If you are a citizen of an EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland and you plan to live in Spain for more than three months, you need to register in the Central Registry of Foreigners. The document that proves that registration is called the Certificado de Registro de Ciudadano de la Unión Europea, better known as the CUE, and even better known among our clients as the tarjeta verde or the green NIE.
What the CUE actually is and why it is called the green NIE
The official name is a mouthful, so most people fall back on shorter versions. In Spanish paperwork you will read Certificado de Registro de Ciudadano de la Unión Europea. On the street and at the police station you will hear tarjeta verde. In expat groups it often gets called the green NIE. All three describe the same thing.
The document itself is a small A5 sheet of green paper, not a plastic card. It carries your NIE number, your personal details, the address you registered at and the date of issue. It is legally what turns you from a visitor into a resident under the Régimen Comunitario set out in Royal Decree 240/2007.
If you did not have a NIE before, the same appointment gives you one. The certificate and the NIE are issued together and the number printed on the green paper is your NIE from that day onwards.
CUE, NIE and TIE - which document you actually need
The three acronyms get mixed up constantly, so it is worth being explicit.
The NIE is a number, not a document. Any foreigner who has any dealings with Spanish administration (buying a property, opening a bank account, inheriting, signing a contract) is given a NIE, and we walk through the application on our NIE number page. Having a NIE does not make you a resident.
The CUE is the document you are reading about. It is only for EU, EEA and Swiss citizens who become residents. It contains a NIE and confirms you are registered as a resident. In terms of physical format it is a piece of green paper.
The TIE is a plastic card with photograph and fingerprints. It is issued to non-EU foreigners who obtain a residence permit in Spain. British citizens after Brexit apply for a TIE, not a CUE. Non-EU family members of an EU citizen also apply for a TIE-format card, and we cover that on our EU family residence card page.
| Document | Who it is for | Format | Grants residency |
|---|---|---|---|
| NIE | Any foreigner dealing with Spanish administration | A number, no physical card | No |
| CUE | EU, EEA and Swiss citizens becoming resident | Green A5 paper certificate | Yes |
| TIE | Non-EU foreigners with a residence permit | Plastic card with photo and fingerprints | Yes |
Confusing them costs time. If you are Dutch, French, German, Italian, Belgian or from any other EU country and someone tells you to book a TIE appointment, they are pointing you to the wrong queue.
Who is required to apply
Under Spanish law, any EU, EEA or Swiss citizen who intends to stay in Spain for more than three months has to register. In practice, the following situations are the ones we see most often at our Torrevieja office.
EU, EEA and Swiss citizens staying more than three months
Anyone from the EU-27, the EEA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) or Switzerland who is settling in Spain, whether for work, retirement, family or study. The three-month clock starts from your entry into Spain.
Retired Europeans settling on the Costa Blanca
If you are moving to Spain as a pensioner, you register as a non-working resident. You demonstrate that your pension covers the cost of living and that you hold health insurance recognised in Spain, either the European S1 form when your country participates (our guide to registering the S1 form in Spain covers what to bring) or a private policy that offers comparable cover.
EU professionals working remotely or self-employed in Spain
Freelancers, digital professionals working for a company back home and business owners register as either workers or self-employed, depending on whether they are on a foreign payroll or paying autónomo contributions in Spain.
Family members who hold EU citizenship
If your spouse, children or parents also hold an EU passport, each of them applies for their own CUE. If instead you are the family member of an EU citizen and you hold a passport from outside the EU, the procedure is a different one and we describe it on the EU family residence card page.
Requirements by profile
The Spanish authorities want to see that you have a reason to be in Spain and that you will not become a burden on public funds. What that means in practice depends on your profile.
Employed workers
You show your employment contract or your Social Security registration (informe de vida laboral or a certificado de empresa). If your contract is with a Spanish employer, this is enough on its own. Health cover comes through Social Security, so you do not need private insurance.
Self-employed
You show that you are registered as autónomo in the RETA regime or that you are registered with the Spanish tax office through Modelo 036 or 037. As with employed workers, health cover is provided through Social Security.
Students
You show a certificate of enrolment from a recognised Spanish institution, private health insurance for the length of your studies and a statement that you have sufficient resources for yourself and, where applicable, for family members joining you.
Non-working residents with sufficient means
This is the profile that most retirees and non-earning residents fall into. You demonstrate two things.
First, that you have income or savings sufficient to live in Spain. The reference figure the administration uses is the IPREM for the current year (in 2026 the IPREM stands at around 600 euros a month, or 7,200 euros a year across twelve payments). As a working benchmark, most offices accept the annual IPREM for a single applicant and roughly a 25% uplift for each additional dependant. The final figure is confirmed at the moment of preparing your file, because the IPREM is updated in the Ley de Presupuestos each year.
Second, that you hold comprehensive private health insurance valid in Spain with no co-payments and no exclusions, or that you are covered by an equivalent European public system.
