EU citizen registration

Key facts

When registration becomes mandatory

Short stays need nothing: an ID card or passport covers any visit up to three months. The obligation starts with over three months residence: RD 240/2007, art. 7, requires EU citizens who will reside in Spain longer than that to request registration "personalmente" — in person — within a plazo de tres meses counted from the date of entry.

In practice you book a cita previa at the Oficina de Extranjería or designated police station for your province, bring form EX-18, your passport or ID card, proof that you meet one of the conditions below, and the €12.00 fee paid on the tasa form. The registration certificate "will be issued immediately" once the file is in order — there is no weeks-long wait for production, because there is no card to produce.

Green certificate vs white NIE certificate

The two documents are confused constantly — by new arrivals and by bank clerks alike:

The white certificate only assigns the number — a non-resident buying a holiday home holds exactly that. The green certificate is a residence document: it records your entry in the Registro Central de Extranjeros and the date your residence began, which later becomes your evidence for permanent residence. If you registered, you hold both facts in one paper; if you only ever got a white certificate, you have a NIE but no registered residence.

The certificate itself is a green piece of paper — issued in credit-card size (older ones are A4) — with no photo. It states no expiry date.

The means-of-subsistence conditions

Registration is not automatic; art. 7 of RD 240/2007 lists the conditions, and you must fit one of them:

• Workers — employed or self-employed in Spain: proof of the employment or self-employment is enough; no income minimum applies.
• Non-workers — pensioners, remote workers for foreign firms, people living on savings: you must hold sufficient resources "para no convertirse en una carga para la asistencia social" (not to become a burden on social assistance) plus health insurance covering all risks in Spain.
• Students — enrolment at an accredited centre, full health cover, and a declaration of sufficient means.

Note what the decree says about the amount: no fixed figure may be imposed — the administration must assess each applicant’s personal situation. Any site quoting a single universal "minimum income for EU registration" is inventing precision the law explicitly rules out.

What EU citizens do NOT need

• ✗ No visa — not the non-lucrative visa, not the digital nomad visa. Those exist for non-EU nationals; an EU citizen working remotely simply registers.
• ✗ No TIE card. The TIE residence card is the document for non-EU residents; EU citizens are not issued one. The green certificate is the residence document — non-EU family members of EU citizens are the exception, with their own card under RD 240/2007.
• ✗ No renewal cycle. The certificate states no expiry date; there is nothing to renew on a schedule.

⚠ Scams to avoid

• ✗ TIE appointments sold to EU citizens. Services happily book (and bill) TIE citas for people who cannot receive a TIE at all. If you hold an EU passport, the card does not apply to you.
• ✗ "Green certificate renewal" offers. The certificate has no expiry date. Paid "renewals" sell you a procedure that does not exist; you only re-register if your details change.
• ✗ Paid "guaranteed" citas. Appointment slots are free; the only official cost of registration is the €12.00 fee. Resellers monetise the queue — they cannot create slots.