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NIE Vigo

Number, booking, Europeans

Certificado de registro UE Vigo: a European’s green paper for life on the ría

Any EU, EEA or Swiss national staying in Vigo beyond three months files form EX-18 to be registered as a resident, at a police appointment booked for the province of Pontevedra; what you take home is the certificado de registro, or green certificate as most people say. No permit is involved; the certificate has no photo and records your address and your NIE, whether the number was yours already or is assigned that day.

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Who it concerns

Europeans (EU, EEA, Swiss) whose stay in Vigo or nearby runs past three months, whatever brought them here.

The forms

  • EX-18
  • Modelo 790 código 012

Where it is done

Named on the cita previa confirmation you receive; policia.es lists EU registration in Pontevedra, Tui, Marín, Vilagarcía de Arousa and Salvaterra de Miño

Put these in your folder

  1. The EX-18 with your signature
  2. ID card or passport in force, plus a photocopy
  3. Proof of work, study, means or family
  4. Receipt of the 790-012: bank-stamped copy, or proof of online payment
  5. The printed booking

Europeans who make Vigo home

A Portuguese nurse starting at a hospital in the city, a French researcher at the Universidade de Vigo, an Italian family who chose a flat in Bouzas, a Polish welder taken on by a shipyard on the ría: every adult files in their own name, and children are registered as well.

If you come for short spells and your home stays in your own country, you are not a resident here. A NIE requested on form EX-15 then covers the contract or the purchase.

Working, studying, living on your means, or family

The application rests on one footing, and the proof follows from it:

  • Working for an employer: the signed contract, or the company’s written confirmation of your post
  • Working for yourself: your autónomo registration, or other evidence of the business
  • Student: enrolment at a recognised school or university, health insurance, and a signed statement that your means will cover the stay
  • Not working: proof of sufficient means, such as pension statements or bank balances, and health cover
  • Family of a European resident: documents proving the relationship, plus that person’s registration

The folder, in the order it is asked for

Already on the padrón? Carry the padrón volante as well; it answers any question about your address before it is asked.

  • Form EX-18, completed and signed
  • Passport or national identity card in force, with a photocopy
  • The proof for your footing, originals and copies
  • Receipt of the 790-012: bank-stamped copy, or proof of online payment
  • The printed cita previa confirmation

Pontevedra, Tui, Marín, Vilagarcía or Salvaterra?

The Delegación del Gobierno places the certificate of EU residents among the procedures done at police offices, so it is not issued on Rúa Teófilo Llorente. On the current policia.es list, “régimen comunitario”, its heading for Europeans and their families, appears at all five units for foreigners in the province: the Brigada on C/ Joaquín Costa 17 in Pontevedra and the units in Tui, Marín, Vilagarcía de Arousa and Salvaterra de Miño. None of the five is in Vigo. Until early 2024 the list also included the Vigo Traviesas station, C/ Álvaro Cunqueiro 6, which the Universidade de Vigo’s guide still gives. Book for the province of Pontevedra and follow your confirmation.

Keeping the green paper useful

Because it has no photo, the certificate always travels with your passport or ID card. It shows the address you declared, so keep it current when you move. After a long enough period of continuous residence, a certificate of permanent residence can replace it.

In Vigo

For Europeans settling in Vigo, Redondela or along the Morrazo, the certificate is booked for the province of Pontevedra. Each of the five foreigners’ units on today’s policia.es list for the province shows EU registration, none of them in Vigo; the Universidade de Vigo still names C/ Álvaro Cunqueiro 6, listed by the police until early 2024. Your confirmation decides.

Questions people ask about this

Certificado de registro UE Vigo: is it issued at Teófilo Llorente?

No. That office decides authorisations. The certificate is a police procedure, which policia.es currently lists in Pontevedra, Tui, Marín, Vilagarcía de Arousa and Salvaterra de Miño; your confirmation gives the office booked.

My Erasmus year at the Universidade de Vigo runs from September to June. Do I register?

Yes, as a student: your enrolment, health cover and a signed declaration of means.

Can I use the green certificate as identification?

Not alone. With no photograph, it goes everywhere with your passport or national ID card.

Do I need the certificate before the padrón?

Not in Vigo: the Concello’s list for foreigners asks for a NIE document with photo, a passport, a residence card or a TIE, so a passport is enough to register your address.

Checked against these official pages

Re-read for this guide in October 2026.

Which raft are you tied to?

A few lines are enough: your nationality, where around the ría you live or will live, and what has to be ready by when. We answer by email with the route that fits.

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