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Spain · Relocation guide

Your first 90 days in Spain

The first 90 days are about protecting legal deadlines while building a consistent address and identity record. Not every task applies to every resident.

Content updated 11 September 2026. Individual source-check dates are listed below.

Days 1 to 7: preserve evidence and verify the home

Save entry and travel evidence, confirm the visa or grant details and identify the TIE deadline. Do not surrender originals except where the procedure requires it.

At handover verify authority, signed contract, inventory, keys and meters. Learn the local padrón evidence list, emergency number and nearest health facility. Keep insurance active.

Days 8 to 30: build the official identity chain

Complete the padrón and request the TIE if the route requires one. Appointment scarcity does not make an NIE a residence card, so retain proof of timely booking or action.

Confirm the basis for healthcare and start the regional card process. For workers, coordinate the real start date with employer and Social Security steps. Prepare banking with identity, address, tax-residence and source-of-funds documents.

Days 31 to 60: stabilise tax, bills and family life

Start the tax review early: record days, homes, family location and economic interests. If a special inbound-worker regime may apply, check the actual conditions and deadline now.

Move salary, rent and direct debits only after testing the account. Confirm utility holder names and meter readings. Complete school placement and local pet registration requirements where applicable.

Days 61 to 90: close gaps before they become deadlines

Check TIE delivery, health card, employer reporting and address consistency. Verify which foreign licence rule applies and begin an exchange or Spanish testing plan well before the right to drive ends.

Create a renewal file with the original approval criteria, ongoing evidence, travel log and expiry calendar. Do not wait until renewal to discover that work, insurance or residence conditions were misunderstood.

Tasks that are conditional

S1 registration applies only to people entitled to that coordination route; private insurance remains relevant for routes requiring it. School, pet, vehicle import, self-employment and special tax filings apply only to the corresponding facts.

If an office gives advice inconsistent with your grant or an official page, ask for the rule or written instruction and keep a record.

Your moving checklist

Tick off the tasks that apply to you. The timing is a planning order, not a substitute for the deadlines on your permission or an official instruction.

0 of 11 tasks completed

Before you move
On arrival
Your first month
Later and before renewal

Sources and checks

The linked authorities set the rules. VisaAtlas explains how the steps fit together; planning suggestions are not a decision on your immigration status, tax residence or entitlement to services.

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