The Ultimate Moving to Spain Checklist for Expats

Moving to Spain is one of the most rewarding decisions you can make — and also one of the most logistically complex. Between apostilled documents, health insurance requirements, consulate appointments, bank setups, and municipal registrations, the process has enough moving parts to overwhelm even the most organized person.

This checklist is designed to take the guesswork out of it. Work through each phase in order, and you will arrive in Spain with everything handled. Skip steps or get them out of sequence, and you will spend your first months in Spain running bureaucratic errands instead of enjoying life.

One framing note before you dive in: the timeline below assumes you are applying for a long-stay visa (such as the Digital Nomad Visa or Non-Lucrative Visa) from the United States. If you are already in Spain on a different status, some steps will differ. Take our free quiz first to confirm which visa pathway applies to you.

6 Months Before Your Target Move Date

Six months out is when the logistics machine needs to start. Several steps have long lead times, and delays here cascade into everything downstream.

Order your FBI background check immediately. The FBI background check (required for most Spanish visa applications) takes two to eight weeks through standard channels. Use an FBI-approved channeler service — such as IdentoGO/Fieldprint or National Background Check Inc. — to reduce this to two to three weeks. Cost: approximately $18 for the FBI fee, plus channeler fees of $75–$150.

Passport check. Ensure your passport is valid for at least 18 months beyond your target move date. If it expires within 18 months, renew now. US passport renewals currently take eight to twelve weeks. Do not let passport timing derail your entire plan.

• •Digital Nomad Visa (remote workers earning above the income threshold)
• •Non-Lucrative Visa (retirees, people with passive income)
• •Student Visa (enrolled in a Spanish educational institution)
• •Entrepreneur Visa (starting a Spanish company)

Research your target city. Now is the time to seriously narrow down your city choice, because your decision affects everything from housing research to neighborhood-specific crime checks to which consulate handles your appointment. Read through our city guides for Valencia, Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga, and Seville.

Start learning Spanish. You do not need to be fluent to move, but even A2-level Spanish transforms your experience. Six months of consistent study (30 minutes per day) using apps like Duolingo supplemented by italki conversation practice gets most motivated learners to functional conversational level.

Notify your US employer. If you are keeping your current remote job and moving to Spain, have the conversation with your employer now. Confirm they are comfortable with you working from Spain. Get written confirmation if possible — you will need documentation of your remote work arrangement for the visa application.

4 Months Before Your Move

• •Valid passport + certified copies of all pages
• •FBI background check (apostilled and sworn-translated into Spanish)
• •Employment contract or freelance contracts showing 12+ months of work history
• •Employer letter confirming remote work authorization
• •Last 3 months of pay stubs or invoices
• •Last 3 months of bank statements
• •Proof of company operating history (1+ year)
• •Private health insurance certificate
• •Passport photos (35x45mm, white background)
• •Completed visa application form

Get apostilles. Documents issued in the US that must be submitted to Spain need an Apostille of the Hague Convention stamp. This is obtained from your state's Secretary of State office. Processing times vary from same-day (in some states with in-person service) to two to four weeks for mail-in services. Most important apostilles: FBI background check, birth certificate if needed.

Purchase Spanish health insurance. Your visa application requires Spanish-specific private health insurance. Standard US employer plans and travel insurance do not qualify. Purchase a policy from a Spanish or international insurer that explicitly meets visa requirements: full coverage in Spain, no co-pays, no sub-limits. Recommended providers: Cigna Global, Allianz Care, Aetna International, or Spain-based plans from Sanitas/Bupa, Adeslas, or Asisa.

Book your consulate appointment. Spanish consulates in the US process visa applications: New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Houston, Boston, and others serve different US states. Check which consulate serves your state of residence. Appointment availability varies wildly — some consulates are booked eight to ten weeks out. Book as soon as your documents are nearly complete.

Open a US account that works internationally. If you do not already have it, open a checking account with a bank that has no international ATM fees and no foreign transaction fees. Charles Schwab's High Yield Investor Checking is the gold standard for travelers: unlimited international ATM fee reimbursements, no foreign transaction fees. Wise (formerly TransferWise) is excellent for currency exchange and international transfers.

2 Months Before Your Move

Get certified Spanish translations. All documents not in Spanish must be accompanied by a sworn translation (traducción jurada) performed by a certified translator. Find a certified translator via the Official Register of Sworn Translators of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Budget €40–€80 per page; a full document package typically costs €500–€1,000 for translations.

