Australia to Menorca
 

Hi all,

New on here but not new to moving

I’m 60 in July this year and my wife is 54. Both UK Citizens.

Moved to Melbourne Oz in 2003 then back to UK in 2012 with work transfer. Then moved back to Gold Coast Oz in 2018.

We will have Australian Citizenship by then end of this year.

My English brother and his Italian wife have bought a farm / large property in Menorca to use as a family get away a few weeks a year.

We are looking at staying there to look after it while they are not using it (we would retire early).

I have read a lot of information relating to Non Lucrative Visa for Spain / Menorca as this appears to be our best option given our potential plans.

Am I correct that we could apply for work visa further down the line if we wanted to work or set up a business or is that after you obtain full residency after five years ????

Also, if there’s anything else I need to look out for ? We will also potentially look at purchasing a property there as an investment to rent out which I guess we would use the contacts my brother used.

Thanks

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

Lots of useful info here

https://www.pellicerheredia.com/en/open-library/

Note the golden visa is changing now and so is virtually finished.

Good luck!

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

Thanks ! Very useful link that

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

Glad you found it useful and I can recommend them, they act for me on all my legal/tax affairs.

You might find this useful also https://www.gov.uk/guidance/living-in-spain

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

Many on here arrived before Brexit so few with direct NLV experience. That is probably your best route. However, it isn’t really intended as a route to work visa at the renewal stage - not impossible but difficult. Also being self-employed automono isn’t cheap these days. A couple who got their visa at the consulate the same day as ours tried to change to work visa after a year. They couldn’t and are now back in UK having sold their Spanish house. After five years you’re ok but will you want to? As long as you can meet the financial requirements and nothing naughty on criminal record you should be good.

Purchasing property to rent out… no experience of that but if holiday rental, that needs a tourist licence and becoming politically more difficult. Also on NLV you can’t do the management, cleaning etc. as that would make you employed!

Where are you thinking of applying from AUS or UK? In UK you’ll need proof of UK address to get the appointment in the correct area (London, Manchester, Edinburgh) so might need to on the ground a while during the process.

Finally get all your finances in order before becoming tax resident - a whole different discussion.

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

All good advice but for my 2c the OP will need full private healthcare as neither are old enough for an S1
This would be the first stop before applying for any visa, as its the bit that will stop your move if you cannot get covered...

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

We would be applying from AU and keeping our house here on the Gold Coast rented out to provide an income stream

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

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Would we be able to set up Spanish healthcare from Australia though ? Or do we need to be there first - chicken and egg scenario ? Thanks

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

As mentioned above by Barriej, at least first year medical insurance cover is a prerequisite for application of NLV. It can be done remotely.

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

Just be aware that income is likely to be taxable in Spain as would capital gains tax if you decided to sell it in the future. Unsure of any double tax treaty between ES and AU.

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

If you do not know them already, it is worth checking out Wise for money transfers etc

https://wise.com/gb/compare/

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

First of all and most importantly, make sure you become Australian citizens before moving out. Of course you can start making plans but if anything to do with the citizenship gets delayed then be ready to postpone everything else. :)

If either of you could in any way also qualify for citizenship of any EU country then that 3rd passport would be a massive bonus, making life in Spain so much easier.

Not sure where the visa situation currently stands for new arrivals. Are you keen on living in Spain most of the year, or is it possible to split that time up with the UK for instance? Or maybe - and here we need help from friends in the Gib thread - becoming resident in Gibraltar (or has brexit screwed up that option too?) and travelling from there would be an option?

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

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Thanks for that, is there a thread for recommendation on Spanish healthcare providers ???

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

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We are looking to buy a house / apartment outright on Menorca and then use the income per week (after tax) from our house in Australia to go towards or cover our weekly expenses. I would look to sell the house in Australia in another five to ten years maybe.

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

This subject comes up many times so I suggest you try out the search facility on the right hand side of the screen.

Rosemary

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

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Definately getting Australian Citizenship as a first step, I want to get all the paperwork required for the Spanish visa application ready to go once we have Oz Citizenship to reduce the time involved to get the Spanish approval.

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Not an option unfortunately

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We want to retire / settle on Menorca and then fly back to the UK a few times a year and stay at my brothers place or with our son for a few weeks at a time, might even look at buying a small one or two bed place in West Sussex near our son to stay in.

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

I'm just trying to see whether there's a way for you to spend just under 6 months in total in Spain during a calendar year and set up residency elsewhere. Ireland/UK are the easiest based on your passport, but you could possibly also look at places like Gibraltar if there are any financial benefits to setting up base there.

