SallyGee

Good Morning
I am looking to try to move to Spain hopefully in November and become a resident before December 31st .
I have friends who live there so a good support network there already .
Single with my two dogs and I have €15,000 to support myself initially and hope to set up a business as a dog groomer .
Will I be able to get residency without having a job secured before I arrive?
Thank you in advance for your help and advice

teuchterpete

There are other threads on this site dealing with various residencia issues, but as far as I can make out, You need to provide evidence that you can support yourself , and will have enough income to keep on doing so in the future, and also that you have suffecient medical insurance, to cope with any medical problems. The residencia situation would appear to be in a bit of a mess at the moment, but it seems that the sooner you start the process , the better. Also it is worth noting that even when the rules are " set in stone" every functionario will interpret them differently,something I know from personal expreience.I have my doubts that if you went and just said " I have got £15,000 and intend to set up in business" it would not be suffecient at the moment. You do not mention accomodation,, If you rent a flat then also rent a grooming parlour, plus your medical insurance, that will soon start to make a hole in your cash reserves.
Pete

Moses2013

You are right and there seems to be a lot of threads covering this. But many forget that they are still British and permanent residency is still different (5 years). And while anyone can go to Spain and set up a business, what happens if that business fails (it often does)?

missile

Do you have experience working as a groomer and/or running a business?

SallyGee

Thank you for your reply !

bobd22

To be honest the system and procedure for applying for residencia is changing from today. I would doubt anyone can provide personal experience of that system as yet. Coming in November although within the time limit afforded by the withdrawal agreement I would suggest you are cutting it very fine. If I were you I would get your friends to search out a good gestor who can act on your behalf to obtain residencia. Well before Novmber I would make personal contact with that gestor to ensure you know exact procedures and documentation etc that you will require. You can do that by email or phone etc. That way you and the gestor will be ready to start the procedure as soon as you are here.

SallyGee

Thank you so much for the information,much appreciated !
I was thinking of coming out early September to see friends so maybe I can get the process started then .
Hopefully they can recommend a good Gestor to help me .
Thanks again

Barriej

You can't get the residency process started until you are living full time inSpain. We are arriving in mid August and our solicitor has already said that, with the backlog from the covid and the changes to the system they still have people who have been waiting since late February.

Im expecting our appointment to be sometime in December. You don't say where you will be living, but if its in the Alicante region. As a Uk citizen appointments are now only available at the office in the City, not in Benidorm or Denia or any of the other offices. That alone will complicate matters.

Before you even think about residency you will need an NIE, Spanish bank account, somewhere to live (you need this for residency), private health care (or a job contract), you have enough money (its supposed to be in a Spanish bank for at least 3 months).

Although the system has now changed but doubt if its got any simpler. So make sure you get a good gestor.

Oh and as to setting up as a dog groomer (in fact any business in Spain) its nothing like here in the UK. Far more complex and you need licences and permits etc (also remember if you drive After 31st Dec 2020 you will need to take a Spanish driving test) Unless and agreement is made.

I wish you luck with your move.

Notdunroamin

That is not so.

If you get your residence application in before Dec 31st., and of course it's successful, then there is a grace period of 9 months from Jan 1st 2021 in which to exchange a UK licence.

Those arriving after Dec 31st. will need to take a Spanish test. At the present moment there do not appear to be any talks in progress regarding the exchange of UK licence after that date.

I suspect (amongst many other aspects of Brexshite) it's something the UK government couldn't care less about and the only thing I see changing that is if they were threaten to reciprocate by changing the current rules which permit an exchange from Spanish to UK a Spanish licence to be exchanged for a UK one which are not due to change after Dec 31st.

In that case pressure from Spanish in UK could make Spain rethink what is a clearly preposterous and totally unnecessary burden which achieves absolutely nothing for either party.

Barriej

Thats nice to know but it all hinges on getting the appointment before the 31st. With the backlog our solicitor was saying they had enough people on the books at their offices to take all available appointments in Alicante for the next 3 months. (lots of these are people who didn't bother to register years ago. They told me of one couple who have lived there for over 20 years without bothering) and most of these live in the Benidorm, Albir areas

So even though we will be 'living' in Spain from the middle of august, we won't be legal until the residency appointment. (although we will have a grace period to get our residency) this wont help as far as I'm aware with the licence exchange. Unless someone can point me to the information.

Moses2013

You won't have a problem and will be covered. It's more the people who think they can move today and actually haven't been in Spain the full 5 years and don't meet the health/income requirements.

What if, after Brexit, you have not been in Spain for five years?

Of course, there will be a number of people who will have been in Spain for less than five years when the UK finally exits the EU. They will be able to rely on the time they have spent there and will need to continue to remain in Spain lawfully until they have resided in Spain for five years, at which time they will be able to apply for indefinite permission to reside.

No doubt people will still be able to move to Spain after Brexit but many don't seem to understand that it's not indefinite permission to reside.

Notdunroamin

You won't be resident until you get your (now) TIE but as long as that's before the 9 month grace period expires you will be able to exchange your licences in the normal way, you only need to get your application in by then not receive the Spanish licence.

teuchterpete

As ever in Spain, "complicated", massively underestimates anything to do with paperwork. When we filled out out residency form,there was no option to apply for permanent residency, but only temporary residency, we were told in no uncertain terms, that we would need to apply for permanent residency in 5 years ( this was in April 2016) so technically we cannot do this until April next year. However the residency card ( small credit card size ,and green in colour) makes no to reference whatsoever to our residence being temporary and indeed is identical to the one referred to in the announcement made by the British embassy as the one to exchange for a TIE. Also in other posts concerning residency, it has been stated that under EU law temporary residency becomes permanent after five years. What happens to all the other ex pats who have neglected to apply? , will they only get a "five year temporary" TIE? if not, it will penalise those of us who have " done the right thing" in the first place.
Pete

Fred James

You do not need to apply. You automatically are "upgraded" after 5 years. If you want to, you can ask (and pay) for a new form/card which will include the words "con character permanente".

bfg69bug

If you imagine your rent will be €800 a month, minimum.. and you will need to give 2 months deposit then you´ll need say.. €300 a month to live on.. in the first 6 months you´ll of done around €8000 just living. Then you need dog food. And a vet. And a car. and fuel. and car insurance. You´ll easily do the whole 15k in a year.

Not trying to say that it cant be done, but think about it a bit more eh?