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Residence in Spain – documents and fee for EU citizens

December 22, 2022

Last modified on: December 6, 2024

Table of Contents

The list of documents and fee for EU citizens is available in an official page that pops while you are booking the appointment. So in order to get to the documents page, will start as if we were booking an appointment, which is done online, at the ‘Sede Electrónica‘ or the Spanish Administration’s website.

Sede electrónica

To do so, access the Spanish administration’s website (the same one we used to get the NIE), choose the province where you live and press Aceptar (to accept).

Then, under all the informative grey boxes, leave cualquier oficina as is (so you can choose the place later from those that are available), ignore the next blue line and and choose the service “Policía-certificado de registro de ciudadano de la U.E.”, (Police – certificate of registration of an EU citizen) as shown in the picture below.

documents and fee for EU citizens residence in Spain

Press Aceptar (to accept). The following page will pop:

This is the documents page for the residence request. Certificado de registro (registration certificate) will (eventually) link to the form EX-18 that needs to de filled; the one on the middle, certificado permanente is for people that already have done this procedure 5 years ago and are getting the definitive permit, so it doesn’t concern us now; the last link, which reads Modelo de tasa 790 código 12 is the fee form. We will se the first and the last one. Open them both in new tabs.

Certificado de registro – the documents list

The first link, certificado de registro links to the page of the immigration portal that informs about registration / residence of EU citizens. This page has been changing often in appearance, but not in content, so even if it doesn’t look quite like on the pictures shown below, you probably will be able to find the content. One thing that didn’t change is that it is unfortunately in Spanish only, even if you choose English as your language 🙁 . If you don’t have a program that translates everything to English yet, it would be a good time to install one, because this page has the requisites and necessary documentation to get the certificate.

Click on Documentación exigible (required documentation). The page that appear should contain a link that reads

Impreso de solicitud en modelo oficial (EX-18) por duplicado, debidamente cumplimentado y firmado por el ciudadano de la Unión.

That is translated to something like “Request in official form model (EX-18) in two copies, filled and signed by the EU citizen”. Ironically, when you click on the link it will NOT give you the form EX-18!! It will get you to this other Spanish only page:

Scroll down to find the Modelo EX18. As of October 2024, this is the look of the form:

documents and fee for EU citizens residence in Spain - form EX18

Fill it according to your specific situation; if this is your first residence permit, you’ll probably need to ask for residencia temporal (temporary residence) as the permanent residence requires 5 years living in Spain before request. Don’t forget that you’ll need to present (and therefore, print) two copies of it, as per police request. Pro TIP: print two more blank copies of pages 1 and 2 and take them with you on Residence day just in case you filled something wrong.

Modelo de tasa 790, codigo 12 – the fee form

Now let’s check the fee page. It is the other link, Modelo de tasa 790, codigo 12 that popped while you were “booking” the Residence appointment. It will redirect you to this address: https://sede.policia.gob.es/Tasa790_012/ImpresoRellenar. This happens to be the same form you filled online for the NIE, the only difference will be your choice of service.

Fill your data in the beginning of the form and choose Certificado de registro de residente comunitario o Tarjeta de residencia de familiar de un ciudadano de la Unión as shown in the picture below. It will then automatically assign the corresponding value of this service in the lower area of the form. Mark also the option for en efectivo under forma de pago. There will be a captcha and when you are ready, press “descargar impreso rellenado”. It will generate a form that you should save and print.

You should them take this printed form to the bank and pay it, all before your appointment day. Be aware, if you didn’t read the NIE documents post, that some banks are tricky and only accept payments from their own clients; others accept non-clients payments only on specific days of the week, so don’t let this payment for the last day. Pay (or start trying to pay) as soon as you get the printed form.

Other documents needed

On top of that, you’ll also need to take with you your passport and a copy of the identification page (the page in your passport that has your picture), your NIE paper and the document(s) that prove your situation in Spain according to the list below:

If you are employed in Spain, you may provide any one of the following documents:
– Employer’s hiring statement or employment certificate, including, at least, data on the name and address of the company, tax identification and contribution account code.
– Employment contract registered with the Public Employment Service, or communication of the contract and its conditions through the CONTRAT@ platform.
– Document of registration or status assimilated to registration in the corresponding Social Security regime or consent to the verification of the data in the files of the General Treasury of Social Security.

If you are a self-employed worker, you may provide any one of the following documents:
– Registration in the Census of Economic Activities.
– Proof of its establishment through Registration in the Commercial Registry.
– Document of registration or status assimilated to registration in the corresponding Social Security regime, or consent to verify the data in the files of the General Treasury of Social Security or the Tax Agency.

If you do not carry out work activity in Spain, you must provide both the following documents:
– Documentation proving that you have public or private health insurance, contracted in Spain or in another country, provided that it provides coverage in Spain during your period of residence equivalent to that provided by the national health system. Pensioners meet this condition by providing certification of having health care at the expense of the State from which they receive a pension.
– Documentation that proves that one has sufficient resources for oneself and family members for the period of residence in Spain. It may be accredited by any means of proof admitted by law, such as property titles, certified checks, supporting documentation for obtaining capital income or credit cards with bank certification that proves the amount available as credit on the aforementioned card.

If you are a student, you must provide:
– Enrollment in a public or private educational center, recognized or financed by the competent educational administration.
– Documentation proving that you have public or private health insurance. You may provide a European health card with a validity that covers the period of residence and entitles you to receive the health benefits necessary from a medical point of view, taking into account the nature of the benefits and the expected duration.
– Responsible declaration that you have sufficient resources for yourself and your family members for your period of residence in Spain.
The presentation of documentation proving participation in a European Union program that favors educational exchange for students and teachers will be considered sufficient to meet these requirements.

Each of the above is a translatio of what is described on the certificado de registro (registration certificate) page that we have seen before. Check there the details of what is required to prove each situation; if the request seems to complicated to obtain, then it is time to hire a gestor (we did it).

Once you have all the documentation sorted out, you can go back and book your appointment. I’m glad to tell you that your residence permit will be provided on the very same day of the appointment, so you’ll not need to book another time to get it. Since you are an EU citizen, your residence permit will be a green card that looks a lot like the one below:

documents and fee for EU citizens residence in Spain - the Spanish green card — A cute, Spanish green card.

This is a residence permit and is often referred to as ‘green NIE’ or ‘green card’ because well, that is a fit description. It is made of soft green paper and does not have a picture of the person being identified. It has name, date of birth, NIE, nationality, address and the date when one started being a resident.

As this is a document that states your NIE, from now on when someone asks for your NIE this is the document they have in mind. It is fragile and the police doesn’t allow it to be plasticized, so don’t let it sitting in your wallet when you go to the beach. Take a picture of it and keep it in your phone, but leave the fragile green card at home unless you know you gonna need to show it on some institution. It is only valid when you also show your passport or EU identity card. Sorry that your card is so fragile, the one for non-Europeans (called TIE) is much better. Just saying!