Turbo911

HI ALL,
We decided to come and live in Spain- Almeria province earlier this year and after selling our uk property and we landed here in our pre arranged rental Villa very early October and immediately started our Padron application through our Local recommended solicitor i also applied for and got my NIE number, We decided that my wife would leave her NIE application to go through with our residency, However it took much longer and various town hall visits to obtain our Padrons and we eventually collected these on 28th dec, So our residency application is now post Brexit this is where it starts to get tricky, We stumbled across a villa for sale which we have fallen in love with (we have trawled the internet and local areas looking for the correct villa) so we made a offer which was excepted, Paid our 3000 euro deposit we also had written into the contract that the sale was/is subject to our successful residency application being approved, Due to Christmas holidays our residency application now starts when we meet our solicitor next Friday 8th Jan, From what i have read on various posts on the forum the application is a lengthy process and if it takes longer than 3 months will wee have to leave Spain under the new Brexit laws While our application is possessed ?, Thats really hoping we are successful with the application, I have also heard of what I believe to be the gold card automatic residency based on having a certain amount of euro in the bank?, We still at this moment have a successful limited company in the uk which will go onto provide us with a healthy income if we need to provide a income for our application and prove we can sustain ourselves in Spain this will hopefully make our application successful, It’s extremely worrisome that we will have to trek back along with our 3 dogs back to the uk if our application takes longer than the 3 months and we proceed with the villa purchase and residency is rejected, Can anyone offer any advice please....

EuroTrash

I trust you are getting proper advice on your situation as I think there may be some confusion.
As I understand it the Golden Visa is for people who will be making a serious investment in the Spanish economy. It's a bit difficult to see how running a successful UK company, could count as investing in Spain.
Have you looked into the issues around being resident in Spain and owning/running/working for a UK company?

bobd22

Here's a link explaining the Golden Visa route. As for applying but having to leave Spain if TIE not issued by 3 month point. I would guess if you have a formal application in it would negate the need to leave. When you get to stage 2 of TIE process they give you a sheet of paper to prove you have applied that is date marked. If you don't receive the card within the time frame I would guess you ask for another sheet? We did the process in the summer for my wife and whole thing was done within 2 months. Once you complete phase 2 (fingerprint stage) they say the card should be issued within 45 days. I'm sure as you are using a solicitor or Gestor they would sort it out within the time frame. We had to do it ourselves without Gestor as no one at the time seemed to have a clue and as I say less than 2 months start to finish.
sorry forgot to add link re golden visa here it is
https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/eu-...n-golden-visa/

Turbo911

Hi Thanks for reply’s,
we are getting professional advice but this is not happening until end of next week, I,m trying to gather as much info as i can prior to starting our application next week, i have also goy a appointment with a accountant at end of next week concerning having a uk business and living in spain,
thanks again for advice

yevlondon

why would purchase depend on your residency application?

foreigners are allowed to buy property in Spain, with residency or without.

bobd22

I would guess if one is selling up in the UK and buying a property in Spain to live full time, one may want to be sure they can do that and have legal residency?

yevlondon

why?
one can buy property in Spain. resident or not.
two processes do not need to be aligned. buy. while residency still in process. i do not understand the link.

Turbo911

Exactly that Don’t really want a expensive holiday home with land that would require regular maintenance

yevlondon

Up to you, obviously.
But it's really not necessary. 🤷‍♂️

wellinever

I think if you can prove that you have actually been in an EU country for 90 days prior to the 31st Dec, that you might find you have until mid 2021 to make the residency under the terms of the WA. By proof that could be all manner of things, like I presume you use a Spanish bank card to buy items? A print out of usage should suffice, Rental agreement showing start date.
In addition regarding the 90 days rule, as you are in Spain as a UK resident, you can apply for a visa waiver extension to stay in Spain only for an extra 90 days, without compromising the schegen rules, apply to your local border people.

Turbo911

Thanks for the advice,
Just worked it out we have been here 88 days to the 31st dec although our rental contract started a month sooner as we were delayed a month due to family issues, Hopefully we will get residency sorted in the time frame but as per the original post i,m finding it all a tad tricky....

bobd22

I think you may well be surprised as it's not really as daunting as made out. Our situation was I had residency (green card) as I came to live in our house here a while ago to ensure one of us had legal residency pre brexit as my wife had to work on in UK due to pension changes etc. We planned and saved sufficient for her to finish work in July to allow time for her to get residency etc before 31 December. As soon as first lock down ended I approached gestor that got my residency to ensure my wifes application would go along the same lines. I was told yes no changes, around two weeks later Spain announced the TIE changes from 6 July, my wife was arriving on the 14. I again contacted the gestor to be told we don't know yet how it will work as you now need to do first phase with immigration dept etc. So like yourself I saw complications and thought we don't want to be waiting. SO took the bull by the horns and started researching the new system. I even made enquiries by email with the relevant Extranjero Office in Málaga. The day after my wife arrived we sorted out registering her on the padron, immediately phoned up and booked the appointment for phase 1 at the Extranjero office in Málaga. We attended that appointment the following week only issue was my wifes savings being in UK although we had got her a Spanish bank account within the week she had been here. Luckily the UK savings issues was what I had queried by email with the Extranjero Office and I had a copy of their reply which cleared up the issue. We left that office with a certificate saying all in order and were told to make an appointment with Policia National for phase 2. We did and got an appointment within 10 days. We attended with required paperwork etc and within 10 minutes my wife was back out having been fingerprinted and with certificate showing TIE application in process. As we hadn't been given a date to collect the card we waited the 45 days per information on the certificate sheet. We then re attended and they checked my wifes fingerprints and issued the card. We are far from fluent in Spanish but it really isn't that difficult either booking appointments or communicating during appointments. Basically with research ensure you have the paperwork they tell you that you need, there is no need for any great length conversation. Obviously the issue may be sorting out appointments but you just have to keep checking on the Cita previa booking site and take whatever you can. For instance we couldn't do any of my wifes appointments where we would normally but plenty available in Malaga so just had a trip out on the bus for the day. Good luck I'm sure you will get sorted out and enjoy living legally in your new home.

Turbo911

Thankyou hope ours goes as well as yours...

Barriej

This bit is not correct.
First time applicants now can only file applications online (has been since around Oct)
And once approved (2 weeks for us from Alicante) you get email confirmation which details date of submission and a reference number.

This means that even if you haven't been for the fingerprint visit (step 2) you are essentially resident.

bobd22

I did say we commenced the process in July if it has changed since then so be it I simply outlined the procedure as it was at that time. As stated our application went through the Malaga Extranejro Office and at the time my wife applied you could only make that appointment by phone call not online. Rather than say I am incorrect maybe better to say the procedure has changed since your application? I outlined what we had to do to indicate that the procedure was not a daunting procedure either doing it oneself or through a gestor.