Padrón registration (municipal register)

The steps

1. 1

   What the padrón is and why you must register, Step 1

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   The padrón is the register of the people who live in each town, and being on it is the proof that you live there. Everyone who lives in Spain must register on the padrón of the town where they usually live; if you live in more than one, in the one where you spend most of the year.

   Registering does not depend on your immigration status: the town hall does not check whether your residence in Spain is lawful, only that you live at the address you declare.

   Being registered makes it easier to access rights such as public healthcare or schooling for children, and it is a requirement for most immigration processes, such as arraigo or family reunification.

2. 2

   Gather your documents, Step 2

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   Bring the valid originals. Each town hall sets out which documents it accepts and may ask for others to check that you live at the address. If a document was issued abroad and is not in Spanish, the town hall may ask for an official translation.

   Documents

   • ☐Your town hall's padrón application form, signedEach town hall has its own form (sometimes called the “hoja padronal”). Sign it by hand. If you apply online, the online form replaces it.
   • ☐Foreigner identity card (TIE) or, if you do not have one, a valid passportOnly in some situationsThe number on that document is the one your registration will show.
   • ☐Valid passport or national identity cardOnly in some situationsIf you already have the EU citizen registration certificate or a NIE, bring it too.
   • ☐A document showing you live in the homeFor example, your current rental contract with the last rent receipt, or the deeds or purchase contract if you own it. The town hall may accept other documents, such as a utility bill.
   • ☐If you live in someone else's home: their written authorisationSigned by an adult registered at that address (or whoever holds the contract or owns it), with a copy of their ID. If you cannot prove any address, ask your town hall's social services for help: people living in substandard housing or without a roof can also register.
3. 3

   Apply at your town hall, Step 3

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   Each town hall decides how you apply: online with an electronic ID (for example a digital certificate or Cl@ve) or in person at a municipal office, in some towns by appointment. Look on your town hall's website for the “alta en el padrón” or “empadronamiento” procedure.

   Appointment tips

   Bring the originals of every document. If several of you are registering at the same home, ask whether you can do it in a single application.

4. 4

   After applying: decision and certificate, Step 4

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   The town hall checks the application and the documents and decides. It has at most three months; if it notifies you nothing in that time, you are registered for all purposes (positive administrative silence).

   Once registered, you can ask for a certificado or volante de empadronamiento, the document that proves your residence and address. Many processes ask for it, immigration ones among them.

5. 5

   Renew your registration every two years, Step 5

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   Only in some situations

   If you are not a citizen of the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland, you do not hold long-term residence and you do not hold an EU-regime residence card (the card for family members of EU citizens), your registration expires two years after you registered or last renewed. Renewal is not automatic: you must ask your town hall for it expressly. If you do not, the town hall can declare it expired and remove you from the padrón without warning you first.

   Note the date. If you hold long-term residence or the EU family member card, you do not renew, but the town hall may check periodically that you still live in the town and ask you to confirm it in writing.

6. 6

   Confirm your residence when asked, Step 6

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   Only in some situations

   As an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen you do not renew your registration every two years, but the town hall may check periodically that you still live in the town: once your registration is more than two years old if you are not on the Central Register of Foreigners, or more than five years old if you are (you hold the EU citizen registration certificate, the “green NIE”).

   The town hall may ask you to confirm in writing that you still live there, or check it another way (for example, through the local police), but it cannot require you to come in person. Reply when asked to keep your registration up to date; some town halls call this a renewal.