EU Registration Certificate in Madrid: The Green NIE

If you're an EU citizen moving to Madrid, you don't need a visa. You do need to register. Stay longer than three months and Spanish law expects you to sign up with the police, who hand you a green certificate with your NIE on it. People call it the green NIE, the green certificate or simply "the residencia". Its official name is the certificado de registro de ciudadano de la Unión. This guide covers who needs it, the EX-18 form, what to bring for your situation, where it's issued in Madrid, and what the certificate does and doesn't do for you.

A quick word before we start. Fees and office arrangements change, and Madrid's offices don't always ask for exactly the same papers, so treat this as a map and check the current details before your appointment. It isn't legal advice. If your situation has a twist, like a non-EU partner or income that's hard to prove, talk to a professional before you book.

What the green certificate is, and what it isn't

The certificate proves you're registered in Spain's Central Register of Foreigners (the Registro Central de Extranjeros) as an EU resident. The law lists what goes on it: your name, nationality, address, NIE and the date you registered. That's it. There's no photo, and it isn't a card.

Three things people mix up:

• It's not the NIE itself. The NIE (número de identidad de extranjero) is your foreigner's number. The certificate carries it. If you already got an NIE, say to buy a flat, the same number goes on your certificate, because an NIE is personal and stays with you. Our NIE guide for Madrid covers the number on its own.
• It's not an ID document. You'll still show your passport or national ID card wherever ID is needed. The certificate travels alongside it as proof of residence.
• It's not a tax status. Registering doesn't decide whether you're tax resident in Spain. That depends on separate rules, mainly how many days you spend here and where your main economic interests are.

The law doesn't give the certificate a renewal date, the way it does for residence cards. It stays valid while you keep meeting the conditions you registered under. If you change address, civil status or nationality, you're expected to tell the police office.

Who has to register

The rules come from Spain's royal decree on EU free movement, which puts an EU directive into Spanish law. They cover citizens of every EU country, of the three other EEA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and of Switzerland. If you're staying under three months, your passport or national ID card is all you need. Plan to stay longer and you have to register, in person, within three months of entering Spain.

To register, you need to fit one of these situations:

• You're employed in Spain. A Spanish job contract is the simplest route.
• You're self-employed in Spain. You've registered your activity as an autónomo or set up a business here.
• You're not working here, but you can support yourself. You need enough money for you and your family, plus health insurance that covers you fully in Spain. Retirees and people living on savings usually register this way.
• You're a student. You're enrolled at a recognised school, college or university, with health insurance and enough to live on.
• You're the family member of someone who qualifies. That covers a spouse, a registered partner, children under 21 or older ones who depend on you, and dependent parents.

If your situation doesn't fit neatly, say you work remotely for a company abroad, get advice on which route to use before you book. Every EU citizen in the family registers separately, children included. And losing a job doesn't automatically cost you the right to stay. The law lets you keep your worker status in some situations, such as a temporary illness or involuntary unemployment once you've registered with the public employment service.

What to bring, route by route

Everyone needs the same core papers. Bring originals plus a photocopy of each, in a folder:

• Form EX-18, filled in and signed. Bring two copies.
• Your passport or national ID card, valid and in date. If it has expired, bring a copy of it and proof that you've applied to renew it.
• The fee form, the tasa 790 código 012, already paid.
• Your appointment confirmation, printed.
• Your padrón certificate. It isn't in the law's list, but Madrid applicants are often asked for it as proof of address, so it's worth bringing a recent one.

Then add the papers for your route.

If you're employed. A declaration of hiring from your employer, or a certificate of employment. It should show the company's name and address, its tax ID and its Social Security account code (the código cuenta de cotización). A registered employment contract or proof of your Social Security registration also works. Or you can consent to the office checking Social Security's records itself, instead of bringing these.

If you're self-employed. Proof that you're working for yourself. That can be your registration on the tax office's census of business activities, an entry in the Registro Mercantil (the companies register), or your Social Security registration as an autónomo.

If you're not working in Spain. Two things:

• Health insurance. It can be public or private, taken out in Spain or abroad, but it has to give you cover in Spain equivalent to the Spanish public health system. A short-term travel policy is unlikely to meet that bar. Pensioners can instead show a certificate that the country paying their pension covers their healthcare, such as an S1 form.
• Proof of sufficient resources. Bank certificates, property deeds, proof of pension or investment income, or a credit card with a bank letter showing the credit available. There's no fixed amount in the law. Each case is assessed individually, taking your family into account. The official benchmark is income above the level that would entitle someone to a non-contributory state benefit, which is updated each year.

