Empadronamiento for Spain

The empadronamiento is a document that is given out by the town or city that states that they have verified that you live at the address you have provided them. Often the local police come around to do the verification. So your solicitor is right; you can’t get one until you live somewhere.

For the visa application, you have to show an address at which you will be living upon arriving in Spain. I assume you did this since you have your NLV. I did it by renting for six weeks and included a note that I'd find a permanent rental after arriving. I began apartment hunting as soon as I arrived but waited until I had that long-term rental agreement before registering my address. So don't register your address until you have that rental agreement for the longer time-frame.

For me, it went smoothly.

I'll add that my solicitor had me get a note from my landlord saying they gave permission to use the address to register. It was a simple sentence:

Soy.. mayor de edad con DNI.... y con domicilio en..... , Propietario de la casa sita en.... Autorizo al Sr. .... a registrarse en el domicilio de la cual es un inquilino en....

@TinaChico Hi Although I cannot help you decide what to do,  what has been explained to us was "How can the government grant you a visa to live in the country if they do not know that you will have a property to live in that you can afford to rent or buy"  They need to know you can reside in the country with enough finances in what or where you choose to live.  As we found a house we loved we are in the process of purchasing & will apply for our NLV afterwards, we fit the criteria so will have to hope all goes OK it was a gamble we had to take as we could not move forwards otherwise.

@TinaChico unless you have an address you will not be able to have an empadronamiento. Empadronamiento = registration of residency. No address = no empadronamiento.

@TinaChico NLV is arranged in origin and doesn't demand Empadronamiento. It is necessary, however, to go on with your papers once in Spain. If you need a NIE one of the papers to hand in is that. Rent a place, officially for a year. Be ready to lose your deposit if you consider moving during the year, or use the place to know the area better so that later you choose a more definite place to live. It is risky to come and buy property immediately.

@TinaChico

It is very frustrating, but many of these visa/residence applications require a proof of address in your new country (along with proof of funds, and proof of health insurance). And many of us would rather have our residence permit approved first, and then go buy/rent something.

And I think maybe you've been doing the Spanish immigration thing for quite a while, so I can understand that you're getting totally fed up with the whole process! But, fingers crossed, it will soon be over...

The proof of address is normally the deed for a property you own, or a long-term rental contract. The padron (at your local town hall) will want to see this before giving you a padron certificate. Perhaps the embassy will accept a short-term rental, and a promise to find something later... but it's very unlikely that the padron folks would accept it.

HOWEVER the NLV does NOT require a rental contract OR a padron certificate (see the official info below). So I was rather confused... and so re-read some of your earlier posts. It seems you have applied for a different visa, not the NLV (autonomo perhaps?), and it is already approved. Is the consulate really insisting on the padron?

As the padron is not needed for the NLV applications, my guess would be that you're on the NEXT stage, which is getting your TIE (Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero, your official biometric ID card). This process DOES require the padron certificate. If there's no time limit on getting the TIE, then wait for your family's NLVs before finding a property. If there's a time limit on your TIE application, then you have to figure out a rental or a purchase in order to get the padron certificate.

Separately, the NLVs should be granted, if your husband has passive income (such as rents, dividends, pensions). So you should be confident that you will get them, and you can proceed with a property for the family. EVEN IF the NLVs are not approved, there may be an alternative of "family reunification". If you're a legal resident of Spain (as your TIE proves), you might be able to apply to reunite with your family members (spouse and minor children).

Official NLV guidance:

https://extranjeros.inclusion.gob.es/es/InformacionInteres/InformacionProcedimientos/Ciudadanosnocomunitarios/hoja010/index.html

Official Family Reunification guidance:

https://extranjeros.inclusion.gob.es/es/InformacionInteres/InformacionProcedimientos/Ciudadanosnocomunitarios/hoja012/index.html

Thank you for all your comments, I now understand why I would need an address.