Chipmonk

But if you are working remotely you can not have a NLV. You say that you will have a work income not savings or pension. You need a work Visa because you will need to submit a tax return as autonomo!

Clifford1983

But if you are working remotely you can not have a NLV. You say that you will have a work income not savings or pension. You need a work Visa because you will need to submit a tax return as autonomo!

It's interesting to hear as I have sought advice from two Spanish legal firms, one who is doing all the leg work for me. The non-lucrative visa law does not address remote working and although some consulates are restricting nonlucrative visas for this purpose, not all are, and if denied you can usually successfully appeal (lawyers, not me). There is a new visa launching shortly which will address remote working directly.

Chipmonk

But surely a NLV means that you cannot be working in Spain as you would need to be automino in order to pay tax as Spain would by definition of your Visa be your country of primary financial interest. I am not saying the Spanish law firm aren't good but bear in my mind many Spanish people regard certain aspects of laws as flexible. Your law firm will get you a NLV and charge you- they probably will turn a blind eye to your work situation. Remember though by being granted the Visa you will have to submit a tax return as your income will be above threshold. How are you going to describe your income? If you have earnt it outside of Spain and are self employed you will be penalised if you arent registered as sel employed but your NLV wont grant you automino. At least that is how I understand it. Maybe someone else can shed a light on this

tebo53

A link to visas applicable to Spain:

https://visaguide.world/europe/spain-visa/

Steve

Chipmonk

I would get in touch with Spanish consulate and check if you can work remotely on a NLV rather than start the process with a Spanish law firm as you could end up paying alot of money to find you cant work!!!

DLC

It's easy for the Spanish government to cross-check data so if you can't work remotely on a NLV you'll probably find out shortly after the next tax return period is over.

The people to ask are the consulate as if your lawyers advise you wrongly then it won't be them paying the fine, it'll be you. Also none of them seem to be able to explain on their websites just how is it you can work remotely on a non-working visa.

Chipmonk

I am very sceptical about this as working remotely is just a piece of terminology that means you work online for yourself. You definitely can't get a NLV if you intend to be self- employed in Spain so why would you be given one to work remotely. If that was the case you would have quite a few online workers just locating to Spain to work. Admittedly some countries allow this in some form but at the moment Spain doesnt.

Paul Bass

Hi Mike (or anyone else applying for a non-lucrative visa.) Do you please have any tips on how to actually get an appointment at the Spanish Consulate in London? When I email them the account they say to use ([email protected]) to request an appointment all I get is an auto reply. Been waiting over a month now since my first email to them. Same response when I email to ask them any questions about the procedure, and they don't answer the phone.

June W

On tax you really need to get it calculated properly. My own results (have one source of income which is my pension which is not taxed at source) were:

UK - let call it the baseline (the amount I would pay in tax per year)
Spain - 1.5 x UK baseline
Portugal 3 x UK baseline
Portugal with Non Habitual tax for 10 years - very good!
France 1.7 x UK baseline
Cyprus 0.3 x UK baseline

Not that it relevant to this post but it made me opt for Portugal even though I have spent most of my last tax year in Spain (under the 180 days though)

Fred James

It’s not as simple as just looking at the basic tax rates. There are different allowances in Spain and some pensions are taxed at very low rates. I have a reasonable pension and pay no tax!

Chipmonk

If you look at lawyers offering to get you NLV you usually find them hedging their bets when it comes to remote work. They basically hide behind the statement that there is no direct legal wording specifying that remote work is illegal. In otherwords, they arent going to mention it on the NLV- it becomes your problem once you move. If you read up you find that it is not like in Portugal where it is directly stated that remote work is permitted. So remember lawyers will take your money if you offer it but they will probably tell you not to mention remote work as the source of your income. They will then tell you once you have a NLV you will be able to work remotely without pointing out that you would have to reapply in first year for a work Visa!!

Lou71

Wow, just reading that article gave me the heebie geebies. It looks horrendously difficult and about a million miles away from what UK nationals had before Brexit. Ouch.

Irmelin

yep, with Brexit Brits lost the freedom of movement in Europe, now you have to have a lot of money in savings or be a retired person with a good pension to be able to move to Spain, no more "let's pack our bags and go" option sadly.

Fred James

There is no doubt that the best option is the “Golden” visa which you can get if you buy a property for over €500k. You still need the same income requirements etc but the whole family is covered and there is no requirement to spend more than 6 months in Spain, hence no tax implications. I did read recently that it can now be applied for retrospectively. Before you had to apply and then buy.

Paul Bass

Yes thanks Lou 71 some interesting bits of info; we are still waiting for NLV appointment at London Consulate - impossible to get replies to emails to them at present, and worried our med certs/police checks will expire before we get an appointment. Also still hesitating over whether we need separate visas for my wife and I or could put one of us down as a dependent which makes the income/'savings test easier for us to pass. Can anyone tell me what are the disadvantages of doing this. For instance can the dependent partner travel in and out of Spain on their own - presumably they have to take the partner's passport with them as well as their own?