The short version: moving to Mallorca from the United States follows a fairly predictable order. Before you fly: your passport, your NIE (the foreigner identification number) requested from a Spanish consulate in the US, your documents and your money already in euros. On arrival: the padrón at the town hall, the bank account, phone and internet, and a car. In the first month: health care, school and the rhythm of island life. What gets stuck most often, in our experience, is the NIE with its appointments and the bank account. Visas and residence are for your immigration lawyer; this guide covers the practical order as we see it from the south-east of the island.
First, the part that belongs to your lawyer
Before any practical step, there is a question only an immigration lawyer can answer for your case: under what status you will live in Spain. Visas, residence authorizations, the Schengen short-stay rule Americans call the 90/180 rule, overstaying and the income a given visa asks for are legal matters that depend on each person’s circumstances. We do not give legal advice on any of them.
The official places to start are the Spanish consulate that covers your state, which publishes the residence visas it handles (see, for example, the non-working residence visa page of the Consulate General in Houston), and the Ministry of Inclusion’s types of authorization, with a short official questionnaire on the options for living and working in Spain. Take what you find to your lawyer, your own or one we can put you in touch with. Tax residence is a separate question, for a tax adviser; we introduce our clients to one.
Before you fly: passport, NIE and the first appointment
The NIE, Número de Identidad de Extranjero, is the personal number that identifies a foreigner in every dealing with Spain: the bank, the notary, the utilities, the tax office. Together with the bank account, it is where things get stuck most often, which is why we suggest settling it from the US, before coming.
According to the NIE pages of the Spanish consulates in New York and Miami (consulted in October 2026), the NIE can be requested in Spain or at the consulate for your place of residence, in person or through an authorized representative, and always by appointment. The consulates list the official EX-15 form, your passport with a copy of the photo page, form 790 code 12 with the consular fee, and the economic, professional or social reasons for the request. The number is assigned in Spain by the National Police and sent to you by email; the consulate cannot speed it up. Appointments are the bottleneck: the Miami consulate, for instance, releases new slots each working day between 8:00 and 8:30 am, so it pays to book as soon as you know you are coming.
One line on those pages matters for anyone moving: an NIE obtained through a consulate lets you carry out procedures with the Spanish authorities, but it is not valid for residing in Spain. That is the conversation to have with your lawyer.
Before you fly: documents and money
Depending on the procedure, Spanish offices may ask for US public documents such as birth or marriage certificates. Both the United States and Spain are parties to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, according to the Hague Conference status table, so those documents are authenticated with an apostille issued in the US: generally by the state Secretary of State for state documents, and by the US Department of State’s Office of Authentications for federal ones, as the US entry on the Hague Conference’s list of authorities explains. Which documents you need, and whether they also need a sworn translation, depends on your procedure; your lawyer will give you the list.
The clients who settle in most smoothly arrive with their money already moved into euros. A Spanish bank, under the country’s anti-money-laundering law (Law 10/2010, Articles 3 and 5), has to identify every customer and ask about their professional activity, so expect questions about where the funds come from and what you do, and bring paperwork that answers them.
On arrival: the padrón at the town hall
The national instructions to town halls (published in the BOE in 2020) describe the padrón as the administrative register of a municipality’s residents, whose data serve as proof of residence and of your usual address there. To register, the town hall will ask for your identity document and a document showing that you live in the home, such as the deed or a current rental contract with the latest rent receipt.
In Santanyí, Ses Salines or Campos it is done at the town hall, in Spanish, and it comes early because other procedures ask for the certificate, among them the public health card in some municipalities.
On arrival: bank account, phone and internet
The bank account is the second place where things stall. Everything in a Spanish bank is signed in Spanish, the bank will ask for your NIE, and the anti-money-laundering questions described above take time to answer. Come with your documents organized, and plan your first weeks so that nothing urgent depends on the account.
Internet is the question clients ask about first. Whether fibre reaches a particular house is checked address by address with the operators, and in the countryside it varies from one house to the next; some country houses rely on satellite internet such as Starlink. If you work from home, check it before choosing a house.
Shopping is simpler than people expect: supermarkets, the weekly village markets, and Amazon delivers here. The market days of Santanyí, Campos and their neighbors are in our guide to meal times and tipping in Mallorca.
On arrival: a car, bought here or rented
In the first year, what our clients do is one of two things: buy a car here, new or used, or rent one for several months until their paperwork is in place.
The license surprises Americans. The United States does not appear on the DGT’s list of countries with a license exchange agreement (updated June 2026), and for countries without an agreement the DGT, Spain’s traffic authority, says on its page for people moving to Spain from outside the EU that a resident will need to obtain a new Spanish license. When that applies to you is a question for your lawyer. What to expect on the roads is in our guide Is Mallorca safe?
On arrival: school, if you have children
Most international schools on the island are in Palma, Calvià and Marratxí; the one in the east is in Manacor. Our guide to international schools in Mallorca lists every school on the official register with its curriculum, ages and the driving distances from Santanyí, Ses Salines and Campos, and explains how the public system and the school calendar work.
The first month: health care
The public health card, the tarjeta sanitaria individual, is issued by IB-Salut, the Balearic health service, to people who have a recognized right to publicly funded health care, according to the Balearic Government’s online office. Whether you have that right depends on your circumstances and is one more question for your lawyer.
Day to day, the south-east has local health centers and private clinics where English is spoken, and 112 is the single emergency number.
The first month: what surprises Americans
What surprises our American clients most is remarkably consistent:
- The bureaucracy and the appointments. Almost every procedure needs a cita previa, an appointment booked in advance. For immigration offices and the National Police, the official booking system is the Cita previa de extranjería on the government’s online office.
- How safe and calm it is. In the villages of the south-east, many neighbors still leave the front door unlocked. The official figures are in Is Mallorca safe?
- The hours and the midday break. Shops and offices close for lunch and reopen in the afternoon, and dinner starts late. Our guide to meal times and tipping explains the rhythm.
- How affordable everyday life feels compared with home: the coffee at the bar, the market, the weekday set lunch.
And the language: paperwork is in Spanish, while English goes a long way in shops and restaurants, as our guide What language do they speak in Mallorca? explains.
What you need to know
Can I get my NIE before moving to Mallorca?
The Spanish consulates in the US accept NIE applications by appointment. They also state that an NIE obtained this way does not allow you to reside in Spain.
Do I need a visa to move to Mallorca from the USA?
That is the first question for an immigration lawyer. The consulates tell anyone who wants to live in Spain to find out first whether they need a visa; we do not give legal advice.
What is the padrón and why does it matter?
It is the town hall’s register of residents. Its data serve as proof of residence and address, and other procedures, such as the health card in some municipalities, ask for the certificate.
What does a Spanish bank ask for when you open an account?
Your identification and NIE, plus information about your professional activity and where your funds come from, as Spain’s anti-money-laundering law requires. Everything is signed in Spanish.
Can I drive in Mallorca with my US license?
The United States is not on the DGT’s list of exchange agreements, and for those countries the DGT says a resident will need a new Spanish license. When that applies is for your lawyer.
Where we work
If you are planning a move to the south-east, these are the villages where we work every day: homes in Santanyí, homes in Ses Salines and homes in Campos. When you buy with us, we handle the change of utilities into your name after the sale. For anything else, contact Villas y Fincas Mallorca and we will answer in English.
Updated October 2026. Consular procedures and official lists change; this guide reflects the official sources we consulted in October 2026 and what we see with clients in the south-east of Mallorca. It is for general information only and is not legal advice: visas, residence and tax questions belong to your lawyer and tax adviser.
