Timing and sequencing

Key rules

• Document age: Criminal record and medical certificates can be at most 3 months old on your filing day, and bank statements at most 30 days.
• Decision: A consulate must decide within 3 months of a complete filing, and silence counts as a refusal.
• Entry window: The residence visa is valid for 90 days (1 year for the entrepreneur visa), and you must enter Spain within that window.
• Residence card: You have one month from entry, or from your notification if approved inside Spain, to apply for the TIE.
• EU citizens: The visa and the TIE are not for you; a stay beyond 3 months needs registration.

The order, step by step

For a visa applicant filing at a consulate abroad:

1. Choose your route and book the consulate appointment 2 to 3 months before you plan to file (the order to do things).
2. Collect your documents: apostille first, then sworn translation. Criminal record and medical certificates must be issued no more than 3 months before you file (how old each document can be).
3. File and pay the consular fee of 80 euros. Keep your job, lease and travel flexible while you wait (when to give notice).
4. Wait for the decision: the consulate has 3 months from a complete filing, applicants report 1 to 3 months, and silence counts as a refusal (how long decisions take).
5. Collect the visa by the date in your approval notice, a month after notification (approval and entry).
6. Enter Spain within the visa's 90 days and keep proof of your entry date (approval and entry).
7. Register your address at the town hall (padrón): the certificate is needed at your card appointment (how to register).
8. Apply for your residence card (TIE) within one month of entering Spain (the deadline). The card is ready 3 to 6 weeks after fingerprinting (collection).

What can run in parallel

While you wait for the appointment you can order apostilles and sworn translations of documents without a short age limit, contract private health insurance if your route needs it, and gather housing proof. Dated papers (criminal record check, medical certificate, bank statements) come last, just before filing. After you file, collection, entry, padrón and the card follow in a fixed order: you cannot register your address before you have one in Spain, and you need that registration before the card appointment.

From filing date to residence card

If your answer to “On what day will you file at the consulate?” is 15 Mar 2027, your steps fall on these dates:

Entry and card dates are counted from your approval date (approval and entry).

Your situation

Applying from inside Spain

There is no consulate step, visa or entry window. You file with the immigration office, which must decide most applications within 3 months of registering them (real waits run 3 to 6 months); a family reunification file has 45 days. If you are approved, your one-month card clock starts on the date you are notified (how the month is counted). A digital nomad can file inside Spain only if lawfully here when filing (from abroad or inside Spain).

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens

You need no visa and no TIE. You can stay 3 months without formalities; if you stay longer, register within 3 months of arrival and you receive a paper certificate with your NIE (registering). Your non-EU family members apply for the family card within 3 months of entering Spain; if their nationality needs a visa, they first get a free entry visa as family of an EU citizen (EU family card).

Family arriving later

Relatives who join a resident later follow the reunification clocks: the office decides within 45 days of registration, the family applies for the visa within 2 months of approval, enters within the visa's 3 months and applies for the TIE within one month of entry (visa and entry after reunification). Children who travel with you on a visa follow your entry window and each applies for their own TIE (TIE for children).

Work permit holders

Your employer files the work authorisation inside Spain first. Once it is granted, you apply for the visa at the consulate within 1 month of the authorisation, then follow the same collection, entry and card steps (work permit file).

UK citizens

Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries hold a residence card for beneficiaries, not the EU certificate. UK citizens outside the agreement are treated as non-EU nationals and need a visa (are you covered?).

When a clock runs out

• A certificate has aged out: replace it before you file; after filing, answer the office's request to fix the file within the period it states (document expiry).
• You did not collect the visa or enter in time: the visa lapses and you file a new application with fresh documents and fees (missed windows).
• You missed the one-month card deadline: apply straight away; the fine is up to 500 euros (applying late). If no appointment is available, the month keeps running: keep proof of every attempt (no appointments).
• You missed the 3-month EU registration: you still register, and a fine applies (registering).
• The consulate has not answered after 3 months: treat the application as refused. The reconsideration and court clocks differ for silent and express refusals (refusal clocks).