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

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!

Thanks ! Very useful link that

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

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.

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...

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

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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

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

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.

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

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

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?

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

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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.

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

Rosemary