Moving to Madrid with your family
Moving with kids means moving with more questions. We help you choose the right neighborhood and the right school before you ever set foot in Madrid.
Most families come to us with the same three worries, in the same order: Will the kids be okay? Where do we actually live? And how much of this paperwork is going to fall on us? This page answers all three.
Support Tailored to Families
A family move has more moving parts than a solo one, and they're interdependent: the school you choose determines the neighborhood that makes sense, which determines the commute, which determines what your Tuesday actually feels like. We plan them together, in that order, instead of solving them one crisis at a time.
- One specialist, one thread. The same person handles your housing, your school search, and your paperwork — so nothing gets lost between departments, because there are no departments.
- Decisions made before you land. Neighborhood, school shortlist, and visa pathway are settled while you're still in Florida.
- Both parents supported, not just the one who was transferred. Integration support extends to the partner who's moving without a job waiting.
- Realistic timelines. We tell you when a school admission window has already closed, rather than letting you find out in August.
Home Search for Families
We start from how your family actually lives — school run, groceries, green space, the commute someone has to make every day — and work backward to the neighborhoods that fit. Only then do we look at listings.
What's included
- Neighborhood analysis matched to your school shortlist, budget, and daily routine
- A curated shortlist of properties, filtered so you're not reading through fifty listings in a language you don't yet read
- Viewing coordination, in person or by video call while you're still in the US
- Negotiation with landlords and agencies on your behalf
- Contract review before you sign anything
Madrid's rental market moves quickly and rewards people who are ready. Being represented locally is often the difference between the apartment you wanted and the one that was still available.
School Search & Education Guidance
Madrid offers American‑curriculum, British‑curriculum, International Baccalaureate, bilingual, and Spanish public schools — and they differ enormously in calendar, admissions timeline, cost, and how much Spanish your child is expected to arrive with.
What's included
- A clear map of the options, with honest guidance on which suit your children's ages, current curriculum, and language level
- Direct contact with schools and admissions offices
- Support during interviews and admissions
- Enrollment management, including documentation and deadlines
Note on packages: school guidance — understanding the system and your realistic options — is included in every package. Full school search with enrollment management is a separate service at $450, available with any package. We separated it deliberately: not every family needs it, and we'd rather not build its cost into the price of families who don't.
One thing worth knowing early: most international schools in Madrid run their main admissions window between January and March for a September start. If you're reading this in June for a September move, tell us on the call — it's workable, but it changes the plan.
Settling‑In Support for Families
The move isn't finished when the boxes arrive. It's finished when your daughter has a pediatrician, your bank card works, and someone in the building knows your name.
What's included
- Empadronamiento — registering with your local town hall, which nearly everything else depends on
- Health card and access to the healthcare system
- Bank account setup
- Insurance guidance
- Utilities, internet, and mobile connections
- Transport cards for the whole family
- Digital certificate, which turns most Spanish bureaucracy from an appointment into a click
- TIE appointment coordination and accompaniment
Which of these are included, and whether we handle them with you or on your behalf, depends on your package. The details are on the packages page — in full, with prices.
A Calm, Structured Process
1. Discovery Call.
A real conversation about your timeline, your family, and your goals in Madrid. No sales script.
2. Your Personalized Plan.
Visa pathway, housing strategy, and school search, mapped to your specific situation.
3. The Move, Coordinated.
We coordinate every moving part — paperwork, shipping, appointments — so nothing falls through the cracks.
4. Your First 90 Days in Madrid.
We stay with you through empadronamiento, banking, and settling in, until Madrid feels like home.
What families who've made this move say
“When you move to another country, what you really want is to feel like you're arriving home — that everything you need is already close by. That's the feeling Saskia gave us: as if family were helping us find our footing in a new city. Moving abroad with children is an enormous undertaking, but her support made the transition so much smoother.
She gave us her time and walked us through it all — finding a school, finding a home, handling the paperwork, even tracking down a driving school so we could get our Spanish licenses. And above all, we know we can still turn to her with any question that comes up.
Her experience matters, but what we'd really point to is how she treats people. We recommend her to anyone arriving in Madrid from abroad.”
— Beatriz Baños, Michigan → Madrid, 2025 · Full Relocation Support, relocated with childrenFamily Relocation Questions, Answered
When should we start planning a move to Madrid with school‑age children?
Ten to twelve months before your target start date is comfortable. Most international schools in Madrid run admissions between January and March for a September start, and visa appointments at the Spanish Consulate in Miami need to be booked well in advance. Shorter timelines are workable, but they narrow your school options.
Do our children need to speak Spanish before we arrive?
Not for international and bilingual schools, which is where most American families start. Spanish public schools generally expect a working level of Spanish, though younger children adapt quickly. We map your children's language level to schools that will actually admit them, rather than to a wish list.
What's the difference between the NIE and the TIE?
The NIE is your Spanish foreigner identification number — essentially a tax and administrative ID. The TIE is the physical residence card that proves your legal status in Spain. You'll need the number first, and the card once you've arrived and your residence is being formalized.
Can we rent an apartment in Madrid before we have Spanish residency?
Yes, though landlords typically want proof of income, and some ask for additional guarantees from non‑residents. Having local representation and a properly assembled document file makes a substantial difference. We negotiate these terms as part of the home search, before you're committed to anything.
How long does it take to feel settled?
Most families describe the first month as logistics and the second and third as adjustment. By month four, the routine is usually real. We stay with you through that whole window — the questions that matter most tend to arrive in week six, not week one.
Let's talk about your family's move.
Twenty minutes with someone who has guided hundreds of families through exactly this. Bring your questions — including the ones you think are too small to ask.