A family move multiplies the paperwork, though less than it first appears. Every member needs a NIE, and the document that carries it depends on each person’s own passport and on how they are related to whoever is moving.
Take a common case: one parent holds an EU passport and has a job in Madrid, the other parent is not an EU citizen, and there are two children. The EU parent registers with the EX-18 and receives the green certificate. The non-EU parent applies with the EX-19 for the residence card of a family member of an EU citizen, which then goes through fingerprints and collection like any TIE. Each child follows their own passport: an EU one points to the certificate, a non-EU one to the family member card.
If neither parent is an EU citizen, the family usually depends on the authorisation of the person who moves for work or study, and the others apply for their own authorisations and cards on that basis. Each case comes with its own conditions, so check them before anyone books a flight.
Civil documents are where family files slow down. Marriage and birth certificates issued abroad usually need to be legalised or apostilled, and translated into Spanish where required. Order them early: they are the papers you cannot produce once you are in Madrid.
Then come the local steps. The empadronamiento at the ayuntamiento registers the whole household at your address, and the padrón certificate is what schools and health centres ask for when you enrol the children or register with a doctor.
Families with a lot to coordinate, from housing to schools, can hand the wider move to family relocation planning with AnchorLess and keep this site for the document route. Either way, start with one table: every person in the family, their passport, the form that applies to them and the office that handles it.