Hi All. I am aware there are 1 or 2 other threads on this topic but was hoping for a more up to date one....

We are about to apply for DNV and the whole Acro thing has reared it's head. Stories of people being rejected for Driving Offences and Minor charges 10-20 years ago.

I am pretty much in the same boat. For the past 6 months all i have read is Spain need 5 years clean record which is fine and I never gave that part much more thought thinking we are good but now just as we start the DNV application we are told Spain do require 5 years but the acro will display the last 30 years and this could be a problem if not clean (Mine is for some minor offence 20 years ago with one 9 years ago) In total I think I have about 4 minor charges but will know more when I get my report - I am dreading this and not looking forward to finding out how much of an idiot I was in my late teens! - I am 42 now......You can imagine how popular I am just now as a husband and father.

We have recently just purchased a 2nd property in Spain and plan/planned to live in this one and rent the other out, our daughter has been accepted into the international school due to start on Mid-October and financially we are sound in respect of what Spain require

Has anyone had anything similar recently and how did it turn out and how long? - Unless we sneak under the radar I am certain this will go to appeal in which case a lawyer will need to wrok his or her magic. I have a meeting with one next week but from what I can gather our appeal will be something like....

1 - Spain only require 5 years so why are 15-20 year old minor offences being rejected
2 - A charge that would normally be wiped off a Spanish record in 1 year is remaining on a UK file (for Spanish visa purposes) for Life
3 - We have property and NIE in Spain for 4 year+ and technically qualify for golden visa
4 - We have just purchased a 4 bed property in Spain based on the Spanish system which states 5 years everywhere you look

No idea if any of that will stick but it's pretty much all we got and if this fails a 20-30 year dream dies with it which would be pretty unthinkable really.

Thanks in advance for any helpful comments....

That is a bit of a blow.

My experience in this field is limited although in another life when working at a City law firm recruiting graduate trainees, we had a trainee solicitor who had (rather foolishly) ridden off on somebody else's push bike in Oxford as part of a prank and he ended up being prosecuted for theft. He was terrified of the consequences but fortunately it did not ruin his career but there is a chance it would appear on his records today.

From what I have read, it would appear that although the Spanish authorities ask for a 5 year history, the UK authorities give them information further back and particularly if it is a serious crime. So, for example, if it was a serious crime that warranted a custodial sentence, it would never be struck off the record whereas a very minor crime would but the question is, when? It does seem to be rather inconsistent.

My advice is to make sure you have an extremely good lawyer who specialises in this particular area of the law. Have you had sight of your records?

Hi Louise, Thanks for the reply. Yes I have a lawyer now who specialises in immigration. I spoke to 2 x lawyers before finding this lady and they barely knew the rules and twice got the requirements wrong which was frustrating. I do think even the lawyers are struggling with the inconsistency of the decisions and also the rules.

You are right though the Spanish require 5 years but the acro reveal literally everything since early youth!

I have applied for what info the police have from yesteryear and today applied for my acro so i can see what exactly is on it

It seems you have to apply to have old offences deleted.

Would an application for a golden visa stretch to cover a property purchased sometime prior to the application?
Don't know.

You'd be shocked if you knew just how many times the so called 'professionals' got things wrong, and that's in old well trodden areas not new stuff.
Trouble is when they do get it wrong the consequences always fall on the clients who thought they were doing the right thing

Yes, back to 2014 I think. Note that the 500K must be in one name or 1m if joint. No loans or mortgages allowed. You can buy multiple properties to make the 500k.

DNV?

This https://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consul...omad-Visa.aspx

Thank you for that, I was at a complete loss!

We have all been there