Moving from Vietnam to Spain (2026): Relocation Guide

Moving from Vietnam to Spain (2026): Relocation Guide

Key takeaways

• Plan your pet first. Vietnam is not an EU-listed third country, so a dog or cat entering Spain needs a microchip, rabies vaccination, and a rabies antibody titration test (blood drawn at least 30 days after vaccination at an EU-approved laboratory, result of at least 0.5 IU/ml), followed by a three-month wait before EU entry. This is the single longest-lead task in the whole move.
• Customs relief is generous but conditional. Spain waives import duty and 21% VAT on used household goods under transfer-of-residence relief if you have lived outside the EU for at least 12 consecutive months and have owned and used the goods for at least 6 months.
• Sea freight from Cat Lai (Ho Chi Minh City) or Hai Phong to Valencia typically takes around 30-40 days door-to-port, depending on transshipment. Air freight is faster but costs several times more.
• Close out Vietnam properly: cancel your temporary residence card, arrange an exit visa if required, and clear customs formalities for your shipment.
• In Spain you will juggle three separate things: your residence authorisation (visa/permit), your NIE/TIE, and your empadronamiento at the town hall. They are not the same and you generally need all of them.
• Your Vietnamese driving licence cannot be exchanged in Spain. There is no exchange agreement, so after your grace period you must pass the Spanish theory and practical tests.

1. Leaving Vietnam: what to close out

A move from Vietnam to Spain is a move from a non-EU country to the EU, so both governments treat it as a formal import and export. Start on the Vietnamese side several weeks before departure, because two things there run on their own clocks: your immigration status and your pet’s paperwork.

Immigration and your residence card. If you hold a Temporary Residence Card (TRC), you may need to cancel it before you leave permanently. Under rules applied by the Immigration Department (Cục Quản lý xuất nhập cảnh), TRC holders in some provinces (Hanoi and Dong Nai among them) must cancel the card before a permanent exit and then apply for a separate exit visa, during which the Immigration Department may hold your passport for around seven business days. Start the cancellation at least three to four weeks before your intended departure. If you hold a long-term visa rather than a TRC, or your card was issued elsewhere, the process differs, so confirm with the office that issued your card.

Customs export of your belongings. Household goods leaving Vietnam are handled as an export shipment. In practice your international mover files the export declaration with Vietnam Customs (Tổng cục Hải quan) on your behalf, prepares the packing inventory, and books the vessel. Keep copies of your passport, visa/TRC, and a valued inventory: Spain will want the inventory again at the import end.

Pet export certificate. Separately from the EU-side requirements described in section 5, Vietnam’s Department of Animal Health (Cục Thú y, DAH) must endorse the export/health documentation for your dog or cat. The EU animal health certificate for entry into Spain has to be officially endorsed by the DAH shortly before travel, so build a visit to a DAH-authorised vet into your final week.

2. How your household goods ship to Spain

Almost all household moves from Vietnam to Spain travel by sea in a shared or dedicated container. The two main gateway ports are Cat Lai in Ho Chi Minh City (the country’s busiest terminal, best for the south) and Hai Phong in the north (best for Hanoi and surrounding provinces). Da Nang serves central Vietnam.

Transit time. Direct ocean transit between Vietnam and Northern Europe usually runs 25-35 days port to port; because most services from Cat Lai or Hai Phong transship at a hub such as Singapore, Port Klang or Tanjung Pelepas, plan for roughly 30-40 days on the water plus packing, export clearance and Spanish customs at the far end. From loading day in Vietnam to delivery in Spain, a realistic door-to-door window is eight to twelve weeks.

Which Spanish port. For deliveries to Madrid, Valencia, Alicante, Murcia and the south-east, Valencia is the natural discharge port. Barcelona serves Catalonia and the north-east, and Algeciras is a major transshipment hub feeding both. Your mover chooses the routing that minimises inland trucking to your new home.

Container, groupage or air. A 20-foot container suits a one- to two-bedroom home; a 40-foot container suits a larger family. For a partial load, groupage (LCL) shares space with other shipments — cheaper, but with a slightly longer, less predictable schedule. If you need a small volume of essentials quickly, air freight from Tan Son Nhat or Noi Bai reaches Spain in days rather than weeks, at several times the per-kilo cost of sea, so most people fly only the must-haves and ship the rest.

