First Steps To Moving Permanently??
 

Hi Guys, I've always dreamt of moving abroad but realised life is what you make it... a simple and obvious statement but one I neglected to understand until the last few years.

Anyway... I'm on countdown, no longer is it a "sometime next year" that never happens, this time i'm setting a date for November 2015 to move because I have a family with young daughters and a business - so it's a lot to prepare for...

I will need a mortgage once we're over there, so i'm concious that we'll need to start building a credit file in Spain, is there any advice on how to do this before actually moving?

Any other advice for getting things in motion? :)

Thank you!!

Re: First Steps To Moving Permanently??
 

Our experience of Spain is limited for we are now back in the UK but will be returning after family issues here in the UK are resolved.

However my thoughts as a starting point is to establish a bank account and to populate it with euros. Here and lots of people will have differing viewpoints but we found Deutsche Bank most professional (albeit in Javea so that is not necessarily where you are thinking of living) and Sabadell a bit further down the tree in our considered opinion. Of course some ex-pats use Barclays but not sure how much longer Barclays Spain will be in the stable of Barclays

Re: First Steps To Moving Permanently??
 

Thank you Porth!
Just reading up about the banks, do you know if I can get a NIE to open the bank account without living there? My aunt has an address there I can use, just not sure if i'm being naughty doing that or not? :)
Thanks xx

Re: First Steps To Moving Permanently??
 

We opened bank accounts literally over the internet and whilst we were living at our French home. The NIE came when we arrived in Spain! That is our experience and some people may say no NIE no bank but our experience is to the contrary.

Copies of passports + and we had the account opened. Upon arrival and of course having populated the accounts with euros we had cheque books debit cards and on-line banking.

Again we say that in view and based solely upon our time in Javea that DB were very professional.

Also we had some trouble in the the post office did not deliver to our urbanisation so we opened a private postal box in Javea itself and collected our mail.

Re: First Steps To Moving Permanently??
 

I believe the Spanish Embassy can issue you with an NIE for each of your family members.

where are you considering moving to ?
are you going to run your business from the UK or from Spain ?

You might like to discuss your mortgage requirements with Santander, who have an office in The Strand, London which is set up to handle true Spanish requirements rather than the normal UK type of business.

Although I assume you are UK/EU resident you may still have to prove you have certain levels of wealth and you are not going to be a drain on Spanish resources, which will also mean taking out private medical in addition to any national medical you may get if you are working as Autonomo or as a Director of a Spanish registered company.

sorry, the file looks like getting bigger and bigger. :ohmy:

Re: First Steps To Moving Permanently??
 

We're looking between alicante and valencia, the Uk business (retail) would continue to run without us, or we may sell it - something we're weighing up at the moment in preperation...

We're UK nationals, I think we'll be opening a new shop over there but we need to go and check out the market first to make sure it's not too different to what we're used too and it'll be viable still.

Private medical isn't a problem, there'll no doubt be added expenses to moving there just as much as there will be savings - swings in roundabouts I guess, just need to know as much as possible about what we need in place and in what order to sort things out to avoid delays and problems :)

Thank you!

I was reading up on getting the NIE at the consulate in London, has anyone gone down that route for helping to set up a bank account??

Re: First Steps To Moving Permanently??
 

Hi and a warm welcome to the Spanish forum on BE. I am the Concierge for the Spanish section and thought that you might find it helpful to know that the moderators for the Spanish forums are Fred James and Bevs, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE.

Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderator who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are usually friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. I hope that you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Re: First Steps To Moving Permanently??
 

Hi, I went in person to Sabadell Bank armed with only my Passport and a recent utility bill and that was enough to open an account there even though my home address is in the UK.
I didn't need my NIE.

Re: First Steps To Moving Permanently??
 

This too is our experience. I cannot speak for anywhere else than Javea. But Sabadell seemingly have taken over another defunct Spanish Bank. Thus an amalgam of customers and you queue for a long time to be dealt with. Not the same just down the road with DB. I am not German! But with a banking background I do believe that DB are the better bank in Javea.

Re: First Steps To Moving Permanently??
 

but NIE is a good thing to have, it gives the individual an element of credibility as staying in the country rather than a fly-by-night.
also makes life easier when applying for utilities if you have an NIE and a Spanish bank account.

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Re: First Steps To Moving Permanently??
 

My son opened an account with Santander in the UK and got his mortgage with them, he had no credit history in Spain.

Re: First Steps To Moving Permanently??
 

The very first thing to do in preparation for moving to Spain is to start to learn the language.

Go to evening classes, buy CD's, DVD's and books on the language. Nothing you learn prior to leaving will be wasted in Spain.

Living in Spain permanently is not like being on holiday in resort where the hotel staff, cafe, bar and shop owners have a little English. As soon as you get involved with bureaucracy, where they are not interested in making money from you, you will be expected to speak in their language.

Posters here have been taking about opening bank accounts, credit facilities, mortgages, setting up businesses, etc., but how are you going to communicate that to people if you can't speak at least some of the language ?

We have all been in a queue at the post office in Britain where an immigrant at the counter has held up the queue because he cannot communicate what he wants to the person behind the counter. We have all seethed "Why doesn't he learn the b language".

Well, here in Spain, you will be that immigrant.

Re: First Steps To Moving Permanently??
 

Already on it :) well ish... there aren't many classes around where I live but been finding free online classes for now for the basics whilst I figure out the best way of learning, I tried rosetta stone which was great for learning words but I didn't find it helped with grammar and how to put sentences together.

We have 3 children so I really want them to settle into a state school and make friends, luckily we live in Wales so they're learning Welsh - not much help in Spain but they love learning languages because of it so I'm sure they will be fine once we get over there - but the more they know now will allow them to settle in and make friends quicker once we get over there.

I was wondering about getting study books and cds for GCSE Spanish to start from scratch... anything you would recommend?

Re: First Steps To Moving Permanently??
 

I couldn't recommend any course really, they are all a much of a muchness for me, but I'm sure other members of BE will chip in with their favourites.

The main thing is that you have grasped the importance of starting to learn the language, if only to have a few words to say to your Spanish neighbours when they come round to welcome you to your new home.

Re: First Steps To Moving Permanently??
 

Here I am a product of the 'valleys' of South Wales and was not given the opportunity all those years ago to learn the language. Grammar school in those days was let us say Latin+ either French or German.

I commend your children to learning a foreign language but truly hope that to augment Welsh with a more meaningful European language may be the better way forward.

As a 70 year old product of the valleys I have a concerns as to devolution but entirely an differing argument for another time.

Exposure for our young people to a different culture and a language and indeed beliefs is the way forward. The horizon will never be conquered.