ianharrigan

Hi All,

Im currently living in Barcelona and am trying to open a non-residential bank account using only my passport to pay water & electricity bills.

Ive tried in most of the major banks but dont seem to be getting anywhere with it. I work as a freelancer and my company is based in the UK so getting an NIE seems to be alot harder for me - i went to a police station and they said i needed 5K in my english bank account and private health insurance.

As an interim solution (as i need to get this sorted asap) i thought of opening a non-residential account, but as i mentioned they seem to be a little thin on the grand.

Has anyone else had any experience with this? I dont suppose anyone knows a specific bank which they know to offer these types of accounts?

Thanks in advance,
Ian

snikpoh

As usual, the Police are talking cr@p! These requirements are for when applying to be a resident.

There are many banks that will open a non-resident account (Banesto, Santander, Sabadell, La Caixa to name but a few).

I am a little confused though because to pay these bills you must either own a property here or be renting one. If you're renting, then you live here (I guess) and so need to resident. To own a property, you must have had an NIE number


All you need to get a non-resident account is a passport and either the escritura (deeds) or a rental contract.

cricketman

If you are a freelancer and resident in Spain then you must sign on as an autonomo in Spain, and pay your social security and taxes here

It doesnt matter if your work or company is based in the UK, you are working from Spain

As for the NIE, that shouldnt be a problem. It took me all of 5 minutes to get an NIE in Barcelona a few years ago

I got a bank account in Santander which was initially for non-resident, but then converted it into a resident account once all my paperwork was in order

amideislas

Normally takes 15 minutes at La Caixa. As a non-resident, you'll pay higher fees. But you should be able to open the account easily.

Rosemary

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

lynnxa

yes, that's the issue - the OP is clearly resident which is why they want the '

elfallero

But why do new residents now need private health insurance? According to a recent change in the law (August 2012) all official residents in Spain, including foreign nationals are entitled to free healthcare, even if they don't pay social security (and earn less than 100k). Or am I missing something. It's explained here: http://ukinspain.fco.gov.uk/resource...cree-1192-2012

lynnxa

yes, you're missing something

that only applies to anyone registered & fiscally resident before they changed the rules - April 24th this year


http://ukinspain.fco.gov.uk/en/help-...residence-req/

whitelinen

Is there a requirement to have £5K in the bank account ?

elfallero

Interesting. In the above document that I linked to it doesn't say anything about that (I think). It does, however, say that any resident will get health care as long as they earn less than 100k and have no other health insurance provision.. I agree that it's now a requirement to have health insurance to now obtain residence, but is it also a requirement to keep this insurance up to date throughout the residency? A bit discriminatory don't you think?

lynnxa

no, not really - before then, everyone, including Spanish citizens, had to pay one way or another to get healthcare - so when they changed the rules they agreed that anyone already legally & fiscally resident would be treated the same

you can't just pitch up & expect free healthcare

I guess if you let the healthcare insurance lapse then you just take a chance that you won't get sick - because if you do, then you'll have to pay someone to be treated

cricketman

Discriminatory against who?

elfallero

But why? You would be a resident, you'd have no health insurance, and assuming you earn less than 100k, you would satisfy the requirements of the new law and thus be entitled to state health care. What am I missing here?

lynnxa

the fact that you weren't legally resident before the law changed.......

elfallero

Fair enough, but I can't see that in the document I linked to. I just says: Nationals of a Member State of the European Union, the European Economic Area or
Switzerland who are registered with the Central Register of Foreign Nationals.