If you're a student. Proof that you're enrolled at a recognised public or private school, college or university. Health insurance that covers you fully in Spain, although a European Health Insurance Card valid for your whole stay is accepted. And a signed declaration that you have enough money for yourself and any family with you. If you're here on an EU exchange programme like Erasmus, that alone counts as meeting these conditions.

If you're joining an EU family member. Your own EX-18 and ID, proof of the family link (a marriage or birth certificate, for example) and proof that your relative meets one of the conditions above. Children over 21 and parents also need proof that they depend on the EU citizen.

Foreign documents catch a lot of people out. The official guidance says they should be translated into Spanish by a sworn translator (traductor jurado), and public documents may need an apostille or legalisation. EU standard forms, like the S1, don't need translating. Order these early, because they take time.

The fee: tasa 790 código 012

The fee is paid on the police's tasa 790 código 012 form. When we checked, the line for this procedure ("Certificado de registro de residente comunitario", shared with some residence cards) was €12. By law it's set to match what Spaniards pay for their national ID card, so it moves when that does.

You fill the form in online on the Policía Nacional's website, print it and pay at a bank. The police say you don't need an account at that bank. Keep the stamped copy for your appointment. Make sure your name matches your passport exactly, and that you've ticked the line for the EU certificate rather than another procedure.

Booking the appointment in Madrid

Appointments (cita previa) are booked on the government's online extranjería appointment system, on sede.administracionespublicas.gob.es. Choose the province of Madrid, then the police procedure for the EU registration certificate. Look for "certificado de registro de ciudadano de la U.E." in the list, although the exact menu wording changes from time to time. Don't pick the plain NIE option by mistake. That's a different procedure, for people who need a number but aren't settling here.

You don't choose the office. The system offers the ones with free slots, and you go to whichever is on your confirmation. The Delegación del Gobierno en Madrid (the central government's office for the region) lists these offices, although arrangements can change.

• In the city: the citizen service of the police's Brigada Provincial de Extranjería y Fronteras on Avenida de Padre Piquer 18, which handles EU registration certificates.
• Around the region: local police stations that do the same documentation work, in Alcalá de Henares, Alcobendas, Alcorcón, Aranjuez, Coslada, Fuenlabrada, Getafe, Leganés, Móstoles, Parla, Pozuelo and Torrejón.

The big police complex on Avenida de los Poblados is where many other foreigner procedures happen, like TIE cards. So read your confirmation carefully and go where it sends you. Madrid appointments can be hard to find, and you won't always get one near home. Our NIE Madrid guide has honest tips for finding a slot, and they apply here too.

On the day

Arrive a little early with your folder of originals and copies. The officer checks your papers against your route. If everything's in order, the certificate is issued there and then. Before you leave, check that your name, nationality and address are spelled correctly.

If something's missing, the rules let the office give you ten days to provide it. Ask the officer exactly what's missing and how to hand it in. If it doesn't arrive in time, your application is treated as withdrawn and you'll need a new appointment. If you're refused, the decision has to be in writing and give the reasons. You can then appeal, either back to the same office within a month or to the courts within two months. That's the point to bring in a lawyer.

Non-EU family members: a card, not a certificate

If your spouse, partner, child or parent isn't an EU citizen, they don't get the green certificate. They apply for a residence card instead, the tarjeta de residencia de familiar de ciudadano de la Unión, on form EX-19. The basics:

• Who qualifies. The same close family as above, and in some cases other relatives who depended on you or lived with you before the move. A partner you're not registered with can qualify too, if you can prove a lasting relationship.
• When and how. In person, within three months of arriving. They get a receipt straight away (the resguardo), which proves they're in Spain legally while the card is processed.
• What they bring. Their passport, proof of the family link (translated and legalised where needed), your green certificate, proof of dependency where it applies, and a recent colour passport-size photo on a white background.
• How long it lasts. The card should be issued within three months of applying, and it's valid for five years, or for your planned stay if that's shorter.
• Where in Madrid. First applications go through the Oficina de Extranjería run by the Delegación del Gobierno. It books these appointments through its own request form, sent by email. Fingerprints for the card are taken later at a police office.

One wrinkle if your partner is Spanish. If the Spanish partner hasn't used their EU free movement rights, for example by living in another EU country first, the family member applies under a different route. That route has its own form, the EX-24. This is exactly the kind of case where an immigration lawyer earns their fee.

