spainrico

Latest Press release from UK Embassy Madrid:-HMA Hugh Elliott sends a video message to UK Nationals in Spain

With 100 days until the end of the Transition Period on 31 December, HMA Hugh Elliott has recorded a video message for UK Nationals living in Spain. You can view the video .

Speaking about the continuing negotiations on the future relationship between the UK and the EU, the Ambassador said: “I want to reassure you that your rights as UK nationals living in Spain are already protected under the Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and the EU. And that both the UK and Spanish Governments are fully committed to implementing the citizens’ rights provisions in the Agreement.”

The Ambassador reminds UK Nationals of the need to register as a resident as soon as possible, but acknowledges that there are difficulties with getting appointments in some places. UK Nationals will still be protected by the Agreement, as long as you can prove you were legally living in Spain before the end of 2020, so the Embassy’s advice is to make sure you have documentation (eg. padron certificate, rental agreement, utility bills) to demonstrate you were living here before the end of the year.



If you have difficulties completing your residency application, the UK Government has provided funding to three organisations – Age in Spain, Babelia and IOM – to answer questions and provide practical support. For details of the help they can provide and how to contact them visit gov.uk/livinginspain.



The Embassy and Consulates are also running a series of Facebook Live Q&As on different topics related to living in Spain and the actions UK Nationals may need to take. All sessions take place on www.facebook.com/britsinspain and are available to watch afterwards. The current schedule is as follows, although please note that this is subject to change. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for further details:



6 October: 18:00 Pensions, benefits, working and driving

13 October: 13:00 Healthcare

27 October: 13:00 Travel

10 November: 18:00 Education – studying and teaching

24 November: 18:00 Swallows

1 December: 18:00 Residency

8 December: 18:00 General Q&A

For further information for UK Nationals in Spain visit:

gov.uk/livinginspain
facebook.com/britsinspain
https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/lang/en...residence.aspx

Retired in Euskadi

Many thanks Spainrico. Useful information, especially as anywhere north of Madrid seems to be no mans land!

spainrico

No problem!

That is because it is!! Only joking very beautiful area and I love Picos de Europa where I have enjoyed 2 walking holidays.

mikelincs

Big problem is if the UK unilaterally change the WA, and then the EU react, it could get very, very messy.

EU.flag

UK cant unilaterally change WA. If there is breach of WA, UK will be heavily penalized and probably trade sanctioned.
Unless UK starts messing with EU citizens rights in UK, EU has no reason to obstructs UK citizens rights in EU under WA.

mikelincs

Tell that to the Tory party, they do seem hell bent on doing just that.

spainrico

Saw a comment on Facebook - guy says his UK life policy company will only accept premiums paid by a UK bank. So if this is correct heads up to others who might be affected by this situation.

Rosemary

A problem that I will have if my bank discontinues my account is that one of my pension providers will not pay it into a Spanish bank because the amount is too small as far as they are concerned. This is the only reason that I have kept the UK account since moving here.

Rosemary

spainrico

Yes I think this will be another problem for many people.

bfg69bug

I imagine that there will be a few hundred thousand people that are in the same position, it makes sense that they would find a way around this - paying to paypal / via cheque etc ?

bobd22

Not much use for life savings etc. People who rent out property in the UK etc or people who's pension providers refuse to pay pension into other than UK account? There are simply many problems if you can't have a UK account. Also should you choose to eventually go back problem with showing credit banking history to get an account.

bfg69bug

I can understand the pension being too small to pay "internationally" - but then surely they would just pay it quarterly or bi-annually?

As for people renting houses out in the uk, or peoples life savings... theres nothing stopping people using a spanish bank account for that is there ?

Lynn R

My pension from my former employer's scheme isn't all that small - but they still refuse to pay to anywhere other than a UK bank account. The provider of my Self Invested Personal Pension has the same policy. Sending me cheques as you suggested earlier would be useless as I'd have no UK account to pay them into and paying sterling cheques into a Spanish account carries hefty charges and they take weeks to clear - not much use when you are depending on them for your everyday costs.

HMRC insist on paying tax rebates to overseas residents by cheque (even if they have a UK bank account, although they will pay direct to a UK bank account to taxpayers who are UK resident, go figure). The last one they sent me got lost in the post and I had to request a replacement. It took weeks and then I had to wait until I was due to visit the UK again to pay it into the bank, good thing I wasn't in urgent need of the money.

As for life savings, there's a very good reason for wanting to keep them in a UK bank - or at least one outside Spain. If I leave my estate to someone who is not a Spanish resident when I die, as is likely, any assets they inherit which are held outside Spain (eg money in a UK bank account) wouldn't be liable for Spanish inheritance tax, whereas assets held within Spain (eg property in Spain or money in Spanish bank accounts) would be. I don't want my brother to have to pay thousands of euros in tax out of whatever he inherits from me if he doesn't have to.

bfg69bug

It sounds like brexit is going to cause alot of headaches for people due to the issues highlighted above.

bobd22

Totally agree plus if renting a UK property you end up paying tax to UK so complicated if going from Spanish account I would guess. I am also a UK tax payer for life as my pensions are crown pensions so I can pay the UK tax but not have a UK bank account? Re rebates currently I get them paid direct into my UK account through the HMRC gateway? That maybe because I'm UK tax payer I don't know.