Hire a gestoría (optional but recommended). A gestoría is a Spanish administrative professional who handles bureaucratic processes on your behalf. Many expats hire a gestoría for both the visa application phase and the post-arrival registration tasks (empadronamiento, TIE application, tax registration). Fees: €500–€1,500 for the full service. Worth every euro for most people.

Research housing in your target city. Start browsing rental listings on Idealista (the dominant Spanish property portal), Fotocasa, and Habitaclia (for Catalonia). Join expat Facebook groups for your target city — these often have housing tips, recommendations for trustworthy agents, and warnings about scams. Budget for: first month + two to three months security deposit upfront.

Sort out what you're shipping, selling, and leaving. Spain has relatively tight apartment spaces compared to US homes. Most expats find it is cheaper to ship a small amount of irreplaceable personal items and buy furniture on arrival than to ship household goods. Flat-rate international shipping containers start around $3,000–$5,000 for a studio apartment's worth of goods. For most moves, the economics favor: bring personal items, electronics, and irreplaceable keepsakes in checked bags; buy furniture and kitchen goods in Spain.

• •Bank: notify of your international move to prevent account freezes
• •Credit cards: update your address, notify of foreign spending
• •IRS: update your address if needed (Form 8822)
• •State: check whether you need to officially change your domicile state for tax purposes (each state has different rules about maintaining residency)
• •Voter registration: update if you want to maintain US voting rights from abroad (overseas Americans can vote via the Federal Voting Assistance Program)

Research Spanish SIM cards. You will want a local Spanish number shortly after arrival. Leading providers: Movistar, Vodafone, Orange, and budget provider Digi. Digi offers excellent value (20GB + calls for €7/month). A local SIM is needed for many Spanish apps and verification systems.

1 Month Before Your Move

Submit your visa application at the consulate. Attend your consulate appointment, submit your full document package, pay the visa fee (approximately $80 USD), and wait. Consulate processing takes six to ten weeks. Track your application status and be prepared to respond promptly if the consulate requests additional documents.

Find your Spanish apartment. If you have not yet secured housing, intensify your search. Many expats secure a furnished short-term rental (Airbnb or booking.com) for the first one to three months, then find a long-term apartment from within Spain. This strategy is more expensive per month but reduces the stress of securing a lease before arrival. Long-term furnished apartments are listed on Idealista and also via expat Facebook groups.

Set up a Wise account. Even if you have a good international bank account, Wise is valuable for converting USD to EUR at near-mid-market rates. Load EUR onto your Wise account before departure and use the Wise debit card for Spanish purchases, paying minimal conversion fees.

Arrange travel insurance for the move itself. Your Spanish health insurance policy covers medical care in Spain, but not the transit period or emergencies during the move itself. A short-term travel insurance policy covering the travel day(s) fills this gap.

Sort out your US mail. Set up mail forwarding via USPS (available for up to 12 months) to a trusted US address — family member, friend, or a mail scanning service like Traveling Mailbox or Earth Class Mail. The mail scanning services digitize incoming mail and send you PDFs, which is ideal for managing US obligations from abroad.

First Week After Arrival in Spain

The first week is dense with administrative tasks. Work through them in order — each one unlocks the next.

Day 1–2: Register at your local ayuntamiento (empadronamiento). This is your municipal census registration and is arguably the most important administrative step after arrival. Bring your passport, your Spanish lease agreement or a letter from your landlord confirming your address, and the completed empadronamiento form (available at the town hall). The empadronamiento certificate you receive is required for almost every subsequent step: opening a bank account, accessing healthcare, applying for your TIE card, and more. Registration is usually same-day.

Day 2–3: Book your TIE appointment (Oficina de Extranjería). Your TIE (Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero — your Spanish residency card) appointment must be booked within 30 days of arrival. The system is overloaded in many cities; book immediately after arrival. Use the official Sede Electrónica del Ministerio del Interior portal to book. Required documents for the TIE appointment: passport, visa, empadronamiento certificate, two passport photos, completed EX-23 form, health insurance certificate, and proof of income. The TIE itself takes two to four weeks after the appointment to arrive.

Day 3–4: Get a Spanish SIM card. Walk into any Digi, Movistar, Vodafone, or Orange store with your passport and NIE. A basic plan (15–20GB data + calls) costs €7–€20/month. Having a local number enables Spanish bank apps, delivery notifications, and two-factor authentication for Spanish services.