3. Spain customs & transfer-of-residence relief

Spain, like the rest of the EU, normally charges import duty and 21% VAT on goods arriving from outside the customs territory. However, people genuinely transferring their residence can import their used household goods free of both under transfer-of-residence relief (franquicia por traslado de residencia), administered by the Spanish Tax Agency (Agencia Tributaria, AEAT).

The core conditions. To qualify you must have had your normal residence outside the EU customs territory for a continuous period of at least 12 months, you must be moving your habitual residence to Spain, and the goods must have been in your possession and used for at least 6 months before the move. The relief must be claimed within 12 months of establishing your residence in Spain. Certain items are excluded or restricted (for example alcohol, tobacco, and commercial goods), and vehicles have their own rules.

How it is claimed. The import is formalised through an import declaration (the DUA, Documento Único Administrativo). Your customs agent enters the relief code in the declaration (box 37.2, code C01 – Franquicia traslado de residencia) so the shipment clears without duty or VAT. Make sure your mover marks the contents as menaje de casa (household goods), not commercial freight.

Documents you will typically need: your passport; your NIE; proof you lived in Vietnam for at least a year (residence card, tenancy contract, utility bills, employer letter); a detailed valued inventory of the shipment; and, for Spanish nationals returning home, the baja consular — your deregistration certificate from the Spanish consulate in Vietnam confirming you were registered as resident abroad. A word of timing: AEAT runs on skeleton staffing during the first three weeks of August, when clearances slow down, so avoid landing a container in that window if you can.

4. Arriving: registration, residence, driving, healthcare

Residence authorisation. As a Vietnamese citizen (a third-country national) you need a legal basis to live in Spain — a work permit, a non-lucrative visa, a digital-nomad visa, a student permit, or family reunification, arranged before you travel through the Spanish consulate. Your visa or permit resolution is your residencia, the underlying right to stay.

NIE and TIE. The NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero) is your foreigner identity number, assigned once and used for virtually everything — contracts, banking, tax. The TIE (Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero) is the physical card issued to non-EU residents that displays your NIE and proves your residence status; you apply for it after arrival, usually within a month, at a police station (extranjería).

Empadronamiento. Register your address on the municipal roll (padrón) at your local town hall (ayuntamiento). This is separate from immigration status: anyone living in Spain more than six months a year must register, regardless of nationality. It is free and usually same-day, and you need it to complete your TIE, get a public health card, and enrol children in school. Bring your passport, the empadronamiento form, and proof of address (tenancy contract or utility bill).

Healthcare. Access to the public health system generally follows from your residence status and social-security contributions (for employees) or private insurance (for many visa categories). Once eligible, register at your local health centre to get a SIP card and be assigned a family doctor.

Driving. Vietnam does not have a driving-licence exchange agreement with Spain. You may drive on your Vietnamese licence (with an official Spanish translation and/or an International Driving Permit) for a limited period after becoming resident — commonly cited as up to six months — but after that you must obtain a Spanish licence the standard way, by passing both the theory and the practical test. Plan for lessons and exam bookings well ahead.

5. Pets

This is the part to start first, because the biological timeline cannot be compressed. Vietnam is an unlisted third country for EU pet travel, which triggers the strictest route. In order, your dog or cat needs:

1. Microchip — an ISO 11784/11785 compliant chip, implanted before (or at the same time as) the rabies vaccination. It must be readable and recorded on every subsequent document.
2. Rabies vaccination — a valid rabies shot given after the microchip. If the vaccination is not current it must be administered in good time.
3. Rabies antibody titration test — a blood sample taken at least 30 days after the rabies vaccination and sent to an EU-approved laboratory. The result must show a neutralising antibody level of at least 0.5 IU/ml.
4. Three-month wait — the animal may only enter the EU three months (90 days) after the date the successful blood sample was drawn (not the date the results came back). This wait is the binding constraint: from a standing start, the microchip-vaccinate-wait-30-days-test-wait-90-days sequence means budgeting roughly four to five months minimum before your pet can fly.
5. EU animal health certificate — issued and officially endorsed by Vietnam’s Department of Animal Health, together with a signed owner’s declaration of non-commercial movement, shortly before travel. The certificate is valid for a limited window after issue, so it is done last.

