Hi, We're looking to move to the Valencia region next summer when the children finish the school here year in the UK.

We're both self-employed - I work entirely online but DH will need to return to the UK for a few days each month, working remotely for the rest of the time, so we can continue with our current jobs. Based on the requirement to provide evidence of income, will tax returns likely be sufficient proof?

We've done a recce and particularly like L'Eliana, Godelleta and Chiva. Does anyone know what the schools are like here? We'd like a house and pool (who doesn't?!) but we don't want to isolate ourselves by living on an urbanisation with a load of second homes as it would be lonely for the children.

Our children will be 6, 5 and 1 when we come over so the older two will be going to the local school. How do I register them? I understand I need to put them down for schools in the spring but we won't have an address in Spain until the summer. How does that work? Would we be better to rent a place in the spring so that we have an address and to move stuff gradually (£££!) or should we take our chances with the schools and apply when we get there?

Thanks in advance for any advice/information.

there is a face book group for that area which may also help you out....: https://www.facebook.com/thecv35

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

Thank you for the welcome!

I will check the FB group out. Am very excited but trying to stay practical!

as you will both be self employed - known as "autonomo" - you may find the following of interest
http://www.advoco.es/home/22-latest/...system.html#A2

you will both be liable to pay €260 per month from the day you start, and register for IVA, the Spanish VAT.
the following may also be of use....
http://www.advoco.es/hot-topics/66-c...-in-spain.html
and just follow the links

hth

Those links are great Domino - thanks.

We too waited until the kids finished their school term when we embarked on our journey to Spain. We arrived in September and asked our gestoria to arrange for the kids to be registered at school. One month later..nothing. We decided to go to the Ayuntamiento (town hall) ourselves and arrange it. Done and dusted in 3 hours. Our school required a doctors clearance certificate before they could start. Cost €60 at private clinic. Our kids were aged 5 when they went to spain and were fully conversational after 3 months.

Hi -I'm curious whether you would still need to register as Autonomo even if you were employed by a UK company and that was your sole source of income?

That's fantastic to hear they were conversational after 3 months. Can I ask what methods you used to help them learn Spanish?

You wouldn't have to register as autonomo if you were employed by a uk company. However, it gets complicated with regards to tax and health entitlement:
you work in Spain but get paid from the uk
you're resident in Spain so pay tax in Spain instead of the Uk
Does the UK company pay employer's NI into the Spanish system, the UK system or neither?
How do you get health cover?

It's complicated - I have had to go through it and you will be given conflicting advice from DWP, HMRC, Spanish gestors, Spanish lawyers, Uk tax lawyers.

We just put them straight into a spanish school. We initially got a set of post-it notes and stuck these all over the house with the spanish word written on it. There was no need! The kids were learning at a much faster rate been immersed in a class room for 7 seven hours with no english being spoken. Its the best way to learn. However, its not the same as for older children aged 12+. They struggle with the language and may become disruptive in the classroom. They cant make friends quickly and hate their parents for moving away from their friends in the UK. Taking a family to Spain is all about timing. There is a good book just out which tells of such a family - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

that's what we did - ours were 5 & 8 when they started at Spanish school & never looked back!

I'm often asked to give Spanish lessons to kids before they start or just as they start at Spanish school

I will sometimes agree if the kids are 9 or 10 - it helps give them a little confidence & at that age they are pretty borderline for going into state school, so it can help if they understand a bit before they start

however, for younger children I always refuse - they really do learn better just by absorbing the language at school from children their own age

ours also went straight into spanish school at 6 and 10, the teachers suggested that we enrol them into at least one after school club or find out where their school friends played in the afternoons so that they played a lot in Spanish. We also made sure the TV was switched to spanish and they both spoke spanish very quickly as Lynnxa suggests the older one struggled a little bit more than the younger one. We did have the BBC Muzzy DVD set which they watched before we moved, this also came with computer discs for learning spanish which I am still using to help me learn!

It's great to hear about all the children who have successfully settled into the local schools and picked up the language. I do worry about putting them straight into school but whilst we're all trying to learn as much Spanish as possible before coming over, I'm aware it's not going to be that much, compared to a comfortable conversational ability. And of course, we won't know Valenciano...

Also good to know that it's not tricky to register for the schools. I hadn't realised about the medical certificate either, so thanks for the heads up.

Burt, whereabouts in Valencia are you looking to live?