Convenio Especial/Private Health Ins (NLV)
 

Hi all and hope all are well, first post so here goes.
We we are fully aware of the requirements for applying/obtaining a Non Lucrative Visa (NLV) and feel we meet them all, but despite many attempts elsewhere, we cannot get confirmed the following either way, so would love some assistance. We know it is a 5 year process where you initially get granted 12 months to start with, then when you reapply, if agreed you get another 2 years and same again 2 years later, so if your NLV is granted on these 3 key dates you then at the end of year 5 you can apply/get permanent Spanish residency. I hope you all agree this first part is correct?

Then what we really need to know is after paying for the private health insurance for the first 12 months and lets say we also signed on our local town padron at the start of our first 12 months, then when we reapply after that first 12 months for a further 2 years, can we simply obtain the Convenio Especial by paying the required 60.00 euros each per month into the Spanish health system and this be acceptable to the relevant Spanish authorities who make the decisions on the NLV for years 2 and 3, or is this not possible and we have to again obtain and pay for Private Health Insurance year after year? (we are both aged 58, own a Spanish holiday home, which we now feel is the right time to move to Spain (La Nucia in Costa Blanca) permanently after just taking early retirement). Thanking you all in advance of your responses

Re: Convenio Especial/Private Health Ins (NLV)
 

Yes, you can contribute to Convenio Especial after a year and use it to meet the health insurance requirement for visa renewal.

Re: Convenio Especial/Private Health Ins (NLV)
 

Yes no problem, the Convenio will give you full coverage from the Spanish health service.
You may have to wait to get signed on, friends of ours have been waiting about 3 months for confirmation from the Health Centre (which is a nice place as my FIL goes there)

La Nucia is a nice place to live, the town has grown over the years, but there are lots of good places to eat and visit, we live in Xirles (Polop) so not far away.

Re: Convenio Especial/Private Health Ins (NLV)
 

Am I right in thinking that there are significant exclusions on the Convenio Especial, such as drugs and some “prosthetics”? If so, this could be a problem for some people. To be fair, private insurance has similar exceptions.

Re: Convenio Especial/Private Health Ins (NLV)
 

Many thanks for your response "Joppa". Sounds like great news for us then, but can we please ask are you 100% sure of this and can we ask where did you find this out, as we cannot find any information on if you can change from private health insurance to going to the Spanish health system Convenio Especial after the initial 12 months on the Non Lucrative Visa and whether the Spanish authorities will accept this?

Re: Convenio Especial/Private Health Ins (NLV)
 

Barrie thanks for that. We are fully aware as you have said that the Convenio Especial will give us the full health coverage from the Spanish Health Service, but what we really need to know 100% is if we initially get granted the Non Lucrative Visa for the first 12 months as well as us having to paying a lot of money for private health insurance, will the relevant Spanish authorities actually accept us changing to the Convenio Especial when we reapply for a further 2 years 12 months later?

Re: Convenio Especial/Private Health Ins (NLV)
 

We don't have any first-hand experience/evidence of this as British citizens only became third country nationals a few months ago. But listening to what US, Canadian citizens etc are saying about NLV, they have changed over to Convenio Especial or are going to do so after a year on private insurance, so I don't see any problems for British citizens doing the same.