The first weeks in Andorra: the examination, your residence card, the comú within three months and the deadlines that then start running
In your first weeks in Andorra everything revolves around the Servei d'Immigració. You submit your file, go to the medical examination the next working day and collect your residence permit a day later. Then you register with the comú, within three months, or within a month on passive residence or as a remote worker. From the permit the deadlines run: six months for your car and your driving licence, two months for your pet, a year for the household goods and for voluntary AOW.
6 min read
Written and checked by Auke on , against the sources at the bottom. Is something no longer right? Report it below and I'll fix it.
In your first weeks in Andorra everything revolves around the Servei d'Immigració, the immigration service at the police. You submit your file in person, go to the medical examination the next working day and collect your residence permit a day later. From that moment the deadlines run: within three months you register with the comú, the parish where you live (on passive residence or as a remote worker: allow a month), within six months you put your car on Andorran plates and exchange your driving licence, and within two months your dog or cat is in the register.
| What | Deadline | More |
|---|---|---|
| Submitting your file to the Servei d'Immigració | within your 90 days as a tourist; criminal record certificate at most 3 months old | residence routes |
| Medical examination | the next working day after submission; no fasting needed | registration and numbers |
| Residence permit (card) | the day after the examination, if the file is complete | |
| Registration with the comú (cens de població) | within 3 months; passive residence and remote work: allow 1 month | registration and numbers |
| Health care: CASS or private policy | from day one; your Dutch basic insurance has ended | health care |
| Bank account and tax number (NRT) | as soon as you have the permit and your address | banking and payments |
| Pet in the RAC | within 2 months of entry, free of charge | pets |
| Car on Andorran plates | within 6 months of the permit | car and driving licence |
| Exchanging your driving licence | within 6 months, without a test | car and driving licence |
| Customs declaration of household goods | within 12 months of settling | household goods |
| School | registering through the ministry, with pre-registration from the school | school |
| Voluntary AOW insurance | apply within 1 year of leaving | SVB |
What happens at Immigració?
You submit your file in person, or through someone with an authorisation. On submission you receive a receipt (€5.73; €6.79 for passive residence) and an appointment for the medical examination at the Servei Mèdic d'Immigració, the next working day. You do not need to fast. The examination looks only at public health: quarantine diseases and contagious diseases. Anyone who does not turn up counts as rejected. The costs are included in the fees. If your file is complete, you collect your permit the day after the examination: a card, your residence card. Keep it safe; a duplicate costs €22.61 (€56.15 for passive residence) and requires a police report.
You submit as a tourist, and as a tourist you may spend at most 90 days per 365 days in Andorra. Your criminal record certificate is at most three months old on submission, and your certificates and declarations carry an apostille. So come with a complete file; a missing document costs you days of your 90.
How do you register with the comú?
Andorra has seven parishes (parròquies), each with its own council, the comú. There you register in the cens de població, the population register. Immigració wants to see proof of that within three months, otherwise the permit can be withdrawn. For passive residence and for remote workers the government's website mentions a month; stick to that.
Andorra la Vella asks for the following at registration:
- Your passport or ID card, and those of all family members.
- Your valid residence permit from Immigració.
- Your lease or title deed, signed by the owner; otherwise a power of attorney or a declaration from the landlord.
- Your marriage or partnership certificate, if you come with a partner.
- An IBAN card or bank certificate. You pay the municipal taxes for the current year straight away.
Bring originals. The comú then gives you a certificat d'inscripció, which you show to Immigració. How you then obtain your tax number, the NRT, is explained in registration and numbers in Andorra.
What do you arrange after that?
- Your health care. Andorra is not a treaty country of the CAK: your Dutch basic insurance ended when you deregistered. If you work, you fall under the CASS, the Andorran social security, through your employer. On passive residence or as a remote worker your private policy has been running since you left. See health care in Andorra.
- Your bank. With your permit and your address you open an account at an Andorran bank; Andorra uses the euro and is in SEPA. See banking and payments in Andorra.
