What to do after getting your Spain residency approval

Approval of a residence permit is not the end of the process — it’s the middle. After the electronic notification, you need to go through several steps: book a fingerprint appointment, get the plastic residence card, register your address, and open a bank account. Each of these can take months.

Approval is not the resident card

When approval arrives by email, it’s an official document, but it doesn’t grant the main right yet: to safely travel across Schengen countries and return to Spain without a visa. At this stage you cannot open a bank account and aren’t ready for full life in the country.

To get the plastic resident card, you need to appear at the police station in person. The procedure requires: a scan of the approval, two photographs, personal presence, and a fingerprint appointment booking. There may be nuances between provinces, but the algorithm is the same everywhere.

Fingerprinting: the hardest step

This is the most problematic step after approval. Not all police stations agree to take fingerprints if you don’t have a Spanish address registration (empadronamiento). Because of this, the choice of stations narrows — especially in big cities like Barcelona and Madrid, where appointment slots disappear within hours.

If you have a long-term lease and address registration, the process speeds up: you book at the station tied to your address. Without registration, you’ll have to search for stations that accept applicants without one — and there are fewer of them every month.

Slots open rarely and close fast. In practice this means that after approval you need to either plan a trip to Spain specifically for this step, or already be in the country and quickly grab a free slot.

Address registration (empadronamiento)

Address registration isn’t needed for the residence permit itself, but for dozens of everyday and administrative procedures: buying or renting housing, buying a car, opening a bank account, enrolling children in school or kindergarten.

Many people end up in a vicious circle: the landlord requires a bank account, the bank requires address registration, and registration requires renting housing. This is one of the main reasons to plan your life after approval in advance and expect that completing all procedures will take several months.

Opening a bank account

Despite what you might read online, this is often harder than it seems. Not all banks quickly open accounts for Russian citizens, even with the plastic residence card in hand.

A bank may require: an employment contract for the nomad visa, documents about income sources, a rental agreement, or address registration. One bank may accept scanned copies of the approval, another will want the original plastic card and take several days to decide.

Travel insurance won’t work: its terms usually state that the policyholder must not hold residency in that country. If your passport shows you’ve been in the country for more than three months, the policy simply won’t be valid.

Non-bank apps may let you open an account with a photo of your residence permit, but if you need an account with a traditional Spanish bank, you may have to approach several institutions or use the help of a local consultant.

Health insurance

This isn’t just an application requirement — it’s a necessity for safe living. Travel policies won’t cover you once you become a resident: their terms clearly state they apply only to tourists.

Research in advance which insurance you plan to get, what it covers, where the clinics are in your city, and whether it meets the basic requirements.

Taxes and registering as self-employed

The rules depend on how you applied for the Digital Nomad visa:

If you’re an employee: you cannot register as autónomo (self-employed). You file one tax return per year covering last year’s income and pay taxes by November of the current year based on that amount.

If you’re a sole trader, self-employed, or work under a service contract: you need to register as autónomo right after getting approval, without waiting for the plastic card. Autónomo status requires filing quarterly returns (about 10 per year including the annual one) and paying social security contributions monthly.

Documents for family members

The main advantage of the Digital Nomad visa is that a partner and family members can be added to a single application, without waiting for a separate family reunification procedure. However, after approval, each of them will need a bank account opened, and children will need to be enrolled in school or kindergarten — all of this will stretch over several months after arrival.

Keep all your documents

Keep originals and copies of everything you have: approvals, contracts, receipts, payment confirmations. When renewing your residence permit and in case of inspections, you’ll need to be able to prove legal stay and compliance with all visa conditions.