Ref. CS-202 · Passports from outside the EU
Coming to Castelló from outside the EU: what comes first
With a passport from outside the EU, your first piece is not the NIE but the right to live in Castelló: a visa from a Spanish consulate, or an authorisation decided in Spain. The NIE and the TIE card come with that right, or after it; laid in another order, the steps do not hold.
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01Find your route
- A job offer: the employer usually applies in Spain for your authorisation to live and work, then you ask the consulate for the visa
- A season of farm work: a work authorisation for a set period, arranged by the employer before you travel
- Studies: a stay for studies, with a visa from the consulate
- Living on your own income: the non-lucrative residence visa, which does not allow work
- Joining a non-EU relative who lives here: family reunification, started by that relative
- Joining an EU relative: the residence card on form EX-19, a separate route
- Research or highly qualified work: their own authorisations, the EU Blue Card among them
02What the Oficina de Extranjería decides
The Oficina de Extranjería is the central government’s office for foreigners’ permits. In Castelló, the Delegación del Gobierno gives the address of its sede 2 as Calle Escultor Viciano 2, in the Edificio Administrativo La Pau, open from Monday to Friday, between 9:00 and 14:00. Its list covers authorisations to live and work as an employee, for a set period, for research, for holders of the EU Blue Card and for transnational services, and changes of status (modificaciones). For an information visit, you need a cita previa.
The same page names a sede 1 in Castellón, for residence matters such as family reunification, non-lucrative renewals, arraigo (residence through ties to Spain) and long-term residence, but it gives no address for it. If your file goes there, the documents you receive will say where.
03Your first weeks in Castelló
- Book the fingerprint appointment for your TIE, straight away
- Sign up on the padrón (register of residents) at your local Ajuntament, the town hall
- Get your Social Security number if you are going to work
- Open a bank account in Spain
04Planning the move from abroad
The visa is requested from your country of residence, before you travel, and the consulate looks at your papers from there. If you would like one contact for the whole move, AnchorLess, a private firm that handles visas and relocation to Spain, can plan that part with you. Once you are here, we take over the steps in Castelló: your toma de huellas, the padrón certificate and, if you will work, your Social Security number.
Questions on this sample
Can I come as a tourist and sort it out here?
For most routes, no: the visa is requested before you travel. A few procedures start in Spain, such as arraigo; each has its own conditions, so ask before you plan on one.
Who takes my fingerprints, the Oficina or the police?
The police. The Oficina de Extranjería decides on authorisations; the police issue the TIE card, at the address on your confirmation.
Extranjería Castellón: can I phone the Oficina?
Yes: the government’s page gives 964 759 340 and 964 759 365 for the office on Calle Escultor Viciano. Information visits need a cita previa.
Is buying a home a way to get residence?
No. Spain ended the golden visa, residence through investment, in 2025. A purchase gives you a home, not the right to live here.
Sources: the official pages
- Delegación del Gobierno en la Comunitat Valenciana — extranjería in Castellón: sede 1, sede 2 (Edificio La Pau) and the police premises
- policia.es — foreigners’ procedures listed at Plaza Teodoro Izquierdo 6 and Calle Río Sella 5, Castelló
- Cita previa for foreigners’ procedures — the administration’s online office, sede.administracionespublicas.gob.es
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