Registration, banking and utilities in Seville

The order that works

Get the NIE before you fly, in person at a Spanish consulate or through a representative holding a poder notarial, then open a Spanish bank account. Sign the lease next, because a landlord will want both, and empadronarse at the Ayuntamiento as soon as the contract exists. Only then file the residence registration proper, request a social security number and claim a health card. Utilities come last, once the contract carries your name.

The Oficina de Extranjería, and what it costs

Seville's office is at Plaza de España s/n, 41071, and almost every procedure needs a cita previa booked through the state portal at sede.administracionespublicas.gob.es; public hours run on separate winter and summer timetables, so check them when the appointment is confirmed. The office also keeps an appointment mailbox at cita_previa_extranjeria.sevilla@correo.gob.es. Appointment scarcity, not the paperwork, is what sets your timetable, and no official figure for the wait exists, so book the moment you know your dates. The fees are national, set by Orden PJC/617/2025: €9.84 for the NIE on form EX-15 with tasa modelo 790 código 012, €12 for the EU registration certificate on form EX-18, and for a TIE €16.08 on first issue, €19.30 on renewal and €21.87 for long-term residence.

• EU, EEA and Swiss citizens staying more than three months must register on the Registro Central de Extranjeros. The EX-18 wants an employment contract or proof of employment, self-employed registration, enrolment in studies with cover, or sufficient means plus health insurance.
• Non-EU remote workers on the digital nomad route must show 200% of the SMI. Real Decreto 126/2026 set the 2026 SMI at €1,221 a month in fourteen payments, so the threshold is €34,188 a year, around €2,849 a month, plus 75% of the SMI for the first accompanying family member and 25% for each one after. Applying from inside Spain to the UGE gives an initial three-year authorisation.

Empadronamiento at the Ayuntamiento de Sevilla

Seville wants the completed hoja padronal, valid identification, and one document proving you occupy the flat: the property title, or the rental contract together with the most recent rent receipt, or an EMASESA water contract or bill in your name. The rent receipt is what catches people out, because it is not in your hands on the day you sign, and electricity and gas bills are not accepted here — only water. If others are already registered at the address, you also need written authorisation on the hoja padronal from an adult who holds the title or the lease. The whole procedure can be done online with an FNMT digital certificate, which is the route to take if you can; in person it is by appointment at your municipal district, booked online or by calling 010 from inside Seville or 955 010 010 from outside.

• Identification means a DNI for Spaniards, the EU registration certificate showing the NIE plus a passport or national ID for EU citizens, and a valid TIE or, failing that, a passport for everyone else.
• The padrón certificate is what the health card, school admission and the residence registration all ask to see, so request it as soon as you are on the register.

Water is EMASESA, electricity is your choice

Water comes from EMASESA, the municipal utility, and there is no supplier to shop for. Opening an account needs the application, a certificado de instalación interior from a registered installer, identification and a document proving your right to occupy the property showing its cadastral reference, and EMASESA allows itself up to fifteen working days from contracting to activate supply. Electricity is liberalised, so the supplier is yours to pick, but the paperwork is not: the CUPS code from a previous bill, identification, a Spanish account for the direct debit, the address with its cadastral reference, and a valid boletín if the installation is new or the existing certificate is more than twenty years old. A change of holder on a live supply is free or close to it, a genuine new connection is charged at the regulated access, extension and connection rights and comes to roughly €220 plus VAT on a standard 5.75 kW supply, and a new boletín costs around €100.

• The potencia contratada is set at this moment and is what decides whether the air conditioning trips the supply. Raise it before summer, not during it.

The bank account and the social security number

A non-resident needs a passport and a certificado de no residente, applied for on form EX-15 with tasa modelo 790 código 012 at €7.31, at a Policía Nacional comisaría with immigration competence and again by cita previa, or through a consulate — the office has up to five days to resolve it, so do not plan on walking out with it; a resident needs the NIE or TIE and proof of address. You cannot be put on a payroll or registered as autónomo without a Número de Seguridad Social, which is free. Apply through the Importass portal with Cl@ve, a digital certificate or a DNIe, choosing Solicitar Número de la Seguridad Social and filing form TA.1 with a valid DNI or NIE and, for foreigners, the passport and the residence authorisation or visa. Without electronic identification, book a cita previa at a TGSS office or a CAISS instead.

In order

1. 1Apply for the NIE before you fly, at a consulate or through a representative with a poder notarial.
2. 2Open a Spanish bank account. A non-resident needs the certificado de no residente from a comisaría, €7.31 and up to five days; a neobank on your home-country ID is the usual stopgap.
3. 3Sign the lease, and ask the landlord for a rent receipt as soon as the first month is paid — the padrón wants the contract and the receipt together.
4. 4Empadronarse with the hoja padronal, identification, and the contract plus the latest rent receipt.
5. 5File the residence registration at Plaza de España: EX-18 if you are an EU citizen, a TIE if you are not.
6. 6Request a Número de Seguridad Social on form TA.1 through Importass.
7. 7Take the padrón certificate and your INSS cover document to your centro de salud for the health card.
8. 8Open the EMASESA water account, allowing up to fifteen working days, and put the electricity in your name.
9. 9Get an FNMT digital certificate, which removes most future appointments.