Registering in the Madrid padrón (empadronamiento)

Before you start

• Original, valid identity document
• A document showing that you can live at the address (with your name and the address), or a signed authorisation from the person who holds it

Documents you need

• Identity document: residence card (TIE) or passport for non-EU nationals; NIE plus passport or national ID card for EU, EEA and Swiss nationals

  required

• Current lease of a flat or room for at least six months, signed by everyone named in it

  required

• Signed authorisation from the owner or main tenant

  If you are not named on a lease, for example when you rent a room.

  optional

• Registration form (hoja padronal), signed by hand by every adult being registered

  For in-person applications.

  required

• Birth certificate or family book for children under 14

  optional

Step by step

1. 1

   Step 1: Choose how to apply

   • In person, by appointment only, at one of the city's 26 Línea Madrid citizen service offices (Oficinas de Atención a la Ciudadanía). Book through the padrón appointment page (category Padrón, service Altas, Bajas y Cambio de domicilio en Padrón), by calling 010 (free from within the city) or 914 800 010, or through the Línea Madrid online chat. The appointment must be in the name of the adult who will attend.
   • Online, through the city's electronic office, if you have an electronic ID accepted by the council (for example Cl@ve, a digital certificate or an electronic DNI). Anyone whose consent is needed has five calendar days to give it online, or the application is cancelled as incomplete.

   You cannot apply online and in person at the same time. The council's documentation assistant (Asistente de Documentación para el Padrón) tells you which papers to bring for households of up to two adults.

2. 2

   Step 2: Fill in the registration form

   For an in-person application, download the registration form (hoja padronal) from the procedure page and fill it in in capital letters with the details of everyone being registered. Every adult must sign it by hand.

   If people are still registered at the address but no longer live there, add the responsible declaration (declaración responsable para el empadronamiento); the council then starts removing them from the register.

3. 3

   Step 3: Bring original identity documents

   Foreign nationals must bring original, valid documents:

   • Non-EU nationals: your residence card (TIE); if you do not have one yet, your passport.
   • EU, EEA and Swiss nationals: your NIE if you have it, together with your original passport or national ID card. If your ID card does not show your signature or another required detail, bring your passport or attend in person.
   • Applicants for international protection: the receipt of your application (valid from one month after the application date) and proof that it is being processed.
   • Children under 14: family book (libro de familia), birth certificate, residence card or passport.

   The council can ask for a sworn translation of foreign documents.

4. 4

   Step 4: Prove that you can live at the address

   Bring one document showing the address and the name of at least one person being registered:

   • A current lease of a flat or room, which must identify the owner (or include the owner's authorisation if the landlord is not the owner), be signed by everyone named in it, last at least six months and show the property's cadastral reference (or add a document that does). For leases that have been extended or were signed electronically, also bring the latest rent receipt showing landlord, tenant, period and address.
   • Owners: the title deed, purchase contract or a land registry extract. If other people have been registered there since that date and no longer live there, add a utility bill no older than three months.

   The council may ask for more proof, for example when a lease forbids additional occupants or for tourist or seasonal contracts. Children who register where their parents are already registered do not need proof of the dwelling.

5. 5

   Step 5: If you are not on the lease, get an authorisation

   If you rent a room informally or live with friends or family, the person who holds the lease or owns the home fills in and signs the authorisation section of the hoja padronal, and adds their own lease or deed and a copy of their ID. If other adults are already registered and living there, one of them also signs the declaración de residencia section with a copy of their ID.

   If you live in Madrid but cannot document your address and nobody can authorise you, the council says it can advise you, assess your situation and, where appropriate, issue the reports needed for your registration.

6. 6

   Step 6: Registering children

   Any padrón change for a minor needs the authorisation of both parents. Children registering with both parents need a birth certificate or family book and the form signed by both. With one parent, add the other parent's authorisation, a court decision on custody or, if you have sole custody and cannot obtain consent, the council's responsible declaration explaining why.

7. 7

   Step 7: After the appointment

   At an in-person appointment you can be given a registration certificate (certificado de empadronamiento) at the end. Online, you receive a receipt and can track the application in the city's electronic office. Keep copies: you will need a recent volante or certificate for the health card (issued in the last 90 days) and the personal transport card (issued in the last three months).

8. 8

   Step 8: Renew and update

   • Non-EU nationals without permanent residence must renew their registration every two years; otherwise it expires and you are removed from the register.
   • Use the same procedure whenever you move within Madrid.

Watch out

Common mistakes

• Bringing photocopies instead of original, valid identity documents.
• Forgetting that every adult on the form must sign it by hand.
• Using a lease that has not been signed by all the tenants named in it.
• Letting the two-year renewal lapse, which can later affect your health card and immigration renewals.

Tips

• The city's two municipal immigrant information offices (Vía Carpetana, 99 and Juan Pantoja, 2) give free guidance on registration and other formalities.
• Register the whole household on one form so that a later *volante* shows everyone living with you, which school applications often require.
• If you live in Madrid you can usually authorise the health service and the transport consortium to check the register yourself instead of bringing a paper *volante*.

Frequently asked questions

Editorial answers written by our team, based on the sources below.

Official links

In your plan

• Register in the Madrid padrónAdd to plan
• Renew your padrón registration every two yearsAdd to plan
• Find and sign a long-term leaseAdd to plan
• Book temporary accommodation that allows padrón registrationAdd to plan
• Check what free movement means for you in SpainAdd to plan
• Find free help for newcomers in MadridAdd to plan

Sources

Written and checked by HomiStart editorial against the official sources below. Next scheduled check: 6 Apr 2027.