. This is a valid equivalent to a business registration form for sole proprietors and should be acceptable. Pair it with:
- A copy of your NIF/DNI
- Your domain registration invoice (domain must match the website URL in your request)
Make sure all documents are issued within the last 12 months and have an expiry date at least 2 months in the future.
Yes. The documentation explicitly states:

For Public Trust certificates, Artifact Signing is currently available to organizations in the USA, Canada, the European Union, and the United Kingdom, as well as individual developers in the USA and Canada.

A Spanish autónomo operating as a legally registered business entity (with alta censal and NIF) qualifies under the Organization path in the EU. The key requirement is that you represent a legal business entity, which your alta censal registration satisfies. Use your legal trading name exactly as it appears on your AEAT registration documents. Before you submit, double-check:
- Organization name matches exactly what's on your alta censal
- Primary email domain matches your website URL
- All documents are recent (within 12 months)

References:

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