Moving to Spain from Romania

Romanians are the largest EU community in Spain: at the end of 2025 more than 1.1 million held an EU registration certificate. As an EU citizen you need no visa or work permit, but you do need to register properly and get your documents in order from the start. Here is the essentials for settling in and, if you are interested, for preparing permanent residence or Spanish citizenship.

Key facts

• Entry and work: with a Romanian passport or identity card you enter without a visa and can work from day one. The transitional restrictions Spain applied to Romanian workers ended on 31 December 2013, and Romania has been a full Schengen member since 1 January 2025.
• Registration: if you will stay longer than three months, you must apply within that period for the EU registration certificate (certificado de registro de ciudadano de la UE) at the Central Register of Foreign Nationals, which includes your NIE. After five years of continuous legal residence you can apply for permanent residence.
• Documents: under Regulation (EU) 2016/1191, Romanian birth and marriage certificates and criminal record certificates need no apostille in Spain; with the multilingual standard form you can also avoid translation.
• Driving: your Romanian licence is valid in Spain as it is. You can exchange it voluntarily, and when you renew it as a resident you will do so with Spain’s DGT.
• Citizenship: Spanish citizenship requires 10 years of legal residence, the DELE A2 and CCSE tests and a declaration renouncing your previous nationality. Romanian law allows dual nationality; check with your consulate what effect Romania gives to that declaration.

How people usually move

• Employment. With your contract and social security registration you register as a worker. No prior permit is needed. EU registration certificate
• Self-employment. You register as self-employed (RETA) and with the tax office, and use that registration to apply for the certificate.
• Sufficient resources and health cover. For people not working in Spain, such as pensioners: you must show resources and comprehensive health cover, either public (S1 form) or private.
• Studies. Enrolment at a recognised institution, health insurance and a declaration of sufficient resources.
• Family. Your spouse, registered partner, children or dependent parents who are not EU citizens (common in Romanian-Moldovan families) can live with you with 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

• Passport or carte de identitate, valid: either works for registration and for travel within the EU.
• Certificat de cazier judiciar: not required for EU registration, but required for citizenship. It is free online at hub.mai.gov.ro (also via ghiseul.ro) if you can identify yourself electronically; otherwise ask your consulate or the police in Romania.
• Certificat de naștere and de căsătorie, with the EU multilingual standard form so you do not need a translation. You will need them for a family member’s card and for citizenship. Documents and translations
• Proof of the basis for registration: employment contract and social security registration, self-employment registration, enrolment, or resources and health insurance; pensioners need the S1 form from their Romanian health insurance fund.
• European Health Insurance Card for the first days: it covers temporary stays and does not replace registration with the Spanish health system.

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, where there is none, at a National Police station: form EX-18, fee 790 code 012 and your passport or ID card. It is issued on the spot.
• Common mistake: making do with a standalone NIE obtained to buy a car or sign a contract. That number does not prove residence; for permanent residence and citizenship, what counts is the registration certificate.
• Passports, ID cards, transcription of birth certificates of children born in Spain and powers of attorney are handled by the Romanian Embassy in Madrid or the Romanian consulate for your area.
• In Spain: register at the town hall (padrón), get your health card and, if you spend more than 183 days a year here, you become tax resident in Spain. Spain and Romania have a double taxation agreement.

Frequently asked questions

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