Irish citizens live in Spain like any other EU citizen: no visa, a simple registration, and access to healthcare and work. That advantage matters a lot since Brexit, because it also applies to people born in Northern Ireland or with Irish roots who travel on an Irish passport. Here are the steps, documents and the most common family situations.
Key facts
- Entry and work: with an Irish passport (or passport card) you live and work in Spain without a visa or permit. Ireland being outside Schengen does not affect your free movement.
- 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 Irish public documents need no apostille, but English does not exempt them from translation: use the multilingual standard form or a sworn translation.
- Driving: an Irish 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. Irish law allows dual citizenship; check with your embassy what effect that declaration has.
How people usually move
- Work or business in Spain. Contract and social security registration, or registration as self-employed; then you register. EU registration certificate
- Remote work for Ireland. You do not need the digital nomad visa; you register with your income and health insurance. Check the A1 form and tax with your employer.
- Pensioners. You register with your resources and health cover; if your Irish pension gives you entitlement, the S1 form is registered with the INSS.
- Studies. Enrolment, health insurance and a declaration of resources.
- Non-EU family, British partners included. Your British or other non-EU spouse or registered partner gets the residence card for family members of an EU citizen, without going through the general residence visas. Family of EU citizens
- Spanish citizenship. After 10 years of legal, continuous residence. Spanish citizenship
Documents and apostille
- Irish passport, valid. If you became a citizen through the Foreign Births Register, keep that certificate too.
- Garda police certificate: not required for EU registration, but required for citizenship. It is issued free by the Garda division where you live or lived in Ireland, among other purposes for naturalisation abroad. If you lived in Northern Ireland, the certificate comes from the authorities there.
- Birth and marriage certificates from the General Register Office, with the EU multilingual form or a sworn translation. Documents and translations
- Proof of the basis for registration: contract and social security registration, self-employment registration, enrolment, or resources and health insurance (with an S1 if you are a pensioner).
- For your non-EU partner: passport and marriage or registered partnership certificate, translated.
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 passport. It is issued on the spot.
- Common mistake: assuming a document in English will be accepted untranslated. Without the multilingual form or a sworn translation, the office may refuse it.
- Irish passports are renewed through Ireland’s passport service or with help from the Embassy of Ireland in Madrid.
- Tax: with more than 183 days a year in Spain you are tax resident here; Spain and Ireland have a double taxation agreement.
Frequently asked questions
I am British and also Irish. Which passport should I use to settle?
The Irish one. That way the EU citizens’ rules apply: no visa, a registration certificate and the right to work. Enter and leave Spain on that passport. For Spanish citizenship the period is still 10 years.
My partner is British. Do they need a residence visa?
If you are married or in a registered partnership and will live together in Spain, they can apply for the residence card for family members of an EU citizen instead of a non-lucrative or digital nomad visa. They apply within three months of arrival.
How do I get a criminal record certificate from Spain?
Apply for the Garda police certificate to the Garda division of your last address in Ireland, with the form, a certified copy of your ID and proof of your addresses. It is free and usually takes about three weeks. For citizenship, add the multilingual form or a sworn translation.