Point of entry. Pets from unlisted countries must enter the EU through a designated Traveller’s Point of Entry (TPOE) for documentary and identity checks — for example Madrid or Barcelona in Spain, or a hub such as Paris CDG or Amsterdam Schiphol if you route through another EU country first. Check that your itinerary lands at a TPOE. Because of the titre timeline, many families send the pet by specialist pet-relocation service on a slightly later date than the household shipment, once every deadline has cleared.

6. Money, banking & tax basics

Banking. You will generally need your NIE (and often your empadronamiento and proof of address) to open a resident bank account, though some banks open non-resident accounts on a passport alone. Set this up early: rent, deposit and utility contracts all run through it.

Tax residence. Spending more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year, or having your main economic interests there, generally makes you a Spanish tax resident, taxed on worldwide income. If you have income or assets spanning both countries, take advice on double taxation and on the timing of your move relative to the tax year.

Currency and costs. Converting Vietnamese dong into euros carries exchange risk and transfer costs; compare a specialist transfer service against your bank, and keep records of large inbound transfers, which banks may query for anti-money-laundering checks. Budget too for the shipping, marine insurance, destination charges at the Spanish port, the pet’s veterinary and flight costs, and administrative fees for visas, the TIE and driving tests.

How Flyto handles your Vietnam to Spain move

Flyto Relocation manages the whole corridor end to end — export clearance and booking from Cat Lai or Hai Phong, the sea (or air) leg, customs clearance at Valencia or Barcelona with the transfer-of-residence relief filed correctly, and delivery to your door in Spain. Because we run our own hubs across Northern, Central and Southern Europe, your shipment stays inside one coordinated network rather than being handed between disconnected agents, and we plan the pet’s titre-test timeline alongside the freight so nothing slips. Tell us your dates, your origin city and what you are moving, and we will build a single plan and price. Get a quote and we will map out your Vietnam-to-Spain move step by step.

Frequently asked questions

How early should I start the rabies titre test for my dog or cat?
At least four to five months before you want the animal to arrive. The blood sample must be taken at least 30 days after the rabies vaccination, and the pet can only enter the EU three months after that successful blood draw. See the European Commission’s rules on bringing a pet into the EU from a non-EU country.

Will I pay duty or VAT on my furniture arriving in Spain?
Not if you qualify for transfer-of-residence relief: at least 12 months living outside the EU and goods owned and used for at least 6 months, claimed within 12 months of moving. See the Agencia Tributaria transfer-of-residence page.

How long does the sea shipment take?
Typically around 30-40 days port to port including a transshipment stop, plus packing and customs at both ends — realistically eight to twelve weeks door to door.

Can I exchange my Vietnamese driving licence in Spain?
No. Vietnam has no exchange agreement with Spain, so after your grace period you must pass the Spanish theory and practical tests. See Spain’s DGT driving-licence information.

What is the difference between the NIE, the TIE and the empadronamiento?
The NIE is your foreigner ID number, the TIE is the physical residence card for non-EU residents, and the empadronamiento is your address registration at the town hall. You generally need all three. See the Agencia Tributaria and your local ayuntamiento.

Do I need to cancel my Vietnamese residence card before leaving?
If you hold a Temporary Residence Card, you may need to cancel it and obtain an exit visa before a permanent departure, and the process can take a week or more. Start three to four weeks ahead and confirm with the Vietnam Immigration Department.

Related moves

• Moving to Ho Chi Minh City from Abroad
• Moving from Spain to Vietnam

Sources

• European Commission (Food Safety) — Bringing a pet into the EU from a non-EU country
• European Commission — Non-commercial movement of pets from non-EU countries (legislation)
• Agencia Tributaria (AEAT) — Transfer of residence: franchises and tax exemption
• Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT) — Driving licences
• Vietnam Immigration Department (Ministry of Public Security)
• General Department of Vietnam Customs
• Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Department of Animal Health)
• European Commission — Designated laboratories for rabies antibody titration tests

Hiring an international mover? See our full International removals to Vietnam service — Flyto’s own European hubs, vetted local partners and one English-speaking coordinator, door to door.