This guide is what worked for us and the people we've helped — it is not immigration advice, and we are not immigration professionals. Rules change, every situation is different, and the cost of getting it wrong (denied visas, double taxation, fines, missed deadlines) is real.
Before you act on anything here, speak with a qualified immigration professional — an immigration lawyer (abogado de extranjería), a cross-border tax accountant, or a licensed gestor — who can review your specific facts. Use this guide to know what questions to ask, not as a substitute for paid advice.
Your first 30 days in Spain are 80% paperwork and 20% finding the things that will make you actually like living here. The order matters: empadronamiento → bank account → TIE appointment → Social Security → gestor → health and home. Do it in that order and everything downstream works; skip a step and you'll loop back twice.
This is the week-by-week checklist we wish we'd had. Print it, tick the boxes, and don't get clever with the order.
Passport + two color copies + two extra passport photos each.
Original apostilled birth and marriage certificates with sworn (jurada) translations.
Original visa/residency approval letter (consulate route) or UGE resolution.
Private health insurance certificate (matching your visa exactly).
Last 3–6 months of US bank statements and employer/client letters. AAA, $20) — valid for your first 6 months while you sort residency.
A folder of digital copies on your phone AND a USB stick. Spanish offices love a stamped paper original, but a digital backup has saved us twice.