For Spanish healthcare you need to get something fully-comprehensive. They call it "sin copagos" which translates into "without co-payments," so no excess. If you mention that you need the full coverage for residency purposes (and throw in the words "sin copagos") then they'll know what to do.

Providers can vary and opinions can vary even more! :) The main ones at least where I'm at are Sanitas (BUPA), Adeslas (owned by one of the biggest banks and hence one of the biggest), DKV, Mapfre, possibly a few others. All the expats I know are with one of these unless they have moved onto regular/public coverage.

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

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We are UK citizens but don't want to settle back in the UK. As i mentioned in my original post, my brother has purchased a property on Menorca so we would rather be local.

Thanks for the advice on health care

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

I understand and respect that completely. If you will be moving permanently to Menorca then apart from immigration/visa matters make sure you get your finances in order and know what you are getting yourselves into BEFORE making the move, because it will be a lot more complicated than the generally logical and easy to understand Australian system.

If your brother has been there for some time then he will surely be able to advise but do plan this ahead before making the leap.

P.S. I'm curious how you'll find the climate in Menorca. Having moved from the Gold Coast myself I generally saw the Canary Islands as my first choice weather-wise, and it's almost a perfect match: almost exactly the same daily high temperatures in summer, and +2C degrees in winters (bonus!). :)

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

You should look at the tax situation. It seems AU and ES does have a double tax treaty in place. If I understand the UK situation for property rental correctly (someone can correct me otherwise) the income is taxed in the UK and also declared in ES, but you’re not taxed twice. However the income can mean any tax payable in Spain maybe higher as the income pushes you higher up the tax rate bands.

Selling the house in five to ten years may have CGT implications (perhaps anywhere not just Spain) - look at this carefully to understand the position and take proper advice.

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

OK, so after some long chats this week we have some further questions if you guru's don't mind.

What would the best visa be if we potentially looked to either work or set up our own renovations / decorating business ? - I understand this could be impacted by that new law for non residents purchasing and selling properties until we become permanent residents ?
Would the Spanish government favour a weekly income from our investment property in Australia or prefer to see that lump some used to purchase a property outright on Menorca ?

Sorry to be a pain

Thanks

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

No personal experience so this is all anecdotal read from other sources. I assume you’d need a self-employment visa. This isn’t just a box ticking exercise and requires a comprehensive business plan to be created and submitted as part of the initial application. I understand they’re looking for past experience, the level of investment in the business, if any jobs created and how much revenue it will generate.

Then you’ll have tax, VAT and social security contributions to consider. People I know who are self employed (autonómo) pay at least €300 per month every month for social whether you have work or not - I think it is less for first couple of years. Neighbour who is an electrician and here pre Brexit has struggled for work and spent large part of last year back in UK contracting. He’s getting work now but it took him time to get the bigger projects than fitting a new socket.



If successful unsure whether you need to maintain that visa for five years until permanent residency is achieved.



Sorry more questions than answers!

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

Here you go the requirements for a self employed visa.
This is from the Spanish consulate in the Uk but the details will be the same.

https://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consul...ta-propia.aspx

You will of course be enrolled in the state healthcare system but you will pay more than you would if you had a private health but you would also be paying pension contributions you wont actually be able to receive.

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

Hi all,

Circling back to this after some time, apologies.

I read also read that on an NLV 'passive income' is acceptable, does anyone know if rental income from a holiday investment property would be deemed as 'passive income' or would there be a need for a business plan ??

Many Thanks

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

Is there any existing revenue stream that you can provide evidence of as that is likely to be required?
What location is the property? If local to you then it won’t be possible to manage cleaning, servicing, check-in, bookings etc as that would be working.
Tourist licences rules are also changing across Spain e.g. IIRC in Valencia Community they’re restricting holiday rentals to a maximum of ten nights, and also buying a property with an existing licence doesn’t transfer to the new owner etc.

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

As in continuous nights for a single booking? Not some kind of overall limit per month or anything like that I take it.

Seems like these changes are always just for show, to pretend that something is being done without actually wanting to change anything.

Sorry for the OT but this is kind of like the UK trying to do anything about gambling or drinking issues. It's either wasting time & effort on pretending to do something or - what's even worse - using it as an excuse to raise duties and levies ("if booze is prohibitively expensive then people will be able to afford less of it").

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

Less than or equal to 10 consecutive days to the same tenant, and as you’re supposed to register guests you apparently can’t do 7 nights as one person, 7 nights as another (e.g. as a couple).

https://www.turismecv.com/2024/09/03...as-turisticas/

As you say is it for show and how is it enforced.

