Dave and Nik

Hello to all,
Many apologies as i'm sure this has been asked numerous times but could anyone give me/us a few opinions....?? My wife and I are thinking of moving to Spain with our two kids (15 & 7 yrs), dogs, cat, motorbikes and all the rest of our 'stuff'. I would continue to work here in the UK in my current job where I work shifts, 3 weeks on and 1 week off (travelling 'back home' to Spain for my week off). With the strategic use of holidays I can reverse the '3 & 1' giving me 3 weeks off and 1 week on.
We would be looking to buy a habitable Finca or something similar, hopefully without a mortgage hanging over our heads. Are there any Pros and Cons between Northern, Central and Southern Spain...??
The only potential 'downsides' that i can see are the Healthcare and education issues. Our son (7yrs) has Aspergers syndrome and although in mainstream schooling has a particular gift for numbers and maths in general which requires nuturing. Would private schooling be appropriate/better for him??
I could go on and on but will leave it there for now.....thanks in advance for any advice.
Dave and Nik.

jojojojojo

I'd be more concerned with your 15 yo at this stage, s/he must be in the middle of GCSEs and would have to attend an international school to continue them - then of course it would have to be the right international school if you wanted to make sure that the course work done so far is the same!!???

As for house buying??? Hhhhmmm, that could be another "can of worms"

Apart from that, why dont you come over and have a good look around and see what you think and investigate some of your plans

Jo xxx

Mitzyboy

Well, the upside iirc is that you will be a UK resident still, whilst your family become Spanish residents. But because you are still paying into the UK system you will still be able to claim your child allowance and if I'm not mistaken will still be able to access the NHS. Jojojojojojojoj knows more about that side of things

jojojojojo

Yes, that side of things is good. The commute is do-able and as you will have an address in the UK and paying into their system you can still claim NHS cover via the INHC and of course child allowance - TOP TIP: The claimant of the child allowance MUST be the parent who is working in the UK - not the one who is in Spain! I had to swap with my OH when we moved here, I cant claim it, but he can!

Jo xxx

Dave and Nik

Thanks for the info. I did not even consider that I would remain a UK citizen... what implications does this have for my wife and the kids..?? Our daughter (15yrs) will continue with her GCSE's here until completed so there is only the 'little fellas' schooling to concern ourselves with.
Cheers, dave.

lynnxa

you would all still be UK citizens

you would a UK resident & your wife & children residents of Spain

Dave and Nik

Thanks. So with regards to my wife and children being UK citizens but residents in Spain would that have any pros/cons..??
I appreciate you taking the time to answer these questions as i know that the answers to all of them are probably on this page somewhere. Over the next couple of months we will become more 'clued-up' - I promise.
We are both 'chuffed to bits' that the actual plan itself of me commuting to and from Spain hasn't been dismissed - do many others do it...??
Cheers, dave.

snikpoh

You would all, always be UK citizens unless you chose not to be (if you follow) so the question doesn't really arise.

Where you live decides residency and with you 'choosing' to be UK resident, this has many advantages not least of which health care.

I would strongly recommend renting first. This would allow you to help decide area and, indeed, whether Spain in the current climate is for you a s a family.

Best of luck.

lynnxa

my OH commutes to the US!!

he goes for 2-3 weeks then comes back for 4-6!

they would need to be residents to access schooling - but there are no real pros/cons in their situation - it's just something you have to do - sign the list of residents

they can't become Spanish citizens in any case - well, not for 10 years, anyway.............

snikpoh

I think you may be confusing him - you don't need to be a Spanish citizen to get into a Spanish school (as per your last sentence).

or is it me who's confused???

whitelinen

You need to be within striking distance of a very busy airport with regular daily flights throughout the year to your destination in the UK.

Dave and Nik

Please forgive my ignorance but how does the fact that we would all be UK citizens impact the Healthcare issue...??
Cheers, dave.

lynnxa

oops!!

I have edited it now - thanks for pointing it out


4 hours sleep - at La Xara hospital with my dad till 3am!!!

he's been dozing in the chair all day today while I've been trying to get all sorts of stuff organised

I'm ready for bed................but he wants to stay up for Arsenal on the tele

I'm winning this one

Mitzyboy

You are getting as little confused. You and your family will always be UK citizens / passport holders unless of course you decide to take another citizenship in another country.

We are talking residence here.

If you were all to move to Spain then you would have to sign on the list of foreigners here (otherwise called residency). That would mean that you were no longer residents of the UK, and because of that you would no longer have access to the NHS, have difficulty opening new bank accounts there etc etc.

You would also have no access to health cover here in Spain, because you are not (a) retired (b) working here

However you are retaining your UK residency and your family will become Spanish residents. As such, as your dependents they are still elibible for certain UK benefits as long as you are contributing to the system there (as detailed above by JoJo)

Dont confuse residency and citizenship, they are two different things

You will be different

jojojojojo

This is how it works for us (I think I've got it right LOL??)! All of us are UK citizens, the children and I are residents in Spain and have a green certificate with our NIE numbers to prove it (This needs to be obtained as soon as your wife is living here as she will need that NIE number to be able to make any large purchases). Everything in Spain is in my name, not my husbands! He is simply a visitor as he is never here for more than ten days and isnt here for more than 183 days a year (the taxable time of residency). If any of us need to see a doctor in Spain, we have our EHIC cards which we are able to have and use for up to two years after my husband/the childrens dad stops paying into the UK system - which he hasnt yet. Thats why he can claim child benefit in the UK, but I cant. And if he ever stops paying NI in the UK, the child benefit stops!

We live fairly close to Málaga airport at this end and we still have our UK house which is fairly close to Gatwick. Flights arent too bad, there are daily flights by someone or other and generally they're fairly cheap - in fact its cheaper to fly to Malaga than for my husband to drive to work, park and drive back when he's in the UK. The flight time is only 2 1/2 hours and he only ever brings hand lugguage. We probably see more of him than when we were in the UK cos when he's here, he is actually here and not flitting off to work.

Jo xxx