EU nationals or those from the EEA and Switzerland are free to come and live and work in Spain when they want, but they must still register for residency to be completely legal here.

You will need to apply for this card if you intend to live in Spain for longer than three months and must start the application process before your first three months are up.

What is the EU green residency card?

It’s commonly referred to by many as an NIE card, because it features your NIE, Número de Identidad de Extranjero or Foreign Identity Number, but it is in fact a residency card, not just your NIE.

The card will also contain details such as your name, nationality, address and date of registration. It doesn’t, however, feature a photo like the TIE card for non-EU citizens, so can’t be used as an ID card as well.

Even though EU nationals can come and live in Spain under the Freedom of Movement Act, they must still have a reason for wanting to apply for residency, which you must prove when applying for your EU green card. These reasons are:

– Having been offered a job

– Wanting to become self-employed in Spain

– Having sufficient savings to support yourself and your family, as well as private health insurance.

– Be enrolled as a student in a public or private institution – in order to do this you must also have sufficient savings to support yourself and private healthcare.

– Be an EU national coming to join a family member who is also an EU national. This includes spouses or registered unmarried partners, dependent children under 21 or other dependent relatives that can’t live on their own or support themselves. This dependence must arise in the country of origin.

Step 1: Register with social security

Follow our handy guide on how to register with Spain’s social security system. If you are not working in Spain because you’re a student or you don’t have a job yet and are planning on showing savings to support yourself here, you don’t have to do this step.

Step 2: Apply for an appointment online

To get your application processed you’ll need to visit your local police station, but to do this, you can’t just turn up, you need to get what’s known as a cita previa or prior appointment.

Be aware, these appointments are notoriously difficult to get and you may have to try many times before you find one available. This means you should apply as soon as possible, don’t wait for the three months to be up.

Some companies charge you a fee for getting you an appointment, but this is only adding to the problem and isn’t really necessary, so if possible, keep trying yourself.

READ ALSO: How to get a ‘cita previa’ (appointment) in Spain when it seems impossible

To do this you need to go to the following government site and select the province you live in and then click on ‘Aceptar’ or Accept.

You can then select your town or city from the drop-down menu on the next page.

Scroll down and from the next drop-down menu click on ‘POLICIA- CERTIFICADO DE REGISTRO DE CIUDADANO DE LA UE’.

At the bottom of the next page, click on ‘Entrar’ or Enter. As you won’t have been given your NIE number yet, you’ll need to click on ‘Passaporte’ or Passport and enter that number, plus your first and last names, then click on ‘Aceptar‘ Accept.

You should then be able to click on ‘Solicitar cita’  to ask for an appointment. Follow the instructions to find out when and where it will be. You will receive confirmation of your appointment by e-mail.

Step 3: Fill out the required forms

While you’re waiting for your appointment, you can fill out the necessary forms and collect all the official documents you’ll need. The main form you’ll need is the EX-18 form. It will ask you for all your personal details such as name, date of birth, parents’ names and your reason for wanting to come and live in Spain.

This will be under the Residencia Temporal section and you will choose either:

– Trabajador por cuenta ajena (employee)

– Trabajador por cuenta propia (self employed)

– No activo con recursos suficientes y seguro de enfermedad (not working but with suffient funds and private health insurance.

– Estudiante con recursos suficientes y seguro de enfermedad (student with sufficient funds and private health insurance)

– Nacional UE/EEE/Suiza, familiar de otro nacional incluido en los apartados anteriores – (An EU nation with a EU family member who has residency with one of the above options)

Once you have completed the form, you will need to fill out another form – 790 Code 012, which is the payment form to pay the associated fee. You can either go to a bank to do this or fill out your banking details so they can debit the amount from your account.

Be aware, that not all banks will allow you to do this and some will only allow you on specific days of the week, so it’s best to check with your bank first. This is usually €12.

Step 4: Collecting your documents

– Proof of appointment

– EX-18 application and a duplicate, completed and signed.

– Proof of payment of the fee.

– Valid passport or national identity document.

– Your padrón registration

READ ALSO – Padrón: How to register at your town hall in Spain

Depending on your reason for applying you will also need:

– A bank statement showing you have sufficient funds to support yourself. This amount may change depending on the region or even the police station, but generally, it is based on the IPREM. For 2023 this is €600 per month, so to show you have enough to support yourself for an entire year, it’s likely you need to show you have €7,200 in savings.

– Private health insurance. If you are coming to live Spain and are not working or are a student you will need to show you also have private health insurance. Be careful because not all insurers will be accepted and it has to be a policy with no co-payments.

– An acceptance letter from a registered school or university.

– A contract from your employer.

– Social security and autónomo registration if you want to be self-employed in Spain.

– Proof of connection to family members whom you a financially dependent on.

All official documents will need to be translated into Spanish by a professional and legalised such as showing the Hague Apostille stamp.

READ ALSO – Self-employed in Spain: What you should know about being ‘autónomo’

Step 6: Attending your appointment

At your in-person appointment, you will have to show all your documents and answer some basic questions about yourself. Be aware, that this will most likely be conducted in Spanish. If your Spanish is not yet good enough, you can take someone with you to help.

It’s important to take copies of all the forms and documents you have. It’s not uncommon for you to be denied on your first appointment because you don’t have all the necessary documents or you need to provide more proof.

If this is the case, your application will be paused until you can return with the necessary papers needed.

If successful, you should be given your green residency certificate then and there at your appointment.