Ms
 

Hello,
I am self employed, able to work remotely and am moving to Spain tomorrow until at least January, so 3 months. I understand I will need a visa after the 31st of Dec. I would like to achieve residency or some status that will enable me the opportunity to stay without applying for a visa. I am wondering what the process is? what I would need (bank account, rental agreement, for how long, a job?) if I have enough time?

Any information, links much appreciated :)

Dani

Re: Ms
 

Residency here in Spain is for people who actually are living here legally in Spain. You can't apply for residency just so you can spend more time here.

To apply for residency you will need to prove that you have enough income to satisfy the authorities you won't become a burden on the state. That income will be required to be paid into a Spanish bank account for the last three months and outgoings being paid to various companies to prove that you actually are living here legally in Spain. You would need to prove that you have full healthcare cover fully paid up for the year. A long term rental contract or deeds to a property and a padron will also be needed.

Steve

Re: Ms
 

Hello Steve,

Thankyou that is really helpful. I am in the final stages of signing a rental agreement with a friend for an apartment in the old town, Malaga. I would love for this to be for a year but it is a bit chicken and egg re staying. I am wondering what would be considered long term? I do earn reasonable income so I guess the barrier here would be what is required to open a Spainsh bank account, I can see an NIE number is needed which I need to be a resident for... hum. Paying out for things in Spain would not be a problem, I am guessing local supermarkets, buying furniture, I wasn't going to put the bills through my account but perhaps this would help? Then the local healthcare. I guess the health plan would be part of my paperwork too. Can see you are referring to the 'documentation which demonstrates you meet the EU residence criteria on income and healthcare'

I would love to stay in Spain, this is something I have been wanting to do for a long time but I also understand time is short! So I am under quite a bit of pressure to act and learn quickly, ​​​​​I guess I am wondering considering how little time I have how long they would like to see me paying for things in Malaga, length of rental agreement etc

thanks again for info

Re: Ms
 

I am in the process of getting residency through the foreigners office in Malaga so I am familiar with the local requirement (each province has its own rules). As you are clearly not retired with pensions, you need to show adequate income, which is quite low in Malaga of around 461 euro per month. This doesn't need to be in Spanish bank account, so UK bank account is fine, with statement over the last 6 months privately translated. You will need NIE, and they don't issue one at the same time as residency document as they used to, so you need to get it before applying. You don't need rental agreement but you should be on padron. Plus a year's private health insurance without co-payment. It has taken me 4 weeks to get an approval after submitting documents online through a gestor, plus a few weeks for fingerprinting and collection of residency document (TIE), so it's getting very tight. If you need to exchange your driving licence, you need to apply before the end of the year, for which you need TIE, or else you will have to take driving test in Spanish. So if you want to get residency under the withdrawal agreement, get to Spain now, apply for NIE through a gestor and then residency, and then apply for exchange of licence.

Re: Ms
 

Hi Joppa, our gesture submitted my wife's documents/application to the foreigners office in Malaga nearly two weeks ago. Did it take just four weeks for your first appointment at the police station?

Re: Ms
 

No, four weeks to be approved, and we now have to wait for more appointments at the police station to be released at the end of October.

Re: Ms
 

Not sure that's so.

The first part of the process, an application for an appointment to present form EX-20, asks for an NIE or DNI or passport number.

Note it does not ask for a Padron either.

https://sede.administracionespublica...cpco/acEntrada

BTW, may I suggest next time you use a more meaningful title for a topic.

Not sure what 'Ms' was meant to mean but at first glance I thought 'multiple sclerosis' and nearly didn't open it to read!

Re: Ms
 

I am going through residency procedure at the moment through Malaga Extranjeria (as OP is planning to do) and local requirement includes having NIE before applying for TIE. Padron certificate is being asked for the second step at policia nacional.

Spanish Residency
 

Great thanks Joppa,
Really helpful. Got a recommendation for a gestor to apply for the NIE ?! I assume I complete this E15 form...
(cant post urls)
And then send my gestor a copy of the interesting pages of my passport, rental agreement not essential? just an address in Malaga? one year of healthcare only for me, 6 months of bank statement - in my UK back account is fine (to prove I earn more that 461 Euros a month), anything else?
I take this to the police station in Malaga, unless they are doing this online now with Covid?

Re: Ms
 

Okay so this does mean I focus on the NIE with needs the E15 form. Thanks

Re: Spanish Residency
 

New applications are a 3 stage affair.
The first part is to submit all of your paperwork (ours is being done by our solicitor as it can be done online)
Once the office has approved you, then you have to make an appointment to have your fingerprints and to check your paperwork, including a padron cert at the National Police station.
Then you have to go back and collect the card.

Here in Alicante its taking between 4 to 6 weeks (although others have found it quicker) to process the paperwork.
Appointments for the police are few and far between.

