Moving to Spain from Belgium

Belgian pensioners, remote workers and families choose Spain for its climate and proximity. As an EU citizen you need no visa, but you do need to register, sort out your health cover and submit documents that, whether in French, Dutch or German, must be understood in Spanish. Here are the steps and the most common questions.

Key facts

• Entry and work: with your Belgian identity card (eID) or passport you live and work in Spain without a visa or permit.
• Registration: if you stay longer than three months, apply within that period for the EU registration certificate (certificado de registro de ciudadano de la UE) at the Central Register of Foreign Nationals; it includes your NIE. After five years of continuous legal residence you can apply for permanent residence.
• Documents: under Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 Belgian public documents need no apostille; to avoid a sworn translation use the multilingual standard form.
• Driving: a Belgian licence is valid without exchange; as a resident you will renew it with Spain’s DGT.
• Citizenship: Spanish citizenship requires 10 years of legal residence, DELE A2, CCSE and a declaration of renunciation. Since 2007 Belgian law does not withdraw Belgian nationality for acquiring another; check with your embassy what effect that declaration has.

How people usually move

• Pensioners. You register with sufficient resources and health cover: the S1 form from your mutualité or ziekenfonds is registered with the INSS. EU registration certificate
• Remote work for Belgium. You do not need the digital nomad visa; you register with your income and health insurance. Check the A1 form with your employer and where you pay tax while living here.
• Work or business in Spain. Contract and social security registration, or registration as self-employed; then you register.
• Studies. Enrolment, health insurance and a declaration of resources.
• Non-EU family. A spouse, registered partner, children or dependent parents from outside the EU get the residence card for family members of an EU citizen. Family of EU citizens
• Spanish citizenship. After 10 years of legal, continuous residence. Spanish citizenship

Documents and apostille

• eID or passport, valid.
• Extrait de casier judiciaire / uittreksel uit het strafregister: not required for EU registration, but required for citizenship. Belgians living abroad request it by email from the Central Criminal Record of the FPS Justice, with a copy of their ID; it is free.
• Birth and marriage certificates or a cohabitation légale declaration from your municipality, with the EU multilingual form. Documents and translations
• S1 form from your mutualité/ziekenfonds if you are a pensioner; if you work in Spain, your social security registration.
• Proof of deregistration from your Belgian municipality and consular registration, so both administrations place your residence in Spain.

What to keep in mind

• The registration certificate is requested in person, by appointment, at the immigration office (Oficina de Extranjería) of your province or at a National Police station: form EX-18, fee 790 code 012 and your eID or passport. It is issued on the spot.
• Common mistake: submitting a cohabitation légale or a certificate in French or Dutch without the multilingual form or a translation, or without proving the union is registered. Prepare proof of the relationship before your partner’s appointment.
• Passports, eID and consular registration are handled by the Embassy of Belgium in Madrid.
• Tax: with more than 183 days a year in Spain you are tax resident here. The Belgium–Spain double taxation agreement and its protocols allocate the taxation of salaries and pensions.

Frequently asked questions

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