Pollyana

Surely getting the Irish passport, to which she seems to think she is entitled, would be much easier?

Fiona16

Its very early days and we are only starting to look in to the process so really only starting to look in to what we need to do, I think it will be easier if I use an Irish passport, although my husband would be using UK passport so we will have to look in to this..

Fiona16

I will use an EU passport, my husband will have UK passport.

EuroTrash

If you don't already hold Irish citizenship and have to start by applying for that, it may be a slow process. According to reports from earlier this year it was taking years rather than months for applications for citizenship to be processed. But if Fiona already has Irish citizenship and just needs to get a passport, that would indeed seem by far the easiest and quickest route.

Fiona16

Hi, thanks for your detailed response, one reason I came on here was to pick the brains of those who have so much more knowledge on these topics than I. There is so much I will need to look into and no doubt I will need some advice from tax & legal professionals.
Thanks again

EU.flag

OP needs to start planning first with citizenship and tax options.

Unless you have criminal record, your family should apply for AUS citizenship. AUS residence permit doesnt carry automatic right of entry from overseas after 5y of issue.
https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visa...verseas-travel
For sake of your children and grandchildren, get AUS citizenship asap. They might want one day to move to AUS.

As others have wisely advised, get IE passport, it will make your family move to Spain a formality.

Also, study AUS, UK and ES tax laws. Moving from country to country doesn't free you from tax liability. You need to plan for tax implications with holding property in AUS.

Only when you have worked out your status regarding above issues, should you move on to work/accommodation/travel planning.

EuroTrash

Thinking about it, the EU passport would probably be necessary if only for the right to work in Spain. A UK passport does not give this. I don't know how easy applying for a working visa to work remotely in Spain for a UK employer would be.

Fiona16

Thanks for your reply,
We are currently waiting in citizenship here in Australia and I am in the process of applying for an Irish passport.
We definitely do not want to avoid paying taxes, hence my questions re the systems in place.
Before looking to in-depth in to anything I need to ensure I can legally work remotely from Spain and figure out if it is financially viable. If not, we would need to reconsider our options in terms of moving, when we move and consider if I need to look in to other career options.
We will definitely need some professional advice before doing anything.

Thanks again 🙂

Fiona16

According to other sources working remotely from UK whilst living in Spain has increased substantially in recent years so hoping it becomes easier.

Chipmonk

There is a big difference between what Brits do and what they shouldn't do. I know people who live in Spain and work remotely for UK companies. They claim everything is legal but when you question them you find they still have UK addresses and UK banks and they still pay tax in UK. They then claim that that is okay because there is no double tax between Spain and UK - so why declare in Spain!. In otherwords their situation is illegal and their ignorance of the law doesn't absolve them from facing fines from the Hacienda in the future. Remote working at the moment is not subject to any special visa at the moment for Spain

Fiona16

I am sure there are lots of people out there dodging authorities and taxes. I am a humble nurse who has no intention of dodging any taxes, I could never afford to pay the bill of I got caught 🤣 The only reason I asked the questions is to seek information to assist me in doing the right thing.

Pollyana

If this is too personal, feel free to ignore it, but when you talk of "working remotely" as a nurse. Do you actually mean sitting in Spain doing a pc or phone based job, or do you mean commuting back to the UK every so often for a few shifts? (asking because I have a friend looking at doing exactly that, and we got some good info on her a year or two back).

Fiona16

No not too personal at all, I currently work assessing children for lots of conditions such as ADHD, ASD, attachment issues etc I also working are of supporting titration of medications. The NHS has contracted out some services. Since COVID many jobs have been made remote and use video link up with client and their GP.
I am happy to go back and forth to UK but maybe not every week.
companies I have spoken to have said they would not have a problem with me working from Spain but what they say and what they do may turn out to be very different.
does your friend go back to UK frequently?

EuroTrash

That's a good start.
The trouble is that a lot of employers in the UK don't realise that having employees in a different country potentially means complying with that other country's labour laws. They think they can keep them on UK payroll and pretend they are in the UK. Which they can't, or at least not legally.
If Spain is at all like France, what you have to make sure of is that you officially qualify for residence, ie sufficient income / employment etc. As an EU citizen this would not normally matter, but in your case it may be necessary in order for your non EU spouse to be given residence rights. So you would need to check that whatever employment arrangement you have, is acceptable to Spain from that point of view.
In France for instance, if you say you are working in France you need to be registered with URSSAF and paying into the French social security system., otherwise as far as France is concerned you're working there illegally. Around Brexit time, many remote workers had problems because while in theory their employers were happy for them to work from France, when it came to registering them with URSSAF and paying French social contributions the employer refused.

DLC

Spain is working on a digital nomad visa, but the law is still going through Congreso and it will probably be similar to the ones for Croatia and Estonia. Until then, to be legit, you have to have a self-employed visa. Probably best not to listen to immigration lawyers who talk about working under a non-lucrative visa.