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

Yes it’s difficult to enforce, but they cover that by having enormous fines if you get caught. The new law in Andalucia comes in this week and the maximum fine is €600000. They did the same trick when the Form 720 asset declaration was introduced. The fine for non declaration was 150% of the value of the assets. Panic ensued and everyone declared their assets or left the country!

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

The only difference between most of the Canary Islands is that they are not as “lush/green” as Queensland nor are they as humid with much less rain as Queensland, Menorca is my fav Spanish island it has history, not as busy as the other Balearic Islands and is also lovely and green.

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

Menorca is cold in winters though, whereas the Canary Islands are warm all year round. Climate-wise I don't think there is a better place anywhere in the world, with the Gold Coast coming a close second.

In general the lack of greenery is only associated with the southern side of islands like Tenerife or Gran Canaria, whereas the north is completely different. Something for everyone...

A huge plus is that residents of the Canaries benefit from cheaper travel as all domestic flights to/from the mainland (and the Balearic Islands) provide residents with a 75% rebate. So a weekend in Madrid or Barcelona is veeeeery cheap, at least when it comes to travel costs. :)

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

The Spanish idea of offering low cost holidays to Spanish citizens is a great thing but I did not know about the low cost flights for the Canaries helps the local population maybe not feel so isolated. As for a winter (nothing like winters in most parts of Europe) but after living in Australia I enjoy the change in temps and seasonal changes having weather which is warm all year round would fry my brain (what’s left of it anyway lol), we did holiday for Christmas once in North Tenerife and we had not so great weather, this year we are going to spend Christmas and New Year in Fuerteventura (one of the last Canary Islands we have not visited) so looking forward to that very much.

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

I was in the Gold Coast so no extreme weather there, but a short drive up to Brisbane and it was an entirely different story when it comes to heat & humidity. Of course places like Melbourne or Adelaide can go completely off the rails, being way hotter than the GC during summer and way colder in winter.

The Canaries are the closest thing I have found to the GC climate anywhere in the world. Anywhere habitable/liveable that is. :) December to May are perfectly fine up north (20-22C) but if I was coming for a holiday then I'd prefer the slightly warmer and often sunnier south during those months. Same goes for Tenerife. Fuerteventura should be nice, I only spent a couple of days there but the landscapes are incredible and I've only seen a small part of the island!

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

Weather is changing anyway so nobody knows which way it will go. The downside is that everywhere you go, more and more nature is being destroyed and with hot weather anything natural is seen as a fire risk so the little that's left is cut and with fewer trees, the flooding increases. Another example would be butterflies and unfortunately declining every year on the islands.

In Ireland I keep a large section of the garden wild and the last few years have seen an increase but now it's too warm and dry. Haven't had a drop of rain for weeks and looking like the next 2 weeks similar. This is the problem and while tourists and pensioners all seek the perfect climate, more visitors mean the balance is lost and less space for nature that is already struggling with a changing climate.

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

Looking at the exploitative nature of (some) humans in their quest to deliver maximum profits 'here and now' over any other considerations I think we're spiralling towards a world our predecessors would be ashamed of. And there might not be much left for the next generation.

If Ireland's heating up then we might as well be looking towards Iceland or Greenland for a property purchase. Luckily solar and wind energy are constantly attracting new investments, and electric/hydrogen cars are bound to replace archaic vehicles sooner or later...

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

We probably won't notice the huge changes in our lifetime but I do fear that many people seem to look away and joke about it. No doubt we'll get rain again, what worries me here and in the UK is that people are so uneducated when it comes to fire prevention, or let's say the longer dry conditions mean more idiots have success starting wildfires deliberately. I was reading that wildfires in the UK have increased and what I notice here is that when people hear the word water shortages, they get annoyed.

At least in Spain, the local population seem to be more aware of the challenges. Even Menorca had terrible floods last summer.

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

Evening everyone,

Is there anyone on here that has moved from Australia to Spain ?? - reason for asking is the Spanish Consulates down here in Australia are absolutely awful - never answer their phones. I've tried, Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra - no-one answers. You email them and get an automated reply with no follow up... I'm told if you just turn up at the consulate they are not keen to see you either without an appointment. Seriously frustrated but more concerned at how on earth am I supposed to submit my paperwork if I can't get through to them to book an appointment....

Any ideas welcomed or pm me if you prefer.

Thanks

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

It says you have to mail it? https://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consul...lucrativa.aspx

I only Googled for Sydney, not sure about the other consulates.

Re: Australia to Menorca
 

Not unique to Australia - three consulates in UK are similar. In UK a third party company BLS handle the initial application and you request an appointment online. I know that doesn’t help with AUS though.