Registering with the town hall (empadronamiento), the NIE and the TIE in Spain

The padrón is an administrative register kept by every municipality with the names of its residents and their addresses, and registration in it is compulsory for everyone who lives in Spain, regardless of legal residence status.

• Registration does not give you legal residence, but it proves how long you have been present, and its certificate is used in many procedures such as applying for residence by roots (arraigo), registering children at school and getting a health card and social aid.
• The municipality's population is counted from it so its budget is determined.
• Some municipalities must renew the registration of non-EU foreigners every two years.
• And everyone has the right to register even without official housing, through registration at an association or shelter address.

Book an appointment (cita previa) via your town hall's website or by phone 010 or 060, since you may wait days or weeks in big cities.

• You need your passport or ID, proof of housing such as a rental contract, a bill or a title deed or an authorisation (autorización) from the homeowner with a copy of their ID if you live with them, and to fill in the registration form (hoja padronal) provided by the town hall.
• To register children the family book or birth certificate may be requested.
• Your data is usually recorded at once and a certificate is handed over or sent later.
• Check the town hall's exact list, since lists differ.
• And if you have a housing problem ask social services about inclusion at a social services address.

The NIE is a personal number given to a foreigner for life that begins with the letter X, Y or Z, and is needed for almost any financial, legal or tax transaction.

• You obtain it from the foreigners office (Oficina de Extranjería) or the competent national police station after booking an appointment via the sede electrónica, filling in form EX-15, paying a fee (modelo 790 código 012) and presenting your passport and the reason for needing the number, such as a work contract or purchase contract.
• You are issued a certificate with the number.
• EU citizens need the EU citizen registration certificate (certificado de registro) which includes an NIE.
• Do not pay intermediaries who promise to get the number faster, and make sure the appointment is official.

If you obtain a residence permit for more than six months you must apply for the foreigner identity card (TIE) within thirty days of the grant, by booking an appointment at the police station to take fingerprints and photo and pay the fee (modelo 790 código 012).

• The card includes the NIE, your photo, the type and duration of residence and whether it allows work.
• Carry a copy of it always, and the original when needed.
• When changing address inform the new town hall through your new registration, which passes on the notice, and inform the foreigners office if needed.
• Submit the renewal application within the sixty days before expiry or at most ninety after.
• Do not let your card expire without applying, and report its loss at once to the police.

Some landlords may refuse to let you register at the address on the pretext of taxes or fear of establishing tenant rights, which is mostly illegal since the landlord cannot prevent you from registering at your home, but in practice it is hard for you.

• Ask for an explicit clause about it in the contract, and turn to the town hall or a tenants' association if refused.
• If the appointment is unavailable check every morning early for new slots or ask about registering without appointment at branch offices.
• Sometimes applications are refused for a missing document, so check the list.
• And do not wait to get the certificate, since it is required in every procedure.
• And do not write names in different Latin spellings on documents, since they must match the passport.

What is empadronamiento?