Right to live permanently in Spain
Apr 20th 2011, 10:34 pm
#1
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Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2011
Location: Torrevieja Costa Blanca South
Posts: 390
Right to live permanently in Spain
http://uk.sitestat.com/fcoweb/ukingo...ns-eu-citizens
Whilst browsing through the British Consulate in Alicante's site I came across this PDF document.
One of the headings is 'When do I have the right to live in Spain permanently'
The reply, apart from a few exceptions that don't apply to me or Jill, says 'after 5 consecutive years of living in Spain'.
You have to apply to the foreigners office, pay the appropriate fee and submit such documents as may be required to prove that you have lived in Spain consecutively for 5 years.
This is new to me. I thought that as a law abiding citizen of the EU I had the right to live permanently anywhere within the EEC.
What advantages are there to apply for the right to permanently live in Spain?
What documents would need to be produced?
What is the fee?
What happens if you do not apply?
What happens during those 5 years eligibility, can the Spanish authorities ask you to leave?
Just when I thought I had a handle on this whole Spanish residency issue .....
Whilst browsing through the British Consulate in Alicante's site I came across this PDF document.
One of the headings is 'When do I have the right to live in Spain permanently'
The reply, apart from a few exceptions that don't apply to me or Jill, says 'after 5 consecutive years of living in Spain'.
You have to apply to the foreigners office, pay the appropriate fee and submit such documents as may be required to prove that you have lived in Spain consecutively for 5 years.
This is new to me. I thought that as a law abiding citizen of the EU I had the right to live permanently anywhere within the EEC.
What advantages are there to apply for the right to permanently live in Spain?
What documents would need to be produced?
What is the fee?
What happens if you do not apply?
What happens during those 5 years eligibility, can the Spanish authorities ask you to leave?
Just when I thought I had a handle on this whole Spanish residency issue .....
Apr 21st 2011, 6:52 am
#2
Joined: Jun 2006
Location: Granada Costa
Posts: 10,902
Re: Right to live permanently in Spain
This procedure is part of the new requirement to register on the list of foreigners. As you probably know you now just get an A4 sheet of paper. There are two versions which are almost identical apart from the wording. If you have been living in Spain for more than 5 years it will have the extra words "con caracter permanente" on it.
The application form for the certificate has various boxes which are ticked according to the type of application - one of them is "Certificado Registrado residente comunitario permanente".
Most people who have lived in Spain for 5 years will have had the old residencia card. When that runs out after 5 years they would apply for the new certificate and would automatically be given a "permanente" certificate.
If you have lived in Spain and do not have the old card then, assuming you want the "permanente" certificate, you would have to provide some sort of proof that you have lived in Spain for 5 years.
If you are not eligible for the "permanente" status then you just get the ordinary certificate. There is no expiry date on the certificate and it does not need to be renewed. If however you want the "permanente" certificate then after 5 years you can apply for one through the same process.
Does "permanente" status make any difference? Not really - it just makes it almost impossible for you to be thrown out of the country. However, as an EU citizen it is pretty well impossible for that to happen anyway! If you check the exact wording in the EU decree you will hardly be able to spot the difference.
What you need to remember is that this new process was introduced by the EU across the EU and it is not, as many people think, a new law introduced by Spain.
The most significant part of the decree deals with the rights of family members of an EU citizen who themselves are not EU citizens. This decree gives them certain rights, mainly to be treated as if they were EU citizens. They actually are issued with a residency card rather than a certificate.
There are considerations of what happens to their status should the EU citizen die etc and they have to have some form of protection should this happen. In this context you can see the significance of being classified as a person with permanent rights of residence. To most of us it is a complete red herring!
One final point - you say that as an EU citizen that you have the right to live permanently anywhere in the EU. That is not exactly correct. You only have the right to travel within the EU and to stay for no longer than 90 days - all that is required is that you can produce an EU passport.
After 90 days, although you have the right of residence under EU law, you are obliged to conform to any conditions (within the scope of the EU decree) that the country that you wish to stay in may impose on you. In Spain you are obliged to register on the list of foreigners. In other countries they may choose to do it differently.
In fact, you can be asked to prove that you have sufficient resources to live in the country without becoming a burden on the state and also to prove that you have adequate sickness cover/insurance. Spain chose not to impose those conditions.
You can read the EU decree at:_ http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/...77:0123:EN:PDF
The application form for the certificate has various boxes which are ticked according to the type of application - one of them is "Certificado Registrado residente comunitario permanente".
Most people who have lived in Spain for 5 years will have had the old residencia card. When that runs out after 5 years they would apply for the new certificate and would automatically be given a "permanente" certificate.
If you have lived in Spain and do not have the old card then, assuming you want the "permanente" certificate, you would have to provide some sort of proof that you have lived in Spain for 5 years.
If you are not eligible for the "permanente" status then you just get the ordinary certificate. There is no expiry date on the certificate and it does not need to be renewed. If however you want the "permanente" certificate then after 5 years you can apply for one through the same process.
Does "permanente" status make any difference? Not really - it just makes it almost impossible for you to be thrown out of the country. However, as an EU citizen it is pretty well impossible for that to happen anyway! If you check the exact wording in the EU decree you will hardly be able to spot the difference.
What you need to remember is that this new process was introduced by the EU across the EU and it is not, as many people think, a new law introduced by Spain.
The most significant part of the decree deals with the rights of family members of an EU citizen who themselves are not EU citizens. This decree gives them certain rights, mainly to be treated as if they were EU citizens. They actually are issued with a residency card rather than a certificate.
There are considerations of what happens to their status should the EU citizen die etc and they have to have some form of protection should this happen. In this context you can see the significance of being classified as a person with permanent rights of residence. To most of us it is a complete red herring!
One final point - you say that as an EU citizen that you have the right to live permanently anywhere in the EU. That is not exactly correct. You only have the right to travel within the EU and to stay for no longer than 90 days - all that is required is that you can produce an EU passport.
After 90 days, although you have the right of residence under EU law, you are obliged to conform to any conditions (within the scope of the EU decree) that the country that you wish to stay in may impose on you. In Spain you are obliged to register on the list of foreigners. In other countries they may choose to do it differently.
In fact, you can be asked to prove that you have sufficient resources to live in the country without becoming a burden on the state and also to prove that you have adequate sickness cover/insurance. Spain chose not to impose those conditions.
You can read the EU decree at:_ http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/...77:0123:EN:PDF
Apr 21st 2011, 7:13 am
#3
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2006
Location: Brussels
Posts: 887
Re: Right to live permanently in Spain
...In other countries they may choose to do it differently.
In fact, you can be asked to prove that you have sufficient resources to live in the country without becoming a burden on the state and also to prove that you have adequate sickness cover/insurance. Spain chose not to impose those conditions.
You can read the EU decree at:_ http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/...77:0123:EN:PDF
In fact, you can be asked to prove that you have sufficient resources to live in the country without becoming a burden on the state and also to prove that you have adequate sickness cover/insurance. Spain chose not to impose those conditions.
You can read the EU decree at:_ http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/...77:0123:EN:PDF
I had to submit acceptable written proof , for both of the above conditions , in order to obtain residence in Belgium . I understand that similar rules are applied in most EU member-states .