Day 4–5: Open a Spanish bank account. With your passport, NIE, empadronamiento certificate, and sometimes proof of income, you can open a bank account at most Spanish banks. Recommended for expats: BBVA (excellent English-language app, no maintenance fee for many account types) or Santander. Some expats use N26 (a German digital bank operating in Spain) as a bridging solution while they gather documents for a full Spanish account. A Spanish bank account is required for rent payments, utility setup, and direct debit subscriptions.

Day 5–6: Register with your local health center (centro de salud). Take your TIE (once received) and empadronamiento certificate to your nearest public health center to register for Spain's public healthcare system. You will be assigned a family doctor and receive your tarjeta sanitaria (health card) within a few days. Until your TIE arrives, your private health insurance covers you.

Day 6–7: Get your NIE stamped and begin getting settled. If your NIE has not yet been confirmed through your TIE process, make sure it is documented. Begin exploring your neighborhood, locate your nearest pharmacy (farmacia, identified by green cross), learn your nearest market and supermarket, and identify your nearest metro or bus stop. Introduce yourself to neighbors — Spaniards are welcoming to newcomers who show genuine interest in the community.

Documents to Gather Before You Leave the US

This master list captures every document you should have before departing:

• •Passport (+ certified copies of all pages)
• •Driver's license (consider getting an International Driving Permit from AAA — valid in Spain for up to 6 months, after which you exchange for a Spanish license)
• •Birth certificate (apostilled if needed for family reunification)
• •Marriage certificate if applicable (apostilled)

• •Last 6 months of bank statements
• •Last 12 months of pay stubs or tax returns (or invoices if freelance)
• •Most recent US tax return (Form 1040) with all schedules
• •Social Security number documentation

• •FBI background check (apostilled, sworn-translated)
• •Criminal history certificates from any other countries of residence

• •Copy of all current prescriptions (with generic drug names)
• •Vaccination records
• •Summary of medical history from your US doctor
• •Spanish health insurance certificate

• •Employment contract (apostilled if required by your consulate)
• •Employer letter confirming remote work arrangement
• •Freelance contracts if self-employed

Digital copies of everything. Store all documents in two cloud services (Google Drive and Dropbox, for example) and carry USB drives with backups. Spanish bureaucracy regularly asks for documents you did not expect.

Financial Preparation Checklist

• •Emergency fund: maintain 3–6 months of living expenses in an accessible US account
• •Currency exchange: move 2–3 months of Spanish expenses into EUR before departure via Wise at favorable rates
• •Credit cards: carry at least two no-foreign-transaction-fee credit cards (Chase Sapphire Preferred, Capital One Venture)
• •Notify tax preparer: alert your US tax professional of your move — you will need to file both US and Spanish returns next year
• •FBAR preparation: if you will hold over $10,000 in Spanish bank accounts, you must file FinCEN Form 114 annually
• •Beckham Law timing: the six-month application window starts from empadronamiento — calendar this immediately upon arrival

What to Ship vs. Buy There

• •Electronics (US-purchased Macs, iPads, etc. — Spain has the same tech but at higher prices)
• •Sentimental or irreplaceable items
• •Prescription medications (bring 90-day supply, get prescriptions filled for generic equivalents in Spain)
• •Specific clothing items if hard to find in your size in European sizing
• •US legal documents

• •Furniture (IKEA is everywhere in Spain; second-hand Facebook Marketplace groups for furnished apartments are excellent)
• •Bedding, towels, kitchenware (cheap at Primark, El Corte Inglés, or local household stores)
• •Kitchen appliances (European voltage; US appliances need converters and may still fail)
• •Small electronics and accessories (comparable prices, correct voltage)
• •Groceries and household supplies (significantly cheaper than the US)

• •US-voltage major appliances
• •Oversized furniture
• •Car (if not keeping for a US return point)
• •Items that would cost more to ship than replace

The rule of thumb: if an item costs under €200 to replace in Spain, it is usually not worth the complexity of shipping it.

Moving to Spain is a process, not an event. But with the right preparation, each step is manageable — and every item you check off this list brings you closer to your first morning coffee at a Spanish terrace café, watching the city wake up around you.

Take our free quiz to find out which Spanish visa matches your situation, and get a personalized estimate of your costs and timeline.