Skip to content
luid.es
Login

Padrón, TIE, Social Security and health card: what order?

Each step needs something from the one before it. Do them in this order and you are less likely to be sent away for a missing paper.

Last updated: 25 October 2026

The order, and why

Step 1. A lease or other proof of where you live. The padrón is where Spain records your address, so everything starts with a home you can document. See renting without scams and keeping the padrón open. The TIE application form also asks for an address in Spain.

Step 2. Padrón (empadronamiento) at the town hall. You do not need to wait for your TIE. For non-EU nationals the padrón instruction says the ID number recorded is the one on a valid Spanish-issued document, "o, en su defecto", the passport number, and that ID is checked "con independencia de la situación legal del extranjero en España". Once you have a TIE, the same text says the number should be changed to match it. Do this early, because the health card needs it (step 6).

Step 3. Book the TIE appointment now, and register with Social Security. The TIE is a duty as well as a right. Under the immigration regulation, anyone with a visa or authorisation for more than six months must request it personally "en el plazo de un mes desde su entrada en España o desde que la autorización sea concedida o cobre vigencia, en función, en su caso, del alta de aquéllas en el régimen de la Seguridad Social que corresponda". Appointment slots can be scarce, so the clock matters. Social Security registration does not depend on the TIE. For a digital nomad visa holder it is mandatory (employee: through the foreign company registered as a non-resident employer, or by importing cover under a bilateral agreement; self-employed: RETA), and for the self-employed the Ministry of Inclusion warns that not registering can end the authorisation. See the autónomo guide.

Step 4. TIE fingerprints and card. While you wait for an appointment, the Ministry of Inclusion says the resolution you received "produce plenos efectos frente a la administración y frente a terceros" and does not depend on getting the TIE. Bring it to the police station as well.

Step 5. INSS recognition of your right to public healthcare. If you work as an employee or autónomo, the INSS recognises the right itself, without an application: the form says that in those cases recognition is made "de oficio por el INSS sin necesidad de presentar solicitud". Others must apply. You then use the INSS document that proves the right.

Step 6. The regional health card at your health centre. The card is issued by the region, not by Social Security, and asks for the INSS recognition from step 5 plus proof of padrón. See the regional notes below.

Step 7. Digital identity. Many later steps (including registering as an autónomo online) need a digital certificate or Cl@ve. For a non-EU foreigner the FNMT certificate accepts the "documento oficial de concesión del NIF/NIE" together with your passport (the page also lists the red, green and white foreigner cards and does not name the TIE), so you may not need to wait for the TIE. Cl@ve's document requirements could not be confirmed.

The TIE paperwork

The application form is EX-17, and it can only be filed in person: "no está admitida su presentación por medios telemáticos o registros públicos". Police guidance for one category of applicants lists the typical set: the EX-17, the fee form (modelo 790, code 012), original and full copy of a valid passport, and a photograph meeting the national ID requirements. Your category and your authorisation may add to it, so use the list the appointment page and your resolution point to. That guidance speaks of the police station in your province of residence.

Where offices differ. That police checklist does not include a padrón certificate. We could not find an official statement that settles whether every office asks for one, so check your appointment confirmation, and bring the padrón document if you have it. The ministry also notes that appointment availability depends on each office.

The health card, region by region

The rule is the same everywhere, the paperwork is not. Two regions that publish it:

  • Comunitat Valenciana (the SIP card). The Conselleria says that if you are registered with Social Security and have cover, you go to your nearest health centre with your DNI or NIE. It recommends bringing a current padrón certificate (valid six months) and the INSS document. The procedure page says you must be registered in a municipality of the region, and that the certificate is only needed if you refuse the electronic check of your padrón at the health centre.
  • Comunidad de Madrid (the tarjeta sanitaria). The region says prior INSS recognition is required ("preceptivo el reconocimiento previo"). Documents are the DNI or, for foreigners, the TIE in force, and a padrón certificate issued in the last ninety days. In Madrid city you can authorise a padrón check instead. For foreigners the card's validity follows the TIE, so renew it when the TIE is renewed.

So in Madrid a valid TIE is the safer thing to have before you go, while Valencia publishes NIE as the requirement. Ask your health centre which they will accept.

Family members. A holder can add as beneficiaries a spouse or partner; children, grandchildren and siblings under 26 (or older with a disability grade of at least 65%); and minors in care. If your spouse or partner is the holder, they must be the one to request your inclusion. In the Comunitat Valenciana, a beneficiary books an INSS appointment and shows their NIE before the health centre issues the card.

Not everyone gets a public card. The digital nomad visa also accepts a private health policy equivalent to public cover. If that is your route, you will not have step 5 or 6.

Afterwards

Non-EU residents without permanent residence must renew their padrón registration every two years, and the town hall can invalidate it if they do not. If you move, update the padrón, and tell the police: foreigners must report a change of habitual address to the local Comisaría de Policía "en el plazo máximo de un mes", with documents that prove the change (RD 1155/2024, art. 213). The state also runs an online address-change portal (cambiodomicilio.redsara.es), but we could not read what it covers.

Sources

Who can do this for you

Gestorías handle padrón, TIE appointments and Social Security registration every day, and know which documents a local office tends to want.

This page is general information, not legal advice. It was checked against the sources above on the date shown. Offices differ in what they ask for, so confirm the current requirements with the office before you go.