Documents you need to bring to the appointment
- Form EX-18 filled in and signed (one copy).
- Valid passport or national identity document from your country of origin, plus a photocopy.
- Payment receipt for tax form 790 code 012 (see the fees section below).
- Proof of your local address, usually the empadronamiento certificate issued by your Spanish town hall (our post on how to get a padrón explains the local process).
- Proof of profile, which means employment contract, RETA registration, enrolment certificate, or bank statements and pension slips plus health insurance policy, depending on which route applies to you.
Documents issued outside the European Union have to be translated by a traductor jurado and apostilled. Documents issued inside the EU are usually exempt under Regulation 2016/1191, which is worth checking case by case to avoid unnecessary translations.
How the appointment works and where you attend
You book the appointment through the Spanish administration's cita previa portal, choosing Certificados UE as the procedure. In our area that means the police station or Oficina de Extranjería in Torrevieja, Alicante or Orihuela, depending on where you are registered on the padrón.
The appointment itself is short. An officer reviews the file, stamps the paperwork and, if everything is in order, prints and hands you the green certificate on the spot. If a document is missing or unclear, the officer usually gives you ten working days to submit it, and the certificate is issued once the file is complete.
There is no fingerprinting and no photograph. Because the CUE is a piece of paper, you can safely make photocopies and keep a scan for online use, though the original is what banks, notaries and administrations will ask to see.
Fees and processing time
The tax you pay is Modelo 790 código 012. As of 2026 the fee for the CUE stands at 12 euros. You pay it in advance at any Spanish bank or through the online payment link provided in the tax form, and you bring the receipt to your appointment. Because the exact amount is updated by the Ministry when their fee schedule changes, we always confirm the figure with you when we prepare your paperwork.
Processing time is immediate when the file is complete. When there is a request for further documents, the total time depends on how quickly you can supply what is missing, but in practice most of our cases close within the same week.
After five years - the permanent CUE
Once you have lived in Spain legally and continuously for five years, you gain the right to apply for the certificado de residencia permanente, sometimes called the permanent CUE.
Two things change and two things do not.
What changes is your status. You are no longer required to prove income, health insurance or occupation. Your residence is settled and cannot be revoked for administrative reasons unless you spend long uninterrupted periods outside Spain.
What does not change is the format. The permanent CUE is still a green sheet of paper. It carries your NIE and a note that says residencia permanente.
You can spend up to two years outside Spain without losing this permanent status, whereas the initial CUE has a shorter tolerance. If you plan long stays outside the country during your first five years, it is worth talking through the implications before your absence.
Frequently asked questions
Do I get a green certificate if I already have a NIE?
Not automatically. The NIE and the CUE are two different things. If you were given a NIE years ago for a property purchase or a bank account and you are now moving to Spain, you still need to apply for the CUE. The good news is that your existing NIE number is kept and reused on the green certificate.
Can I buy a property in Spain without a CUE?
Yes. To sign at the notary you need a NIE, not residency. Many EU buyers keep a non-resident NIE for years. That said, once you spend more than 183 days a year in Spain, or once you move here permanently, you are required to register as a resident and obtain the CUE.
What happens if I have lived in Spain for years without registering?
You are technically in breach of the registration obligation. In practice the administration rarely applies fines to EU citizens, but the missing certificate blocks things you probably need, from proper health cover to certain bank products and, eventually, the right to apply for permanent residence. The remedy is straightforward, which is to apply now and register from today.
Do British citizens qualify for the CUE?
No. Since Brexit, British citizens are treated as non-EU foreigners and apply for a TIE, not a CUE. The one exception is a British national who also holds citizenship of another EU country, in which case they can apply as a national of that other country.
Do I need private health insurance if I have European public cover?
If you hold a European S1 form issued by your country of origin, that counts as valid health cover for the CUE application. The same applies to public cover arranged through bilateral agreements. If your only cover is the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), that is designed for temporary visits and is not accepted for residency purposes, so you will need a private policy. Once your CUE is issued, you can also register for the SIP health card to access the regional public health service.
Can my non-EU spouse apply at the same appointment?
Not for the same certificate. Your spouse applies for the tarjeta de residencia de familiar de ciudadano de la Unión, which is a different document with its own paperwork and appointment. We cover it on the EU family residence card page. In practice we prepare both files together for couples in this situation so nothing falls out of sync.
How do I replace a lost or damaged green certificate?
You book a new cita previa for the same procedure, submit form EX-18 marked as a duplicate, pay a reduced fee and receive a new certificate on the day. Your NIE and your registration date stay the same.
When can I apply for the permanent CUE?
From the day you complete five years of continuous legal residence in Spain. Continuous does not mean without leaving the country, but rather without a break longer than the tolerances the regulation allows (six months a year, or one absence of up to twelve consecutive months for tasado reasons).
