First 30 days in Spain – the steps in order, from padrón and TIE to health card and bank
Last updated 25 September 2026Rules checked every MondayOfficial sourcesSources & methodology →
Your first 30 days in Spain decide how smoothly everything else goes. Some deadlines start the day you arrive, and a new immigration regulation has applied since 20 May 2025. Here is the order that works – padrón, NIE and TIE, Social Security, health card and bank.
If you are moving to Spain, your first 30 days run on a rulebook that changed recently. Since 20 May 2025, the new immigration regulation (Real Decreto 1155/2024) has governed most permits; in a judgment of 8 July 2026, published on 22 September 2026, the Supreme Court annulled parts of it. And since 10 April 2026, the EU's Entry/Exit System, which records non-EU short-stay travellers' fingerprints and face, has fully replaced passport stamping.
The order of your first month is much the same for everyone: an address, the padrón (municipal register), your NIE (foreigner identity number) and papers, then everything that depends on them.
Before you travel: do you need a visa for Spain?
Citizens of EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland enter with a national identity card or passport. Staying under three months, you need not register anywhere.
Everyone else needs the right document before departure. Visitors from visa-exempt countries may stay up to 90 days in any 180-day period, but you need a national (long-stay) visa to stay longer to work, study or live here – and for any work in Spain, even under 90 days. Your passport must be valid for at least three months after you plan to leave the Schengen area and have been issued within the previous ten years. Part 2 explains each visa.
Foreign documents used in immigration procedures must be translated into Spanish, or the region's co-official language, by a sworn translator and be legalised or carry an apostille, unless an international agreement exempts them. You normally hand in copies and show the originals.
Your first 30 days in Spain, step by step
No rule fixes this exact order, but it follows the deadlines and what each office asks for. Many later steps, from the health card to proving how long you have lived here, ask for your padrón, so register early.
| Step | What | Where | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Secure a home and proof that you live there | Landlord or seller | Before the padrón |
| 2 | Register on the padrón – free | Your ayuntamiento (town hall) | As soon as you live there |
| 3 | Non-EU: apply in person for your TIE (foreigner identity card) | Police, booked by cita previa (appointment) | Within one month of entry, or of your permit taking effect |
| 4 | EU/EEA/Swiss: registration certificate with your NIE, €12 | Oficina de Extranjería (foreigners' office) or police | Within three months of entry, if staying longer |
| 5 | Registration with Seguridad Social (social security) | Your employer; the self-employed register themselves | Before you start work |
| 6 | Health card | Your regional health service | Once the INSS recognises your right |
| 7 | Bank account, Cl@ve and digital certificate | A bank; registration offices | Cl@ve and certificate once you have a NIE |
Source: Policía Nacional, the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and the Punto de Acceso General, read 23 September 2026.
Week one: how do you register on the padrón?
Everyone who lives in Spain must register on the padrón of the municipality where they usually live. It is free and done at the ayuntamiento, which asks for identification and proof that you live at the address. The town hall has no power to check whether your residence in Spain is legal, so you can register before your papers are sorted. Part 3 goes city by city.
Rules vary locally. In the city of Madrid, registering in person needs a compulsory cita previa at a citizen office, bookable online, by chat or on 010 (914 800 010 from outside the city), and a rental contract used as proof must last at least six months and include the cadastral reference. In Valencia you can register a new address at the Oficina del Padrón without an appointment; in Barcelona, online, by phone or in person with an appointment.
For immigration procedures, appointments go through the government's central online service, Cita previa de extranjería.
When do you need the TIE or the EU certificate?
If you hold a visa or authorisation for more than six months, you must apply for your TIE in person within one month of entry, or of your authorisation taking effect. Workers apply within one month of being registered with Social Security. Digital nomads are the exception: the telework visa itself proves residence, and a TIE is optional.
Take Anna, who arrives in Valencia from Canada on a student visa for a two-year master's. Her stay is longer than six months, so she must apply for her TIE within one month of entering Spain – which means booking the cita previa in her first days.
EU, EEA and Swiss citizens staying longer than three months apply in person, within three months of entry, to be entered in the Central Register of Foreigners. The certificate is issued immediately, costs €12 and shows your name, nationality, address and NIE.
UK citizens resident before the end of 2020 should get the TIE for Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries: according to the Ministry of Inclusion, only that card exempts them from the Entry/Exit System's count of days. Other UK citizens are treated like any non-EU national.
