polar_bear

Hello everyone,

Firstly sorry if this sort of thing is asked on a regular basis, it's hard for me to find the answer to our specific question without sifting through thousands of threads so it is far quicker for me to just start a new one.

We are currently living in USA and are planning to move back to England in Summer 2012. However I am toying with the idea of moving to Spain instead, probably just for a year unless we really like it in which case we could make it permanent.

I am a UK Citizen, my wife is a US citizen. Our kids will be 5 and 3 next summer, and they have both UK and US passports.

If my wife gets a residency visa for the UK, based on our marriage (been married 6 years and she already lived in the UK for over 2 years so it should not be a problem), do we then have freedom to just move wherever we want in the EU? I seem to recall last time we flew from UK to Spain there were no passport checks or anything at the airport.

Fortunately we have enough funds to support ourselves without working for a year so we would not need work permits or anything like that. But with our eldest being 5 she would need to go to school...would we be free to send her to public school? Spanish language is fine as she already goes to a bi-lingual school here in Texas. Or would we have to go private?

And the biggest question, what happens with healthcare? Obviously in the UK we would have the NHS. Would we have any access to socialised healthcare in Spain if we were effectively just living there on an extended holiday? Or would we be in danger of landing a huge bill if one of us got sick or injured?

Many thanks in advance for any help you can give us.

pwwm

Sorry I can only answer one thing you have mentioned re flying from Uk to Spain or other way round, you do need a passport as UK is not in the shengen agreement.EU nationals can use their ID card but as UK doesnt have these a current passport is definately needed.

Once on mainland Europe you can cross borders with impunity. (EU countries of course)

Your questions will be better answered by others with children as our situation is very different, older, no children, no need to work etc am sure the answers will be forthcoming asap

polar_bear

Sorry pwwm, looking back I worded it quite badly. Obviously they checked our passports when boarding in London, what I meant was when we arrived in Barcelona we just got off the plane and walked straight out of the airport. There was no separate immigration check when we arrived, as there would be if you were flying from the UK to any non-EU country.

pwwm

they do check at Malaga and Almeria so maybe it was a busy day, never mind re wording, you knew what you meant lol. Good luck in getting the answers am sure you will when they wake up oit is 3 20 in the morning

lynnxa

hi

I'm not sure of the situation with your wife - you'd need to check with the Spanish Embassy in the US & maybe in the UK too? I think though, that as long as the Spanish govt accepts her as your legal spouse then she is entitled to live here under the same terms as you & the children. I have a feeling that having a residency visa for the UK has no bearing on it - certainly I've read that not having one makes no difference.

so - if we take you all as a family...........

you can just turn up & live here - there is some paperwork to do when you arrive, such as NIE & residency certificates (that's the bit where your wife applies to live here as your legal spouse - you and your kids as UK passport holders don't need peermission - you have the right, but still have to register)

your children could both go to state school for free - yes both of them - school starts at 3 in most areas

state healthcare in Spain isn't residency based (though they keep saying that will change very soon) - but contribution based - so unless you are paying/have paid into the system by working, you can't access it.

so you'd need private health insurance - which isn't scarily expensive - a family of four could get a good policy for +/- 250€ a month..............which is more or less what a self-employed person here has to pay in national insurance contributions every month!!

If you did want to work, you wouldn't need work permits - just a job - & that would be the hard part!

missile

As far as I am aware, a UK visa is ONLY valid for UK. Any non EU passport holder needs a visa for spain. That was the case for my BiL who is UK wife and her child who are not.

As you say, they seldom check passports for UK flights arriving at Alicante, but what if ......... ?

Fred James

When you are in the UK you can apply for a Schengen Visa at the Spanish Embassy. This will allow entry into Spain and from there to any other Schengen country.

As soon as you get to Spain you should sign on the foreigners register and your wife will be issued with a residency card. Once she has this she will be free to travel within the EU, including the UK without the need for a visa -to all intents and purposes she is then an EU citizen.

lynnxa

thanks for confirming what I thought, Fred

Eric S

I don't think the Schengen visa is what is needed. If the wife is a US citizen, she does not need a visa to travel to Spain. The US is a member of the Visa Wiaver Program. Citizens of VWP countries can travel to Spain and stay up to 90 days with only a passport.

The question is, will she need a visa for stays longer than 90 days. I'm not sure about that, but I think she can travel to Spain on the VWP, and then once there, get residency permission as a spouse of an EU citizen.

You may want to check with your local Spanish consulate on that.

- Eric S.

polar_bear

Thanks very much for all the advice so far.

I just thought of another question. My wife and I both have US driving licences. I have never passed my test in the UK.

Would we need to obtain a Spanish driver's licence if we were moving there for 12 months and wanted to buy a car? If so, if we then moved to the UK would our Spanish driving licences be valid there? Or would we then have to take the UK driving test too!?

lynnxa

you need to get an International permit to go with your licences for both the UK & Spain - but after 6 months (99% sure on this) you'd have to get a local licence by taking the driving test

I'm pretty sure it would be easier/cheaper to do this in the UK - I think you can just book a test & take it there - here you have to have lessons with an approved school first & then take the test

then your UK driving licence is valid in Spain for the life of the licence -so a year would be no problem

polar_bear

So is the same true in reverse? If we moved to Spain and took our tests there, those licences would then be valid if/when we moved onto the UK?

Just thinking it might be easier taking it in Spain as we are used to driving on the right. Would probably have to take lessons if we took the test in the UK anyway, by all accounts it is far from a formality to turn up and pass the UK test!!

lynnxa

you're right it could well be easier in that case!!

it's a long time since I lived in the UK so things may well have changed

I'm pretty sure there though that you can still take lessons with 'mum or dad' on a provisional licence & then book your test, which is why I imagined it would be easier

here that isn't allowed - you can ONLY have lessons with an approved driving school - so it's obviously more costly

fionamw

Pretty sure there's a written test in the UK too now? And might language be an issue with regards to a Spanish test? (and/or lessons!)

adra04778

In Uk you do a theorytest tick the box for the right answer, so easy for someone who already drives, and you can buy books to show you the questions or google it, also you can book your test and just go and take it, but normally a waiting list, you can ask for a cancellation if one becomes available.