Arrival checklist

Your first week in Spain: paperwork setup for new residents

A practical first-week checklist: address registration, digital access, health, banking, transport, and documents.

Use these guides when you need a plain-English starting point before choosing the city page, official portal, calculator, or Ask Guiri workflow that matches your situation.

Quick answer

A practical first-week checklist: address registration, digital access, health, banking, transport, and documents.

Who this is for

Arrival checklist

Documents to have ready

  • Find your city hall padrón procedure.
  • Book or prepare your padrón appointment if required.
  • Start Cl@ve or digital certificate setup.

Where to start

Mi Carpeta Ciudadana

Timing

Take clean scans of your passport, visa page if relevant, entry stamp, rental contract, booking confirmation, insurance certificate, school or work documents, and any official appointment emails. Most Spanish procedures fail because one supporting document is missing or outdated.

Common mistake

This is a setup map, not an eligibility decision. If your stay status, work permission, tax residence, family regrouping, or appeal deadline is involved, get qualified help before filing.

Check the source before you act

Use this page to prepare the file for first week setup, then confirm current forms, appointment categories, fees, and account instructions on the official source listed here.

  • Save receipts, confirmations, registry numbers, and downloaded PDFs.
  • Use Ask Guiri when the next step depends on your own document, address, status, deadline, or portal error.

Day 1-2: capture your evidence

Take clean scans of your passport, visa page if relevant, entry stamp, rental contract, booking confirmation, insurance certificate, school or work documents, and any official appointment emails. Most Spanish procedures fail because one supporting document is missing or outdated.

Day 2-4: start address and identity setup

Your padrón registration connects you to local services. Digital access connects you to national services. You do not need every tool immediately, but you should know which city hall and which national portal you will use.

  • Find your city hall padrón procedure.
  • Book or prepare your padrón appointment if required.
  • Start Cl@ve or digital certificate setup.
  • Save the TIE, AEAT, and DGT appointment portals.

Day 4-7: local life setup

Add health-service access, transport cards, banking, utilities, school steps if relevant, and phone number changes. Keep screenshots or PDFs of every submission and appointment.

Do not turn the checklist into legal advice

This is a setup map, not an eligibility decision. If your stay status, work permission, tax residence, family regrouping, or appeal deadline is involved, get qualified help before filing.

Keep going

More low-risk guides.

These pages cover setup and navigation. They do not make tax, legal, or residency eligibility decisions.

Digital decision guide

Cl@ve vs certificate: Spain survival guide

A practical comparison of Cl@ve and an FNMT certificate: what each does, why services set their own accepted method, and where AutoFirma fits.

Read guide: Cl@ve vs certificate
Digital decision guide

Cl@ve vs certificate: Spain survival guide

A practical comparison of Cl@ve and an FNMT certificate: what each does, why services set their own accepted method, and where AutoFirma fits.

Read guide: Cl@ve vs certificate
Identity decision guide

NIE vs TIE: Spain survival guide

A clear comparison of Spain’s NIE number and TIE card for immigrants: what each one is, what it proves, and which document a procedure may be asking for.

Read guide: NIE vs TIE
Home setup

Rent and utilities: Spain survival guide

A setup guide for contracts, deposits, bills, padrón proof, utilities, internet, and records.

Read guide: Rent and utilities
Municipal decision guide

Padrón vs certificate: Spain survival guide

A source-backed guide to padrón registration, certificados and volantes — and how to match the proof to the exact request from the receiving body.

Read guide: Padrón vs certificate