Italy is the second-largest EU community in Spain: at the end of 2025 more than 514,000 Italians held an EU registration certificate. Many of them are Argentines, Venezuelans, Uruguayans or Brazilians with Italian citizenship by descent, and that dual status opens options of its own. Here is how to settle as an EU citizen and what changes if you also hold a Latin American nationality.
Key facts
- Entry and work: with an Italian passport or carta d’identità you live and work in Spain with no visa or work 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, Italian birth, marriage or criminal record certificates need no apostille; the multilingual standard form avoids translation.
- Driving: an Italian patente is valid in Spain without exchange; as a resident you will renew it with Spain’s DGT.
- Citizenship: as an Italian, 10 years of legal residence, DELE A2, CCSE and a declaration of renunciation (Italian law allows dual nationality). If you are also a national by origin of an Ibero-American country, the period drops to 2 years.
How people usually move
- Employment or self-employment. With a contract and social security registration, or registration as self-employed, you register directly. EU registration certificate
- Remote work for Italy or elsewhere. As an EU citizen you do not need the digital nomad visa; you register with your income and health insurance. Check where you pay social security (A1 form) and where you pay tax.
- Sufficient resources and health cover. Pensioners and people living on savings: resources and comprehensive health cover, public via the S1 form or private.
- Studies. Enrolment, health insurance and a declaration of resources.
- Non-EU family. Your spouse, registered partner, children or dependent parents without an EU passport get the residence card for family members of an EU citizen. This is common in families where only some members have recognised Italian citizenship. Family of EU citizens
- Spanish citizenship. 10 years, or 2 if you are also a national by origin of an Ibero-American country. Spanish citizenship
Documents and apostille
- Passport or carta d’identità, valid. If you obtained citizenship by descent, check that your entry in the Italian civil register is complete before you leave.
- Certificato del casellario giudiziale: not required for EU registration, but required for citizenship. It is issued by the Ufficio del casellario; from abroad it can be requested in writing following the Italian Ministry of Justice instructions. If you hold another nationality, that country’s certificate will be requested too.
- Certificati di nascita and di matrimonio with the EU multilingual form; if your Latin American certificates are the originals, they need an apostille and, if not in Spanish, a sworn translation. Documents and translations
- Proof of the basis for registration: contract, self-employment registration, enrolment, or resources and insurance; pensioners need the S1 form issued by their ASL (local health authority).
- AIRE registration: when you move your residence you must register in Italy’s register of Italians resident abroad through the consulate.
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 or carta d’identità. It is issued on the spot.
- If your Italian citizenship was still in progress, note that Italy restricted transmission by descent in 2025 for people born abroad with another nationality (Decree-Law 36/2025 and Law 74/2025). Complete applications filed by 27 March 2025 follow the previous rules.
- Passport, carta d’identità, AIRE registration and records of children born in Spain are handled by the Italian Embassy in Madrid or the Italian consulate for your area.
- In Spain: padrón, health card and, if you spend more than 183 days a year here, Spanish tax residence. Spain and Italy have a double taxation agreement.
Frequently asked questions
I am Argentine with an Italian passport. How do I settle in Spain?
It is usually best to enter and register as an Italian citizen: no visa, a registration certificate and the right to work. For Spanish citizenship, as an Argentine by origin you only need 2 years of legal residence, with no DELE because Spanish is official in Argentina, and the dual nationality treaty protects your Argentine nationality. Check what renunciation you will have to declare regarding your Italian nationality.
My Italian citizenship has not been recognised yet. Can I apply for it to move?
Since the 2025 reform it is much harder for people born outside Italy who hold another nationality, with exceptions such as applications filed by 27 March 2025. If you do not qualify, plan the move on your Latin American nationality: studies, digital nomad, work or family.
Do I have to deregister in Italy?
When you move your residence you must register with AIRE through the consulate. It is an Italian obligation: it does not replace registration in Spain and does not on its own decide where you are tax resident, which depends on the days you spend here and where your centre of interests is.
Official sources
- La Moncloa: población extranjera con documento de residencia a 31-12-2025
- Consulado de Italia: reforma de la ciudadanía por descendencia (DL 36/2025, Ley 74/2025)
- Ministero della Giustizia: certificato del casellario richiesto dall’estero
- Policía Nacional: certificado de registro de ciudadano de la UE
- Código Civil, arts. 22 y 24
- Ministerio de Hacienda: convenios para evitar la doble imposición