Question
We have just arrived in Spain with our Spain Non Lucrative Visa. My question is that we both have our S1 that were pre-registered to obtain the visas.
Are we covered for healthcare here straight away, or do we have to wait until we have our TIE?
Answers
These are the answers of Spainguru’s Facebook group members:
“We tried to register with our local Centro de Salud without our TIE and had problems. When we looked at the letter that was sent with the S1, it stated we needed our TIE. Also, we lived in Spain seven years ago, and when they keyed in our NIE number, all our old information came up, and we were rejected—we didn’t meet the conditions.
We now have our TIE and are going with our gestor to sort it out. My husband needed the doctor a few weeks ago and had to take his EHIC card and passport to get an appointment.”
“We took our S1s to our local medical centre. They issued us temporary SIP cards to enable us to access medical care in the Valencia region while we wait for our TIEs. They needed to see our padrón, GHICs, passports with the visas.”
“My mum did this too because she had to wait six months for her TIE appointment, so she had a temporary card and got all her medication okay.”
“We didn’t need TIEs to get our SIP cards. We pre-registered through INSS and received a form showing our right to state health care in Spain. We took this with our padrón, passports, and NIEs.
We received temporary SIPs and then permanent SIPs two weeks later. Had TIE appointments this week at Elche police station and now must wait about four weeks to collect them. We take a backup of scanned, printed documents for all visits to Spanish authorities just in case they ‘need’ anything extra. Good luck.”
“No, you are NOT covered with the pre-registration; this just satisfies the NLV application. Once you have your TIE, go back into the INSS and upload them, then you will get fully registered, and your accreditation will be available to download.
You take this along with the application form, TIE, and padrón to your local health centre and register, then you will be sent your health card. Until you get the card, you can use the certification document that you get from the health centre.”
“We received our accreditation document attached to an email the next day in Murcia Province.”
“For us, it took about two hours to get the accreditation document after uploading our TIEs.”
“You do not have to wait to actually get your TIE—the letter you receive from the national police after your TIE fingerprint appointment will get you your Social Security number. This I did online in a few days.”
Conclusion
According to Spainguru’s Facebook group members, having a pre-registered S1 does not necessarily grant immediate access to Spanish healthcare. While some regions issue temporary health cards based on the S1 and other supporting documents, others require a TIE before full registration.
For a smoother process, it is recommended to bring all necessary documents (padrón, passport, NIE, GHIC/EHIC) and be prepared for regional differences in implementation.
In some cases, uploading the TIE to INSS (Social Security Portal) after obtaining it speeds up accreditation, which can sometimes be processed within hours.
Additionally, the letter from the TIE fingerprint appointment may be enough to obtain a Social Security number and start the process sooner.
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