First things first, what is empadronamiento and why is it so important? The Padrón Municipal is the administrative record that is kept in the town halls or citizen offices of the municipality, it includes all the neighbors who live or usually reside there and contains personal and residence data.
According to the law, every person living in Spain must register in the city, province, or autonomous community where they reside.
However, when people carry out this procedure, many are often confused by not knowing when to request an empadronamiento certificate and when to request a registration flyer (also known in Spanish as volante).
Is this your question? In this blog we solve it for you, keep reading! And if you have any questions, you can contact Entre Trámites and we will resolve them for you. You can request free immigration advice!
What is the Empadronamiento for?
The padrón municipal accredits the time spent in Spanish territory, regardless of nationality or legal status (whether or not you have residence or are in process). The Empadronamiento registration accredits you as a resident of the municipality where you live in Spain.
What is the Empadronamiento certificate?
As its name says, this certifies residence and habitual domicile and is requested in cases in which it must be presented to the following organizations or procedures:
- Judicial organizations (courts and tribunals).
- Military organizations or foreign authorities.
- Civil Registry (marriages, nationality, changes of name and/or surname and adoptions, etc.) Declarations of heirs.
- Other Official Records, Penitentiary Centers, Customs Directorate, SEPE, Universities.
- Residence by Arraigo (it is necessary to prove three years of residence).
- Recognition of dependency situation.
Also, some Spanish consulates can request a legalized and apostilled Empadronamiento certificate for family reunification .
This document is signed in original, it can be legalized and apostilled depending on the situation; usually, it is legalized at the municipality’s town hall and apostilled at the Ministry of Justice. In other words, this document has much greater legal value.
What is the Registration Flyer (volante)?
On the other hand, the Registration Flyer is an informative document ONLY, which indicates only the residence and habitual domicile . It can be obtained in person at town halls, by post or online using the Digital Certificate.
This flyer does NOT have an original signature, it carries a stamp that is engraved on the application to prove its veracity.
For some bureaucratic procedures such as processing the fingerprint for the Residence Card, it will be enough to present the Registration Flyer in case you have changed your address.
BEWARE! When you want to submit an application to the Immigration Office or another entity, you must read carefully what requirements they ask of you, whether the empadronamiento certificate or registration flyer, as the municipal administrations are usually very strict with the documentation of the procedures.
Do you need more information about Empadronamiento in Spain?
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