Consular registration (Registro de Matrícula)
The Consular Register is the gateway to everything else. Without being on it there is no username to book a passport appointment, no certificate of residence, and no vote from abroad.
And for residents it is not optional: Royal Decree 991/2024 makes it mandatory for anyone who has moved their habitual residence out of Spain.
Resident and non-resident
Registering as a resident enters you in the Register of Spaniards Resident Abroad, removes you from your Spanish municipal roll and, if you are of age, adds you to the CERA electoral roll, which is what lets you vote from here.
Registering as a non-resident is for temporary stays. It does not remove you from the Spanish roll, it is not compulsory and it lapses after a year: if you neither deregister nor switch to resident, it expires on its own.
What to file
The signed registration form —by both parents for a minor— and the declaration choosing your municipality for electoral purposes. That municipality is your last registered address in Spain, or the one you or your parents have the strongest ties to.
Also a copy of both sides of your DNI or of your Spanish passport, or failing that a full birth certificate; and proof of residence in the United States: original passport, Green Card, visa or entry stamp, plus a document showing your address.
For minors, the full birth certificate or, failing that, the family book.
- Signed registration form
- Declaration choosing your municipality for electoral purposes
- Both sides of your DNI, or your Spanish passport
- Proof of US residence: Green Card, visa or entry stamp
- A document showing your address
- For minors, a full birth certificate
How to file
In person by appointment, one per person, or by mail. One detail saves a trip: for children under 12, that same appointment can also be used to process the child's passport.
Deregistration is a step too
When you move back to Spain or to another district you have to deregister, and the consular deregistration certificate is what you need to sign on to a municipal roll again. It is the step most people forget and the one that causes the most trouble later with healthcare and tax.
The same appointment for a child under 12 can also cover their passport.Details verified on 8 September 2026.
We are not an official body. consuladosespana.us collects and checks information on Spanish consulates in the United States, with no link to the Government of Spain.
No appointments are booked here and nothing is charged for. Always confirm the detail with the office that covers you.