Moving to Spain from Moldova

For many Moldovans the key is the passport: anyone who also holds Romanian citizenship is an EU citizen and can live and work in Spain without a visa. Those with only a Moldovan passport enter visa-free for short stays but need a permit to stay. Since 2024, Moldovan driving licences can also be exchanged.

Key facts

• Entry: with a biometric Moldovan passport you can stay in the Schengen area visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. This does not allow work.
• Romanian citizenship: if it is recognised, you are an EU citizen: you live and work in Spain without a visa and, if you stay longer than three months, you register with the Central Register of Foreigners.
• Spanish citizenship: 10 years of legal, continuous residence, also for Romanian citizens, with the CCSE and DELE A2 exams and a declaration renouncing your previous nationality at the oath.
• Driving: the exchange agreement with Moldova has been in force since 29 September 2024. Car and motorcycle licences are exchanged without tests; truck and bus licences require a closed-circuit skills test and an on-road test.
• Documents: Moldova applies the apostille, also in electronic form (e-Apostila).

How people usually move

• As an EU citizen. With a Romanian passport or ID card: EU citizen registration certificate, proving work, self-employment, studies or sufficient resources and health cover. EU citizen registration
• Family member of an EU citizen. If you only hold a Moldovan passport but your spouse, registered partner or parent is Romanian or another EU citizen, you can apply for the EU family member residence card. Family member of a Spanish or EU citizen
• Arraigo. For people who have already spent 2 years in Spain and have no criminal record: social, socio-labour or socio-training arraigo (family arraigo, for example for the parent of a Spanish child, has no such minimum). Arraigo
• Employment. With a job offer from a Spanish company, which applies for the permit; you then collect the visa. Employment
• Family reunification. If a relative with only a Moldovan passport lives legally in Spain, they can sponsor you after their first year of residence. Family reunification

Documents and apostille

• Cazier judiciar from Moldova’s Ministry of Internal Affairs. You request it online at servicii.gov.md, with an apostille, and it can be sent to any country via MDelivery. It can be issued in any official EU language, including Spanish; check that the Spanish office accepts it without translation.
• Apostille: issued by the Ministry of Justice. The e-Apostila is requested online with a digital signature; if you use it, check that the Spanish office accepts the electronic format.
• Moldovan birth and marriage certificates, apostilled and with a sworn translation. Romanian documents need no apostille between EU countries, and multilingual standard forms can avoid translation.
• Valid Romanian or Moldovan passport: the one you use to enter and register determines your status in Spain.
• Original Moldovan driving licence, for the exchange once you are resident.

What to keep in mind

• The Spanish Embassy in Bucharest is accredited to Moldova, and there is an honorary consulate in Chișinău. Check on exteriores.gob.es where national visas are filed before preparing your file.
• If you are a Romanian citizen you need no visa: after arriving, book an appointment for the EU registration certificate, which includes your NIE.
• With only a Moldovan passport, do not exceed 90 days without a permit: your stay would become irregular.
• Once in Spain: register on the padrón from the start; it supports both EU registration and any future arraigo.

Frequently asked questions

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