My “Tarjeta Sanitaria”, or Health Card, with my social security number on it

You have moved to Madrid, and are thinking of getting access to Madrid’s public health care system.

The first step is to obtain a social security number, with the goal to obtaining the card you see above: the Spanish Healthcare Insurance Card.

1. Fill the form

You will have to fill the TA-1 form, which you can download here.

It looks impressive, especially if you do not speak Spanish, but is in fact quite easy to fill in if you know what you are supposed to do: give your name, ID details and reason for requesting for a social security number.
Fill the form to your best, and print another one for when you will go to the relevant office.

2. Prepare the papers

For now, prepare also all the originals and copy for all these papers:

• National ID and Passport if you have both,
• Residency papers:If you are a EU citizen, only the NIE number if you already have one. For non-EU, Residency and/or Visa.
• Not required officially but always good to have with you if you have them: rental contract, employment contract, escrituras if you have bought a property in Spain.

3. Go to the closest Tesorería de la Seguridad Social

You now need to go directly to the relevant administration, here the Tesorería de la Seguridad Social. You will find a complete list for Madrid here.

If you are in the centre, I recommend the one located at C/ Santa Cruz de Marcenado, 22. I never spent more than 30 minutes there to get it done. Take a ticket at the entrance and wait for your number.

Check before coming that you have all the papers you need, originals and copies (this is important because some will make you queue again just because they will not make you a photocopy, even if they all they need to do one right behind them).

4. Be patient, positive but inquisitive – “Inspector Colombo” style

Now, you have everything you need to obtain your Social Security number. The people there will even help to fill the form.

But someone might have a bad day, or your very specific case might not fit in their robotic forms.
Be patient, always smiling and positive, and if anything is wrong or missing, smile and say: “sorry, i did not know, What can I do to make sure everything is OK to have the number ?”. Do not accept “no” or “no idea” for an answer. They might say you are missing something, but you have to be inquisitive, and always ask exactly what is missing to obtain what you want. That’s what I call being inquisitive Colombo style: “Sorry Madam, I am a bit slow, but could you explain me again how should i do to get the number. Thank you for helping me”

Follow the links to the specific posts to get more details or just send me an emailif you have any kind of question.

Madridly yours,
Pierre – Moving2Madrid.com – Google+ – Twitter