Moving back to Australia from Spain with kids

A non-Australian partner and children born in Spain

Children born in Spain to an Australian parent aren't Australian on paper until you apply. Citizenship by descent is open to a child born overseas if a parent was an Australian citizen at the time of the birth. It costs AUD230, and each brother or sister who applies at the same time pays AUD95. Home Affairs says it processes 75% of these applications within 3 months and 90% within 5. The child needs the citizenship certificate before you can apply for an Australian passport, so start this first.

A partner who isn't Australian usually applies for the Partner visa (subclasses 309 and 100). You apply for the temporary and permanent visas together, from outside Australia, and the charge starts at AUD11,710. Home Affairs says partner processing times vary and can run longer than expected. The permanent stage is assessed from two years after you applied. In practice this means your partner applies from Spain, and the family moves once the 309 is granted.

This isn't legal or tax advice. Visa charges and rules change every year, so check with Home Affairs or a registered migration agent before you apply.

Cost of living compared with Spain

We're not putting numbers here while we update our own figures. Rent and childcare in the city you pick are the two costs worth pricing first. Groceries and eating out are worth comparing too, since Spanish prices are easy to get used to.

Budget for a gap at the start: bond and rent in advance, a car, and possibly a few months before any family payments come through for a partner who has just arrived.

Schools and catching up

The school years don't line up. In the Comunitat Valenciana the 2026 to 2027 school year runs from 9 September 2026 to 18 June 2027. In Victoria, government school students start on 28 January 2027, and term 4 finishes on 17 December. If you leave Spain in the summer, your children will either join an Australian class halfway through its year or wait for the new one in late January.

Enrolment is run by each state. In Victoria, for example, every child has the right to attend their local school, the school can ask for documents proving your permanent address, and if you're enrolling at an unusual time of year you contact the school directly. Other states differ, so check your state education department's website once you know where you'll live.

Children schooled in Spanish or Valencian may be ahead in a second language and behind in English spelling or Australian history. Ask the Spanish school for reports and anything that shows what they covered, and talk to the new school about where your child should go.

Medicare on return

If you move back after more than 5 years overseas, you re-enrol in Medicare. You don't need to visit a service centre. Each person needs a current passport, and you need 2 documents dated within the last 6 months that show the family lives in Australia. One can come from Spain: proof you ended your lease, closed a bank account or shipped your furniture. The other can be a lease plus a power bill in the same name, a job, or a child's school enrolment.

Spain isn't on Australia's list of Reciprocal Health Care Agreement countries, so keep travel insurance until Medicare is active. A partner who has applied for a permanent visa, including through the 309/100 application, and lives in Australia with an Australian citizen spouse can generally enrol too.

Centrelink, super and the Spain agreement

The newly arrived resident's waiting period is mostly aimed at people with new visas. An Australian citizen coming home usually doesn't serve it. One exception: a citizen who is living in Australia for the first time, such as a child of Australians who grew up abroad, waits 2 years for Parenting Payment.

A partner on a 309 visa does face waiting periods. Family Tax Benefit Part A has a one year wait, and most other payments, including JobSeeker, have four. Family Tax Benefit Part B and Child Care Subsidy have no waiting period. Time spent outside Australia doesn't count towards the wait. Plan your budget around one income for a while.

Your super stays where it is. The Departing Australia Superannuation Payment is only for people who aren't Australian or New Zealand citizens or permanent residents, so you couldn't have cashed it out when you left, and nothing needs to be brought back.

Australia and Spain have a social security agreement. It lets you claim in either country, add years of residence in Australia to years of Spanish contributions to meet minimum requirements, and get payments in either country. Keep your Spanish social security number and work history, since they may matter when you reach pension age.

Tax: leaving Spain and arriving in Australia

Spain taxes residents on the calendar year. You're Spanish resident if you spend more than 183 days there in the year, if your main economic interests are there, or if your spouse and minor children live there. Short trips away still count as days in Spain unless you can show you were tax resident somewhere else. Leave in August and you'll almost certainly file a Spanish return for that whole year.

Australia's income year runs from 1 July to 30 June. The main test is whether you reside in Australia, and moving your family home back usually settles that. In the year you return you get a reduced tax-free threshold: $13,464, plus a share of $4,736 for each month you're resident, counting the month you arrived. Once you're resident, you declare income from Spain and everywhere else.

Because the two tax years overlap, both countries can claim you for part of the same period. The Australia-Spain double tax agreement, signed in 1992 and in force since 10 December 1992, decides who taxes what. This isn't legal or tax advice. Get a Spanish gestor or asesor and an Australian tax agent to look at the year of the move together.

• Deregister from the padrón at your town hall before you go.
• Keep your NIE and your Agencia Tributaria login for the final Spanish return.
• If you're autónomo, deregister from Spanish Social Security before you stop working.

A realistic timeline

1. 6 months before

   Apply for citizenship by descent for any child born in Spain. If your partner needs a 309/100 visa, apply now from Spain. If a pet is coming, contact a pet transport agent; the department says to allow at least 6 months.

2. 4 months before

   Choose a state and area so you know which schools you'll apply to. Apply for children's Australian passports once citizenship is approved. Ask doctors and schools for records.

3. 2 months before

   Book the pet's quarantine place at Mickleham. Give notice on your lease, sell or arrange the car, and decide what gets shipped.

4. Last weeks in Spain

   Deregister from the padrón, close your autónomo registration if you have one, and keep proof of ending your lease and closing accounts for Medicare.

5. First 2 weeks back

   Re-enrol in Medicare, enrol children in school, open or reactivate bank accounts and update your address with the ATO.

6. First months back

   Claim family payments, check your partner's waiting periods, and lodge your final Spanish return the following spring.