Registering in the city is easier than in the towns, and then harder
Valencia is the only municipality on this site where you can walk in. Cita previa is recommended, not obligatory. And you may use any of the offices that register, not the one for your district — one appointment covers the whole family.
But only six of the eleven offices do the padrón, and Ciutat Vella is not one of them. If you live in the old town, you are going somewhere else.
- Russafa → Junta Municipal de Russafa, C/ Maties Perelló, 5
- El Cabanyal → Junta Municipal del Marítim, Carrer Barraca, 53, which is inside the neighbourhood itself
The rule that catches North American families and not Irish ones
Foreign documents need an apostille — unless they are from the EU.
An Irish family's birth certificates go in as they are. A Canadian or American family's do not: each one needs the apostille from the issuing authority at home, and that is weeks, not days, and it is done before you fly.
And Valencia requires a sworn translation of documents that are not in Spanish or Valencian, in wording almost identical to Bétera's. Two different steps, both done at home, both slow.
What the city accepts if you have not signed a lease
There is a form for it: Autorización de inscripción en una vivienda ajena. If the person housing you is a tenant rather than the owner, it needs two signatures — the tenant's and the owner's.
The form accepts an IBI receipt. It does not mention a utility bill anywhere, which is a real difference from Godella, where an electricity or water bill is enough.
Three things that catch people out
Your lease has to run more than six months. A month-to-month arrangement does not register you.
You need the catastral reference of the property. It is on the IBI receipt and on the deed; it is not on most rental contracts, so ask the landlord before the appointment.
The "family unit" shortcut does not work for a first registration. It exists for a change of address. A family arriving for the first time does the full procedure, and this is the likeliest place to lose an appointment.
After that
Non-EU residents renew the padrón every two years; EU residents every five. It is not a one-off.
And the thing worth saying once more: the padrón does not by itself give you the right to public healthcare.