Im anticipating it taking around 3 to 4 months to get our cards, and also here in Alicante you have to prove 3 months of transactions in a Spanish bank with a balance of around €9000 each. And the statements must be printed and signed by the bank, with a letter saying how long you have had the account.

But I think Malaga might be different. Or should I say easier, but you can only apply in the region you live in, or I would be driving down asap.

Once resident you do realise that its illegal for you to drive a Uk plated car? And you have to exchange your diving licence as well.

Good luck with your plans.

Re: Ms
 

Unless you are fluent in Spanish and have dealt with bureaucracy before, I strongly suggest you use gestoria to handle your application. It's very difficult to book an appointment for TIE at Malaga and the time is running out. Gestoria will apply online and help you to get appointments at police station (two required). Scan and email your passport (vital pages), bank statement (6 months), rental contract, health insurance (receipt and schedule) and explain you need NIE as you don't have one. They will first make an appointment for NIE at police station (you get NIE statement a couple of days later) and then they will make online application. They will complete relevant application forms and just ask you to sign. I am using Maria Cobos based in Nerja but covers Malaga as well. GESTORÍA COBOS | Contact Us

Re: Spanish Residency
 

Think you may not be quite correct about illegal to drive a UK plated car. It is illegal to have a UK plated car that is registered in your name.

Re: Spanish Residency
 

Thankyou Barriej,
This is really helpful. Yes I am so happy Malaga is easier ! Sounds like you are making goo progress. and worth employing somebody I think. Especially considering time !

Re: Ms
 

Thanks for the link, forwarded to friend too.
I am subletting and didnt ask to go on rental contract as understood I didnt need but does my name need to be on it? Or can I just give an address in Malaga where I live? Thanks loads for your help!

Re: Ms
 

You don't need any address document for the first step - submission of documents and initial application, but padron certificate is being asked for when you attend your second step appointment, this time at a police station. Rental contract showing your name is normally required for padron application.

Re: Ms
 

Great thanks Joppa,
No had a reply yet. I am guessing they are extremely busy and think will look for another company to handle paper work. Any suggestion be great !

Dani

Re: Spanish Residency
 

close...unless its changed recently - .. Its illegal for a spanish resident to drive any foreign plated car owned by themselves or any close relative. I work in a car park, we drive foreign cars every day.

Re: Ms
 

Where as I opened it because of that. I grew up here with a wonderful girl.. she was only in her 20´s when she passed away.

Re: Spanish Residency
 

Thanks for that info. It puts me in a tricky position, as I am resident, my wife not, so she has to do all the driving if we are in her car. She won't like that! I have just emailed the DGT to try to clarify. I was going on a post on the N332 facebook page, which was the most "official" source I can find:-


If anyone can point me to any official info on this, I would be most grateful.

Apologies for thread drift.

John

Re: Spanish Residency
 

Sorry, link missing.

Re: Spanish Residency
 

It is a real pain.
For many years I was resident in France but I came back to the UK a few times a year to spend time with my former partner, now bestie.
I couldn't drive his car because his insurers wouldn't add my name to his policy because I wasn't a UK resident.
He couldn't drive my car because it was on French plates.
Sometimes we used to go on holiday together to Scotland and Ireland and obviously we wanted to split the driving. Of course we did split the driving, in my car because driving without insurance was a clear no-no, but it would have been nice to have been able to do it with a perfectly clear conscience.

Re: Spanish Residency
 

Why not their own website ? n332 - Driving in Spain ? You realise that the site is run by some retired, some serving GC traffico officers from torrevieja ? The information *should* be correct. (they do not like to be corrected...)

Re: Spanish Residency
 

Thanks for the link. I did not know they have a website as well as the facebook page. However I could not find any advice about the question on the website. If you have found any, grteful for a pointer to it.

Re: Spanish Residency
 

Sorry John, but it would help if we could have some more information ? you say that your wife is not resident, and that she would have to do all the driving ? are we to then assume that your wife has a foreign plated car? We all know that a spanish resident cannot drive a foreign car owned by themselves or their spouse, so if she owns it, you technically can not drive it.

The official position is that a vehicle thats being driven in spain should be legal in its country of origin, ie if its from the uk it should have TAX , MOT and INSURANCE. (you know not having an MOT invalidates any insurance policy, right?). which then puts your wife in a "sticky" situation - if shes living in spain (without residencia), and has a foreign car without any of the 3 things it needs to make it legal, you have just contacted the DGT telling them that - the fine for having no insurance is around €3000.



I´m not sure if they (the dgt) have a duty to contact the national police as well, regarding her residencia status? (which is indeed a whole other conversation - follow some of the threads about residencia before brexit etc.)

Re: Spanish Residency
 

That is an urban myth and has been debunked. No MOT Doesn't Invalidate Insurance - Patterson Law

IS CAR INSURANCE INVALID WITHOUT MOT?

