Guide: Paperwork & IDs
First 90 Days in Spain: Checklist by Residency Path
A practical 2026 guide to First 90 Days in Spain: Checklist by Residency Path for expats moving to Spain, with clear steps, required documents, and timeline planning.
Spain can absolutely improve your quality of life, but bureaucracy and planning mistakes can make this part of the move expensive. This guide provides a comprehensive checklist for your First 90 Days in Spain by Residency Path, ensuring your initial quarter establishes solid legal, financial, and integration foundations in the correct sequence.
Last reviewed on February 11, 2026. Rules, office criteria, and processing times can change. Confirm current requirements with official sources before filing or paying fees.
Clear promise
By the end of this guide, you should be able to make a confident go/no-go decision and execute the next steps without guessing.
Quick reality check
This path is usually a good fit if:
- You want to reduce repeat appointments by doing steps in the right order.
- You are willing to track forms, fee receipts, and status updates carefully.
This path is harder if:
- You are handling multiple procedures at once without one shared checklist.
- You rely on memory instead of saving proof files after each submission.
Decision questions to answer first
- What must be completed in month one, two, and three for your route?
- Which deadlines carry legal risk versus convenience risk?
- What can you delegate to a gestor (a local administrative agent) and what should stay owner-managed?
Step-by-step main guidance
1. Break the 90 days into weekly milestones by dependency order.
2. Run legal ID procedures first, then finance/healthcare setup.
3. Add work/tax tasks as soon as legal status evidence is available.
4. Track every completion with proof files and renewal reminders.
5. Use day-75 review to prepare upcoming renewals and long-term tasks.
Costs, timing, and required documents
Use these ranges for planning, not as guarantees:
- Preparation and form validation: 1 to 3 weeks.
- Appointment availability: can be immediate or several weeks depending on city.
- Status updates and final issuance: usually 1 to 8 weeks by procedure.
Core documents to prepare:
- All immigration and identification records from arrival onward.
- Address, banking, healthcare, and tax registration proofs.
- Employment or self-employment setup documents.
- Family/school records if relocating with dependents.
- Digital backup of every appointment, submission, and receipt.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
- Treating the first 90 days as administrative cleanup instead of core setup.
- Letting completed tasks go undocumented and unrecoverable later.
- Using old forms or fee codes copied from outdated forum posts.
Final action plan: what to do this week
- Draft a day-by-day checklist for weeks 1 to 4.
- Assign owner and deadline for each bureaucracy task.
- Set digital reminders for renewals and compliance checkpoints.
- Run a 15-minute weekly review to remove blockers early.