Do you need a TA1 form to get a Tarjeta Sanitaria

I'm sorry if this has been discussed before but I am still confused. We have all the necessary documentation to go to the INSS office in Huercal Overa and register on the Spanish Healthcare system. As early retireees I have S1 forms for myself and my wife and our recently aquired "Residencia" cerificates.

But, here's the thing, I'm not sure if we need a Social Security number and hence the need to complete a TA1 form to take with us along with our S1 forms from Newcastle.

If anyone has a definite answer I would be very pleased as I would be happier gpoing along to the office with advance knowledge. Obviously I will also take numerous copies of everything, relevant or not!

Hello there

we recently appplied for our health card here in Estapona. Just take along the SI and copies and originals of everything else, that is what we did. It says on the S1 on the information exactly what you need. Remember your NIE original as well. Best go along and be prepared for a long wait, we waited for 2 hours.  Then it takes 3 months for the document you need to access the health system here. So keep your E111 until you finally get your health card.

Good luck,

Three months!! I thought it would be right away and that you would then take the signed S1 to your local Health Centre and register with a doctor there.  There's so many different stories.

Did they give you back a stamped copy of the S1 to take to your Health Centre or did you have to wait for some sort of certificate in the post to take there?

They gave us back our S1 but we have waited 3 months to get the social security  card for one of us, mine has disapeared so we can only go to register one of us with the local doctor.  Hey ho, it was far easier living in the Far East. Keep positive.

Obviously different areas have different systems.  When we registered our S1, we were given a temporary healthcard, valid for 3 months, and could sign up with a doctor straight away.  It took a couple of months for the plastic one to arrive but we could have extended the temporary one if it hadn't arrived.

The Social Security number is automatically assigned on your permanent card so no need to do get the TA1 form.  In the Comunidad Valencia, anyway.

Just to let you know - today we travelled to the INSS office in Huercal Overa (nice and early arrived at 9.15am) to see if we could register on the Spanish Healthcare system.

We went to a desk first as you cannot take a ticket until they know why you are there. As soon as he saw the S1 forms he pressed a button and a ticket was printed for us, about 5 mins later or less , desk no 3 was put up on the screen for us. The guy on the desk was very helpful and could speak good English although we were quite prepared to communicate in Spanish (as best we could).

Luckily I had taken our marriage certificate and a copy as that was requested along with a copy of the Empadronamiento cert, residencia cert and a copy of passport. All copies were handed back at the end to us as they scan them now.

It took a little while (about 20 mins) as he had to deal with two applications but at the end after much computer inputting and stamping , he handed back one each of our S1 forms duly stamped with another form attached.
He explained that as our S1 was temporary we would not receive a Tarjeta Sanitaria and instead we would have to take the stamped S1 form if we wanted treatment.

So we are sorted until Jan 2014 when we will have to decide what to do then , probably some sort of private health insurance until I am 65 in Jul 2016.

I noticed something else regarding the dates on the S1, ours run from just after when I contacted them 01.11.2012 to 04.01.2014 which is a bit more than a year and I suspect that had I contacted them earlier then it would have still run until 04.01.2014 which is 2 years after I stopped paying NI in UK.

I need to renew mine, but we are no longer in the Social Security system and receive healthcare under the scheme that was introduced if you obtained your residencia beofre April (?) 2012, which we did.  

I'd be helpful for any advice before we begin the Olympic Games-like discipline of jumping through Spanish administrative hoops...!

Thank you,

Donna