It’s not a simple yes and no answer as it depends on the circumstances of the accident. Insurers may often state on their websites that having no MOT will invalidate car insurance as it’s in their interest to ensure a vehicle is as road worthy as possible to minimise claims. This is often not the case however.
https://www.drivingtesttips.biz/imag...ertificate.jpgIs my car insurance valid without an MOT?

A situation where a driver had an accident, was at fault and caused significant damage to properties will have their vehicle assessed for roadworthiness at the point before the accident. A valid MOT is limited in relevance as a vehicle can of course be unroadworthy even with a valid MOT test certificate.

Essentially it’s whether the vehicle was roadworthy directly before the accident and is based on evidence obtained by the police and a conclusion reached by the insurance claims assessor. This can also include statements taken from witnesses, engineer reports and other evidence obtained from the claims investigation if necessary

Re: Spanish Residency
 

Thanks for your concern. No, my wife is not resident, as she does not live here. (I'm working on it!) Just drives down with me and makes flying visits. DGT just wrote back quoting the relevant law, without actually answering my question. The law contains the word "use", which is ambiguous, as does it mean own, drive or what? Certainly the N332 seem to think it means "own".

Artículo 68 LSV. Matrículas.

1. Para poner en circulación vehículos a motor, así como remolques de masa máxima autorizada superior a la que reglamentariamente se determine, es preciso matricularlos y que lleven las placas de matrícula con los caracteres que se les asigne del modo que se establezca. Esta obligación será exigida a los ciclomotores en los términos que reglamentariamente se determine.

2. Deben ser objeto de matriculación definitiva en España los vehículos a los que se refiere el apartado anterior, cuando se destinen a ser utilizados en el territorio español por personas o entidades que sean residentes en España o que sean titulares de establecimientos situados en España. Reglamentariamente se establecerán los plazos, requisitos y condiciones para el cumplimiento de esta obligación y las posibles exenciones a la misma.

Si no se produce lo subrayado, no es obligatorio matricular.

This is now becoming a bit academic for me, as we transferring the car to myself and putting it on Spanish plates. I do like to obey the law, but it can be quite tricky to do so when dealing with two jurisdictions. Then we will need to find out if she is allowed to drive what will be my car on Spanish plates in the UK!

Re: Spanish Residency
 

Sorry Missle i accept that everyone has an opinion, but nobody is talking about an accident.

Every single link on google search disagrees with you. (i´m trying to find an official link, but the dvla has nothing to do with insurance)

does a car need an MOT to be insured?

Re: Spanish Residency
 

Your link leads ........ nowhere.

Re: Ms
 

edited.

Re: Ms
 

I asked my insurance company (LD) if my policy would be void if I drove with no ITV. They categarically said it would not affect my insurance.

Re: Ms
 

Try this for a start - it quotes from the law and gives links

http://https://www.citizensadvice.org.es/faq/vehicle-without-valid-itv-mot-insurance-void/

Re: Ms
 

This is your reliable source?Of course they can claim, just as they can if a driver does not have a valid license, is negligent or under influence of drink or drugs.
As has been explained in more reliable sources, the claim would succeed only if and when the car is found to be defective and that fault contributed to the accident.
If the car was found to have a fault, e.g. bald tyres, the insurance company can and probably would make a successful claim even if that vehicle had a valid MOT

Re: Ms
 

Another interesting quoteI would suggest this is a gross over simplification; the fact that you did not meet the obligation does not necessarily mean that the insurer would be successful in claiming 3rd party costs.
This claim to recover 3rd party costs could fail, if the driver could prove being under the influence did not contribute to the accident. It is easy to think of situations, e.g a driver is under the influence, in a stationary / parked car where another vehicle crashed into him.

PS: I am not suggesting it is acceptable to drink drive. Just playing devils advocate.

Re: Ms
 

Be careful with CAB it is not an official website as it likes to pretend. It does not have any affiliation with the UK government and should not be equated with the UK equivalent of Citizens Advice. They often are wrong on issues most noticeably with the Universal Healthcare bill.

Re: Ms
 

My point exactly. I am sure Myra Cecilia Azzopardi is well intentioned, but she is a paralegal not a qualified Abogado.

Re: Ms
 

I´ve been saying this since she started out on facebook...she banned me from their page for correcting her on a vehicle issue... Incidently, while the info that she/her team offers on facebook and their website might be free, anything "else" is most definatly charged for. its a business like any other.

Re: Ms
 

It is rather underhand to use the name Citizen's Advice BureauSpain and imitate the logo and format from Citizens Advice UK website. Many will be fooled into thinking it is run like National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux. Registered charity number 279057. See here Citizens Advice

Re: Ms
 

i totally agree, i am surprised that they have not been forced to change it by the UK government or something.