Weeks two to four: Social Security, health card and a bank account
Your Social Security number (NUSS) identifies you for life, and you can request it online through Import@ss. If you arrive on a work visa, you must be registered with Social Security within three months of entry.
Foreign nationals living legally and habitually in Spain, who are not obliged to prove health cover by another route, have the right to publicly funded healthcare. The INSS (National Social Security Institute) recognises the right and your region issues the card. In the Comunidad de Madrid you apply at your assigned health centre with a valid TIE, a padrón document issued within the previous 90 days and the INSS entitlement document. In Catalonia you must be registered on the padrón of a Catalan municipality. Part 8 covers healthcare.
Every bank that offers payment accounts must also offer a basic payment account to anyone legally resident in the EU, including asylum seekers. It costs at most €3 a month, and a refusal must come in writing, with reasons, within 10 working days of your complete application.
Once you have a NIE, you can register for Cl@ve, the government's e-ID login, and apply for the free FNMT digital certificate; part 4 covers both. Buying a prepaid SIM also requires identification. In an emergency, call 112 – it is free and works even from a locked phone.
Which mistakes cost newcomers time?
| Trap | What the rule says | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Treating a consulate NIE as permission to live here | A NIE obtained through a consulate does not entitle you to live in Spain or prove residence | Get the visa or registration that fits you (part 2) |
| Letting the padrón lapse (non-EU) | Without long-term residence you renew every two years, or the town hall removes you without a hearing | Note the renewal date |
| Forgetting the Madrid health card | For foreigners it is valid only as long as the TIE or EU certificate | Update it at your health centre after each renewal |
| Expecting a quick renewal | In February 2025, the latest month published, renewals took about 96 days on average in Madrid province and 34 in Barcelona province | Apply as early as the rules allow |
Source: the Ministry of Inclusion, the Spanish Consulate General in London, the Punto de Acceso General and the Comunidad de Madrid, read 23 September 2026.
What to do now
| Step | What | When |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Check which visa or registration applies to you (part 2) | Before you book the move |
| 2 | Get sworn translations and apostilles of key documents | Before you travel |
| 3 | Secure an address with a contract that proves it | Your first days |
| 4 | Register on the padrón at the ayuntamiento | As soon as you live there |
| 5 | Book a cita previa and apply for your TIE (non-EU) or EU certificate | Within one month (TIE) or three months (EU certificate) of entry |
| 6 | Social Security, health card, bank account and Cl@ve | Weeks two to four |
Source: Policía Nacional and the Ministry of Inclusion, read 23 September 2026.
Official sources
The official pages this guide is based on, read 23 September 2026. Links open the authority’s own website.
- Consulado General de España en Londres – exteriores.gob.es · exteriores.gob.es
- Punto de Acceso General – administracion.gob.es · administracion.gob.es
- Policía Nacional – Sede electrónica (trámites de extranjería) · sede.policia.gob.es
- Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones – hoja informativa 12 · inclusion.gob.es
- Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE) – Real Decreto 1155/2024, art. 209.1 · boe.es
- Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones – hoja informativa 1 · inclusion.gob.es
- Consulado General de España en Londres – exteriores.gob.es · exteriores.gob.es
- Sede electrónica de las Administraciones Públicas (Ministerio de Política Territorial) · sede.administracionespublicas.gob.es
- Punto de Acceso General – administracion.gob.es · administracion.gob.es
- Ayuntamiento de Madrid – Sede electrónica · sede.madrid.es
- Punto de Acceso General – administracion.gob.es · administracion.gob.es
- Seguridad Social – Import@ss · portal.seg-social.gob.es
- Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE) – Ley 16/2003, art. 3 · boe.es
- Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE) – Real Decreto 576/2013, art. 3 · boe.es
- Comunidad de Madrid – comunidad.madrid · comunidad.madrid
- Banco de España – Portal del Cliente Bancario · clientebancario.bde.es
- Banco de España – Portal del Cliente Bancario · clientebancario.bde.es
- Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE) – Real Decreto-ley 19/2017, art. 4.2 · boe.es
- Banco de España – Portal del Cliente Bancario · clientebancario.bde.es
- Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE) – Ley 25/2007, disposición adicional única · boe.es
- Punto de Acceso General – administracion.gob.es · administracion.gob.es
- Punto de Acceso General – administracion.gob.es · administracion.gob.es
- Punto de Acceso General – administracion.gob.es · administracion.gob.es
Relocate in Europe provides general information, not legal or financial advice for your individual situation. Check with the authority named above before you act – rules change, and your case may differ.