Moving to Spain is not a single application. Preparing documents in Türkiye, obtaining a visa from the consulate, registering with the town hall once you arrive and getting your residence card are linked steps. This checklist shows the order of those steps and where each one takes place. Every visa type has its own requirements, so use it together with the document list published by the consulate you will apply to.
Before you apply: choosing the right visa
The first step is to be clear about what you will do in Spain. If you will work remotely, the digital nomad visa is the relevant route; if you will live there without working, the non-lucrative residence visa (residencia no lucrativa); if you will study, the student visa; and if you will sign a contract with an employer in Spain, a work permit. Each has a different income threshold, health cover requirement and place of application.
Two reference figures are used for income thresholds: the Spanish minimum wage (SMI) and the IPREM index. As of 2025, the non-lucrative visa requires 400% of the monthly IPREM, about €2,400 a month, and the digital nomad visa 200% of the SMI, about €2,760 a month. Additional amounts are required for family members. These figures can change every year, and the amount in force on the date of application is what counts.
Documents to prepare in Türkiye
- Passport: Depending on the visa, it may need to be valid for at least one year
- Criminal record certificate: From the countries you have lived in recently, apostilled and with a sworn translation
- Medical certificate: For some visa types, a certificate showing you do not have a disease that could seriously affect public health
- Income and employment documents: Bank statements, contracts, letters from your employer
- Family documents: Marriage and birth records if your spouse and children are applying too
- Health insurance: From an insurer authorised to operate in Spain, with the cover your visa type requires
Documents such as the criminal record certificate and the medical certificate are generally treated as valid for three months from the date of issue. It helps to obtain the documents that do not expire first, and the short-lived ones only once your appointment date is fixed.
Some applications require you to already hold a foreigner identity number (NIE) when you apply. The list published by the Consulate General in Istanbul for the digital nomad visa, for example, includes this requirement. Check the website of the consulate you will apply to for how to obtain the NIE.
The consulate stage
Residents of Türkiye apply for a national visa at the Embassy in Ankara or the Consulate General in Istanbul, depending on their address. Applications are mostly received through the visa application centre authorised by the consulate. Fees vary by visa type and consulate.
Under the new Regulation on Foreign Nationals (Real Decreto 1155/2024), once the visa is granted you must collect it within one month of notification, or you are treated as having withdrawn from it. Also check the validity dates on the visa: you must enter Spain within that period.
When you travel to Spain, carry the originals and copies of your apostilled and translated family documents, your health insurance policy, your accommodation or rental documents and your income documents, as well as your passport and visa. Some of them may be requested again for the padrón, the TIE and the bank. Keeping scanned copies as well makes things easier if anything is lost.
Your first weeks in Spain
- Empadronamiento: Register at your address in the municipal population register (padrón) of the town where you live. A rental contract or the owner's consent is required.
- TIE application: For visas or permits of more than six months, you must give your fingerprints for the foreigner identity card (TIE) within one month of entry. Appointments are made through the cita previa system at sede.administracionespublicas.gob.es.
- Social security registration: If you will work for an employer in Spain, the employer registers you; if you will be self-employed, you register yourself.
- Bank account: A Spanish IBAN is usually needed for rent, utilities and salary.
- Health card: If you are entitled to public healthcare, you apply at the health centre for your area.
- School enrolment: If you have children, you apply to the town hall or the regional education authority with your padrón certificate. Enrolment calendars and procedures vary by autonomous community.
Some visas under Law 14/2013, such as the digital nomad visa, allow you to live in Spain for the life of the visa without obtaining a TIE. If you obtain the permit from within Spain, however, you will need the card. Check which situation applies to you based on your visa type.
Tax and other practical matters
If you spend more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year, you will as a rule become tax resident there. Türkiye and Spain signed a double taxation agreement in 2002; which country taxes what depends on the type of income. Time-limited choices, such as opting into the special tax regime available to remote workers, come up in the first months. To avoid missing those deadlines, it is worth speaking to a tax adviser in Spain before you move.
Check with Spain's Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT) how long you can use your Turkish driving licence in Spain and whether it can be exchanged for a Spanish one. Once you become resident in Spain, driving on a foreign licence is only possible for a limited period.
When advice is worth getting
If you are moving as a family, your income comes from sources in more than one country, or a previous application was refused, it saves time to review your situation with a specialist before you start collecting documents. That is when the preparation of your Turkish documents, apostilles and translations can be planned. The steps in Spain themselves are carried out with the relevant bodies: the consulate, the town hall, the police and the tax agency.
Member of the Istanbul Bar Association. Spain immigration consultant. Profile
This article is for general information and is not legal advice. Legislation and case law may have changed since it was written.