Five years on: permanent residence

After five years of continuous legal residence in Spain, you have the right to permanent residence. From then on, you no longer need to show work, savings or health cover to stay. You can ask the police for a certificate of permanent residence, using the same offices. Some workers qualify sooner, for instance on retirement after working here, or after a permanent incapacity.

Permanent residence can be lost too. Being away from Spain for more than two years in a row ends it. Non-EU family members get a permanent residence card, which is renewed every ten years.

What Brexit changed for UK citizens

UK citizens are no longer EU citizens, so the green certificate isn't open to Britons moving to Madrid now. They need a visa or residence permit route, like the non-lucrative or digital nomad visas in our guide to Spanish visa costs. The exception is the UK spouse or family member of an EU citizen, who can apply for the family member card described above.

If you're British and lived in Spain before the Brexit transition period ended, your rights come from the Withdrawal Agreement. Some people from that group still hold an old green certificate. The UK government says the TIE card is the only residence document listed in the agreement, and both governments strongly recommend swapping the green certificate for a TIE. The UK government's "Living in Spain" guidance covers how.

The padrón: a related but separate step

The certificate registers you with the police. The padrón (empadronamiento) registers you with the city council at your address. They're separate, and you'll want both. You'll need the padrón for your health card, school places and plenty more. Because the police often ask for it as proof of address, many people sort the padrón first. Our guide to empadronamiento in Madrid explains how, and our first 90 days in Spain checklist puts every step in order.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Booking the wrong procedure. A plain NIE appointment won't get you a green certificate.
• Leaving it too late. The three-month window starts when you enter Spain, and Madrid appointments can take a while to find.
• Bringing a travel policy as health insurance. If you're not working here, you need full cover in Spain.
• Paying the wrong line on the 790 form. Check the line says it's for the EU registration certificate before you pay.
• Untranslated family documents. Marriage and birth certificates usually need a sworn translation and, often, an apostille.
• Treating the certificate as ID. Keep your passport or national ID card with you.
• Moving flat and not telling anyone. Your address is on the certificate, so update it with the police and the padrón.

How Locallista helps

Registering as an EU citizen is one of the easier Spanish procedures on paper. The hard parts are finding an appointment, getting the papers exactly right in a language you may not read yet, and knowing what to do if the officer says no. That's where a local professional who speaks English makes the day much calmer.

We're a directory of English-speaking local service providers. Every business is screened before it's listed, reviews are phone-verified, and the ranking reflects real expat experience, not who paid the most. It's free to browse and free to get in touch. For help with the paperwork and the appointment, look at our English-speaking bureaucratic services in Madrid. If your case is more complex, like a non-EU spouse, a Spanish partner, a refusal or a Brexit-era residence question, look at our English-speaking immigration lawyers in Madrid.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need the EU registration certificate if I'm only staying a few months?

Not if your stay is under three months. Your passport or national ID card is enough for that. Once you plan to stay longer, you have three months from arriving to apply, in person, at a police office in Madrid.

How long does it take to get the green certificate in Madrid?

The certificate itself is issued at your appointment, once the officer has checked your papers. The wait is for the appointment, which can take a while to find in Madrid. Start looking as soon as your papers are ready, so you stay inside the three-month window.

Is the green certificate the same thing as the NIE?

Not quite. The NIE is your foreigner's number. The green certificate is proof that you're registered as an EU resident, and your NIE is printed on it. If you already had an NIE, it's the same number, because the NIE is personal and doesn't change.

Can I use the green certificate as ID?

No. It has no photo and it isn't an identity document. Carry your passport or national ID card. Keep the certificate with it for when you need to show you're registered, for example at a bank, with an employer or at the health centre.

Can a gestor or lawyer apply for me?

They can prepare your papers, check them and help you find an appointment, but the law says the application has to be made in person. You need to go to the appointment yourself, with your originals.

Does the green certificate expire?

The law doesn't set a renewal date for it, unlike a residence card. It stays valid while you keep meeting the conditions you registered under. You do have to tell the police if you change address, civil status or nationality. After five years you can ask for a permanent residence certificate.

My spouse isn't an EU citizen. Can they get a green certificate too?

No. Non-EU family members of an EU citizen get a residence card instead, the tarjeta de residencia de familiar de ciudadano de la Unión, using form EX-19. They also apply in person within three months of arriving, and they need your certificate as part of their file.

I'm British. Can I still get the green certificate?

Not as a new arrival. UK citizens are no longer EU citizens, so they need a visa or residence permit route instead. If you lived in Spain before the Brexit transition period ended, your rights come from the Withdrawal Agreement, and the residence document for that is the TIE card.