Chipmonk

I am taking a punt here and imagine you dont speak Spanish? If so how are going to obtain your Spanish driving licence?

bfg69bug

He´ll not need to for a year or so, so he´s got time to learn. If he´s allowed in..

EuroTrash

Well if he goes through the immigration process, doesn't that include obligatory Spanish language and integration classes?
In France when you enter France on a visa you have to go to these classes. You learn enough of the language to get by, you learn the French citizens code and what your rights and obligations are, they teach you about French culture and customs, and about French institutions and how the administration works - healthcare, tax, benefits etc - and then you have to produce a certificate to say that you have completed all your classes, before you are given your titre de séjour.
I guess there is something similar in Spain?

Chipmonk

I dont think in Spain that official integration support is offered to basic immigrants . Maybe for asylum seekers. Spanish is only officially required for nationalisation although you would need to to get your driving licence and you wouldn't be able to learn adequate Spanish for that without a few years study.

EuroTrash

Yes you are right Chipmonk, apparently Spain doesn't really do this, although surprise surprise it seems to vary region to region.
I found this https://ec.europa.eu/migrant-integra...vernance/spain
I must admit I kind of felt that in France, third country immigrants have a head start over EU incomers. Some Brits used to just kind of drift across the Channel and they had no clue where to go and what they had to do as new residents, in fact it was surprising how little some knew about how France works even after living there for several years. Not surprisingly TCNs tend to be far more clued up and although the bureaucracy is no doubt a hassle I suspect it actually makes settling in is less stressful because at least you know what to do and how to do it..

Chipmonk

Admittedly it seems rather unfair as ( I am pretty sure) the UK requires all immigrants to have a level of English to gain residency whereas the same does not apply to immigrants settling in Spain vis a vis Spanish.

DLC

As far as I remember there was nothing about frontier workers for post-Brexit British citizens in the Withdrawal Agreement, so working in one country but residing in another is going to be difficult.

I'm going to suggest a residency and work visa as a freelancer/self-employed person where you work in the UK and transfer your income to a Spanish bank account, but this is just a guess. See the "Self-employed and freelance workers in Spain" heading here. In any case the embassy should help choose the right one, if the person you're talking to is having a good day. And you're going to need tax advice too, which the embassy certainly won't help with.

Joppa

The question of frontier workers has been addressed in the withdrawal agreement signed last January. UK is going to issue frontier worker permit to those eligible (have worked in UK before the end of transition period without being a UK resident), and similar scheme will operate for British citizens working in one EU country without being a resident.

morpeth

But does it cover freelancers or self employed ?

Joppa

I don't know about what Spain does, but frontier worker permit in UK is available for self-employed:
Frontier Worker permit - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

DLC

That is for EU citizens who reside in the EU but work in the UK. If you're British (or Irish) you can't use that even if you do reside in Spain, and in any case it's a British government permit.

The visa I mentioned looks like it is the closest Spanish equivalent for non-EU citizens, but as I said that is my guess. The first step would be to ask the embassy.

Joppa

I know that, but I assumed that Spain and other EU countries are in a position to issue similar document to UK frontier worker on the basis of reciprocity.

DLC

This permit came about due to Brexit and it's aimed at pre-2021 cross-border workers working in the UK, residing in the EU, and having EU nationality.

The Spanish equivalent is not necessary in this case, firstly because the OP is post-2021 and secondly because the work is being carried out outside of Spain.

As cross-border provisions in the WA are only for British/EU citizens who are currently cross-border workers up till this year, from 2021 onwards regular visas are required. See the "Conclusion" section here for what this means for EU citizens, and of course this is reciprocated for British citizens.

So a post-2021 cross-border worker working in the UK, resident in Spain, and having British nationality would be able to access the UK to work without any permit and would have to apply to Spain for a residency visa which allows work to be carried out outside of Spain.

I might have laboured a few points above, but I wanted to get it clear. Of course I could also be wrong, but at least I would be clearly wrong.

EuroTrash

No I think you are clearly right DLC. The frontalier visa is the exact opposite of what the OP needs. The purpose of this document is to give permission to work in a country, not to live there.
But the OP doesn't need a oermit to work in the UK. What he needs is a visa to live in Spain

Good luck with finding a visa that lets him live in Spain while keeping the centre of his economic life in a different country. The reason I think this visa is unlikely to exist is because what's in it for Spain? Immigration policies are designed to benefit the country, and it's hard to see exactly how it benefits Spain to provide services such as education, security etc to foreigners who haven't made any significant investment in Spain and don't pay any taxes or social security contributions there (because if he works in the UK and his business is established in the UK, tjhen as per the tax treaty he'll pay income tax, corporation tax and NICs in the UK)..
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