- Your home. You already have your lease, because without proof of housing you get no permit. It runs for at least five years. See renting in Andorra.
- Your AOW. You no longer build up AOW. You apply for voluntary insurance with the SVB within a year of leaving, for at most ten years.
- Your phone. Andorra does not fall under the EU roaming rules. Ask your provider what a Dutch subscription costs in Andorra, and otherwise take an Andorran subscription.
How do you get around at first?
For the first six months after your permit you may still drive on your Dutch driving licence and your Dutch plates. After that you may not. So exchange the licence within those six months (€65.94, without a test) and put the car on Andorran plates (€250), or sell it. From 1 November to 15 May winter equipment is compulsory. See car and driving licence in Andorra.
Andorra has no airport of its own. You fly to Barcelona or Toulouse, or to the small airport of La Seu d'Urgell just across the Spanish border, and drive the last stretch.
Whom do you call if something happens?
For medical emergencies you call 116, the number of the SUM, the Andorran emergency service; the service asks you to call before you come to the hospital. The general emergency number is 112, the police 110, the fire service 118. There is one hospital: Nostra Senyora de Meritxell in Escaldes-Engordany.
There is no Dutch embassy or consul in Andorra. The embassy in Paris is responsible; you request certificates there by email. A new passport you collect in Paris, Madrid, at VFS Global in Barcelona or in a Dutch border municipality. See registration and numbers in Andorra.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.1: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Andorra or go straight to step 5.1 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- Govern d'Andorra — frequently asked questions of the Servei d'Immigració, with the examination the next working day and the permit the day after — govern.ad
- Govern d'Andorra — the fees of Immigració, with the receipt and the certificate of registration — govern.ad
- Decret 407/2025, regulation on residence without work, articles 7 and 8 — the examination and registration with the comú within three months — documents.bopa.ad
- Comú d'Andorra la Vella — application for registration in the cens de població, with the list of documents — andorralavella.ad
- Nederlandwereldwijd — travel advice Andorra, with the emergency numbers and the embassy in Paris — nederlandwereldwijd.nl
- Nederlandwereldwijd — the embassy in Paris, responsible for Andorra — nederlandwereldwijd.nl
- SAAS — 116, the number of the medical emergency service — saas.ad
- CAK — the treaty countries for health insurance; Andorra is not on the list — hetcak.nl
- SVB — voluntary AOW insurance, to be applied for within a year of leaving — svb.nl
- e-tramits — the IRPF return, from 1 April to 30 September of the following year — e-tramits.ad
Read on
- AndorraAankomst in Andorra5 min
Car and driving licence in Andorra: Andorran plates within six months, a car of at most six years old, and exchanging without a test
As a resident of Andorra you may not keep driving on Dutch plates: within six months of your residence permit you put the car on Andorran plates. That is only possible if the car has been in your name for at least six months, is at most six years old and is at most one Euro class below the current one. Registration costs 250 euros. You exchange your Dutch driving licence without a test for 65.94 euros, also within six months. From 1 November to 15 May winter equipment is compulsory.
Updated 26 October 2026
- AndorraAankomst in Andorra4 min
Banking and paying in Andorra: the euro, an account with an Andorran bank and the 10,000 euro cash limit
Andorra uses the euro and is in SEPA, so your Dutch account simply works there. For registration with the comú and for the CASS you do need an Andorran account. MoraBanc opens one even for whoever does not yet live in Andorra, through a web form; what exactly the banks ask, you hear from the bank itself. If you bring 10,000 euros or more in cash, you declare it to the Andorran customs and when leaving the EU.
Updated 26 October 2026
- AndorraAankomst in Andorra5 min
Renting in Andorra: a lease of at least five years, a deposit of at most two months, and what else your lease arranges
A lease for a home in Andorra runs for at least five years by law. The deposit is at most two months' rent, and the rent may rise by no more than inflation each year. Your lease is also your proof of housing for the residence permit and for registration with the comú. Older leases fall under compulsory extensions until 2027; those are phased out between 2027 and 2030.
Updated 26 October 2026