Fiona16

Hi,

Myself and hubby immigrated to Brisbane approx 7 years ago now, whilst life here is nice we miss family back home in the UK and Ireland.
We are not keen to return to the UK (unless we have to) but have set our sights on the Malaga area ,Torrox, velez-malaga, nowhere to busy but somewhere beautiful and brimming with Spanish Culture (open to other ideas).

We speak no Spanish but are intending to learn, although I think this may take some time .......

We are hoping to rent out our property in Brisbane and use the income to pay the mortgage directly, I am unsure how owning a home elsewhere would affect our ability to buy a house in Spain . Would the rent be classed as income (even though it will go straight in to the mortgage)?

As for work, I am a Paediatric Registered nurse and have been looking in to working remotely for a UK company that is contracted to the NHS, although I do not know how this would work for tax purposes etc. I would love to work in Spain but I doubt I will be anywhere near fluent in the language by the time we arrive.

My husband is a highly skilled joiner/carpenter, is there much work around ?

I am struggling to find advice re finances, mortgages, work etc so would really appreciate your input and hopefully one day I will have the knowledge to share with new arrivals in Spain too

TIA
Fiona

Joppa

One of the first questions to be asked in this post-Brexit era is does either of you hold or is entitled to a passport other than British? You mention Ireland so does that mean one of you is an Irish citizen or can obtain an Irish passport? This makes a huge difference as EU citizens and their dependants have much easier time qualifying to live and work in Spain.
Assuming you are entitled to work, speaking Spanish is a help but fluency depends on the kind of job you do. In the Costa del Sol, there is a big English-speaking community and many jobs that cater for them, so you may only need rudimentary Spanish, at least to start with. Once you become tax resident in Spain (usually meaning spending more than half a year), you will be taxed on your world-wide income, including rental, investment etc. As for working as joiner/carpenter, there are jobs around but competition is keen and you need to comply with Spanish rules regarding standards, obtaining licence etc, and you need at least basic Spanish to deal with tradespeople, wholesaler, as well as Spanish clients. As for getting mortgage, once you get established with a job and steady income, it is available but you should rent first (for at least a year), as you won't know the best area to live in and it's very difficult to sell a home and not make a loss because of high tax and fees in property transaction, and a long time it takes to complete a sale.

Fiona16

Hi Joppa,
Thanks so much for your reply, it really is helpful.
I currently hold a UK passport but am resident in Australia, I do intend to get an Irish passport but my husband would using his UK passport.

I may struggle with work within Spanish healthcare when I first arrive but hopefully my Spanish will improve enough to get gain employment.
So if I work remotely from the UK the UK would tax me and and then I would likely be taxed in Spain also ? Ouch!! That would definitely sting

Yes good idea about renting, I do tend to jump in to things quite quickly so advice noted.

Thanks again
Fi

Chipmonk

To work in the Spanish healthcare sector you would need to be very fluent and I'm afraid that would take at least 5 to 6 years study( if you are good at languages) so I wouldn't really look at that as a future plan as it is way too long to wait for fruition.

el barto

If you work remotely you would not be taxed by UK and Spain as there is a double taxation treaty which means you should only be paying tax to one or the other not both.

snikpoh

My daughter recently qualified in Emergency Healthcare, she speaks fluent Spanish and Valencian (and English) having lived here since she was 7. She can NOT find a job in healthcare as they simply "aren't hiring" at the moment. Incredible!

Fiona16

Hopefully it is not a problem as I would likely be working remotely from the UK for a few years, I used to be fantastic at picking up new languages although I think my cognitive abilities are on the decline....

Fiona16

I had a quick read of the agreement between UK and Spain, hopefully it would be fairly smooth then

Fiona16

That must be very hard for your daughter to have studied so hard and now not be able to find work, I know the NHS are always recruiting nurses from Spain but then so many nurses leave the NHS due to poor working conditions.
Covid brought about some changes in working arrangements and this means that there are opportunities for me to work for NHS contractors and work remotely, so I would (hopefully) not be in a rush to have to find work in Spain.
Hope your daughter finds work in her chosen field soon

EuroTrash

Probably I'm being dim but I'm intrigued what this means and how it works.
Is it the case that you, from Spain, would be giving online consultations to NHS customers in the UK?
If so, I don't see how you could be paid on a UK payroll. Remote workers are not automatically regarded as working in the country where their employer is based. If you live and work abroad, you're not eligible to pay UK NICs (because eligibility for NHS cover is primarily residence-based and if you neither live nor work in the UK you're not eligible for NHS cover, unless working for them gives you a special privilege?). If you live and work in Spain you (and potentially your employer) need to be paying in to the Spanish healthcare system. Likewise tax, you normally pay your tax as per the rule of bum, i.e. where your bum is while you are working, so if your bum is in Spain then you pay tax in Spain.
But I may have got the wrong end of the stick entirely.

EDIT - this seems to be based on a reliable source?
https://www.spanishpropertyinsight.c...ly-from-spain/

Moses2013

Not specifically for Spain but a good link how it works in general, also for social security https://www.litrg.org.uk/tax-guides/...while-overseasWe cannot provide an exhaustive list. However, the following considerations may be relevant:

• Immigration law: do you have a right to work in the overseas country under their immigration laws, and do you need a visa to do so?
• Employment law: for example, are you or your employer in scope of foreign labour laws because of your working overseas?
• Data protection: do you handle client data, and if you propose to do this overseas, are you covered under your employer’s data privacy policy?
• Employer liability: are you covered for the work carried out overseas under any public liability insurance your employer may have?
• Health and safety: your employer has certain legal responsibilities regarding your health and safety which will need to be reviewed if you change your workplace;
• Medical insurance: if you have private medical insurance provided by your employer, does this cover you while you are overseas?
• Travel and home insurance: do any policies you have cover you for extended stays outside the UK?

tebo53

Surely you will have to apply for a visa firstly if you want to use your UK passport. Have you looked into that?

Steve

EuroTrash

This appears to be Spain's procedure for obtaining a visa for a non EU citizen accompanying an EU spouse, I wonder if anyone on the forum has used it yet?
Entry Visa for Family Members of Citizens of the EU

Fred James

That link refers to US citizens wanting a 90 day visa.

UK citizens do not need a visa to travel to the EU for up to 90 days. Next year they will need to apply for ETIAS.

EuroTrash

So it does, my bad.
But if the OP is moving to France permanently with a British husband, he will need a visa nonetheless. Albeit not that visa LOL.