All questions and answers

What is Move Spain?

Move Spain is an online relocation paperwork service for people moving to Spain. You answer plain questions about your move, and we work out which Spanish procedures apply to you, prepare the official forms with your details, tell you which supporting documents to bring, and keep everything in one place while your move progresses.

It is a private service, not a government office. We prepare and guide, the Spanish authorities decide.

Who is Move Spain for?

People and families with EU or EEA citizenship who are moving to Spain, or buying or renting a home there. If you are moving with a partner, children or parents, one household covers all of you.

We do not currently support non-EU routes such as visas or the TIE residence card, because those follow a different procedure.

What problem does it solve?

Spanish relocation paperwork is spread across different authorities, each with its own form, fee and appointment. Most people lose time finding out what applies to them, and then lose more time because one document was missing or one form field was wrong.

Move Spain replaces that with one guided route: what applies to you, what to provide, what it costs, and what happens next.

Does Move Spain submit my application to the government?

No. We prepare your official forms and check your documents, and you complete the official step yourself, in person where the authority requires it. Government decisions, identity checks and official registrations stay with the Spanish authorities.

We tell you exactly where to go, what to bring and in which order.

Can Move Spain fill in the official forms for me?

Yes. Forms such as the EX-15 (NIE application) and the Modelo 790 payment slip are filled with the details you already gave us. You review the prepared form, sign it digitally, and download the completed PDF once your Move Spain service payment is complete.

Preparing a form is not the same as completing the procedure. The form is what you take to the authority.

Will I receive the completed official forms?

Yes. After you approve a prepared form and your service payment is complete, the finished PDF is available in your dashboard to download and print for the relevant procedure. Your signature is placed in the correct box on the official layout, and you can see where it will land before you sign.

What is an NIE?

Your Spanish Foreigner Identification Number (Número de Identidad de Extranjero) is a personal number used for almost every administrative, financial and legal act in Spain: signing a rental or purchase contract, opening a bank account, starting work.

It is a number on a certificate, not a residence permit and not an identity card. The official application form is the EX-15.

Do I need an NIE to live in Spain?

In practice, yes. You need it as soon as you sign anything financial or legal in Spain, which for most people happens before or immediately after arriving.

If you are staying long term, the authorities also expect EU citizens to register as residents, which is a separate step with its own form.

What is the difference between the NIE and the TIE?

The NIE is a number. The TIE is a physical foreigner identity card issued to non-EU citizens.

As an EU or EEA citizen you receive a certificate carrying your NIE number rather than a TIE card. Move Spain supports the EU route.

What is the difference between the NIE, EU registration and the padrón?

The NIE is your Spanish identification number for foreigners. EU registration is your registration as an EU citizen living in Spain, and it produces the green certificate that carries your NIE. The padrón is your registration with the municipality where you actually live.

They are three different steps at three different bodies. Most people need the NIE first, the padrón for their address, and EU registration when they are staying longer than three months.

What is the Padrón?

The Padrón is your municipality's register of residents. Registering on it is called empadronamiento, and the proof you receive afterwards is the padrón certificate.

In plain terms, it is how you officially tell your Town Hall that you live at your address.

Why do I need to register with my municipality?

Your padrón registration proves where you actually live. Local services ask for it: schools, public health care, resident parking, resident discounts, and many later administrative steps.

It also determines which Town Hall handles you, which affects the documents you need.

Do I need an appointment?

Most in-person procedures in Spain work on appointments, and availability is decided by the authority rather than by us. We tell you which steps require an appointment and prepare a dossier with everything you need to bring.

Availability windows vary per office and per period, so we do not publish waiting times we cannot guarantee.

Can you guarantee a government appointment?

No. Government appointment availability is controlled by the relevant authority. We can help you identify the correct appointment, prepare for it and guide you through the process.

If a slot cannot be found in the period you hoped for, we tell you honestly rather than promising a date we do not control.

Can I do some of this myself?

Yes. Some steps are straightforward if you speak Spanish, live nearby and have time, and sometimes the easiest option is to do it yourself. Where that is the case for your situation, we say so.

Our service is for people who want the route worked out, the forms prepared and the documents checked before they stand at the counter.

Can my whole family be included?

Yes. Move Spain is built around a household rather than around a single application. Your shared information, such as your Spanish address, is entered once, while each person keeps their own identity, their own documents and their own procedures.

You pay one package price for the household plus a clear price per additional person, instead of buying a full package again for every family member.

Can I add my partner or children later?

Yes. You can add a household member after you start, and the platform recalculates only the difference. Anything you already provided that applies to the whole household is reused instead of being asked again.

Does everyone need their own documents?

Each person needs their own identity documents, because the authorities identify people individually. Household documents such as proof of address are uploaded once and reused for everyone who lives there.

What government fees do I have to pay?

Spanish procedures carry official fees set by the authority, for example the NIE fee paid through the Modelo 790 payment slip.

These amounts are set by the authority and can change, so we show the current amount separately per procedure rather than folding it into our price. Where an amount depends on your situation or must still be verified, we say so instead of guessing.

Are government fees included in the Move Spain price?

No, and no relocation service can include them, because they are paid to the authority in your name. Your Move Spain price covers preparation, checking, official form completion, coordination and tracking.

Third-party costs such as sworn translations, certified copies, notary or courier services are also separate, and we flag them when your route needs them.

Which package is right for me?

Move Start is for people who mainly need their NIE prepared, for example to buy property, open a bank account or sign a contract.

Move Essential is for people actually moving to Spain, who need the NIE plus registration at their Town Hall.

What does a partner or child cost?

A partner is +€29 and each child under 18 is +€9 on top of the household package, shown as a separate line before you pay.

Why only €9 per child? Children share the household registration for the padrón in Mallorca, so we only charge for the extra admin work involved.

What happens after I pay?

Your dashboard opens with your route: every procedure that applies to your household, the documents we still need, the official forms we have prepared, and the next step for each person.

Completed official forms become downloadable once you have approved them and your service payment is complete.

What documents do I need to move to Spain?

It depends on your procedures and your municipality, which is why we generate your list from your own answers rather than publishing one generic checklist. For almost everyone it starts with a clear copy of the passport or national ID you will use, and proof of your Spanish address.

Each requested document explains what it is, who issues it, why we need it and what an acceptable copy looks like.

What happens after I submit my documents?

Every upload is checked: readable, complete, the right document, and still valid where an expiry date matters. If something is wrong you get a specific message saying what to change, not a generic error.

Approved documents feed straight into your official forms and your appointment dossier.

How do I know where my application stands?

Your dashboard shows a live timeline per person and per procedure: what is done, what is waiting on you, what is waiting on an authority, and what is next. It updates as things move, so you never need to ask for a status.

What happens if I already have an NIE?

Then we skip it. The intake asks whether you already have one, and your route only contains the procedures you still need, with the price adjusted to match.

What happens if I already live in Spain?

Living here already usually shifts the focus to registration and follow-up steps rather than to first arrival. The intake asks where you live now, and builds the route from that answer.

Can I use Move Spain if I live outside Palma?

Yes. The NIE follows national rules regardless of your municipality. Town Hall registration is set per municipality, so where we hold verified local rules we apply them, and where we do not we confirm the exact document list with your Town Hall before your appointment rather than publishing an unverified list.

Does Move Spain work in Ibiza or on the mainland?

Move Spain serves Mallorca. The wider Move Spain platform is built to add destinations, and each destination only goes live once its local information has been verified. You can see which destinations are live on the destinations page.

Do I need to speak Spanish?

No. The platform is in plain English, Dutch and German, questions never assume knowledge of Spanish bureaucracy, and official Spanish terms are always explained the first time they appear. Official form names such as Modelo 790 keep their Spanish identifier, because that is what the authority recognises.