Spanish residency cards.- Important information for British owning property or living in Spain

Barcelona Solicitors logo 1Spanish residency cards- important information 

Whether we like it or not, Brexit is upon us and the end of the transition period will arrive on the 31st December 2020.

Those British citizens living permanently in Spain or who spend more than 90 consecutive days in Spain and have not obtained yet the certificate called “certificado de Registro de ciudadano de la UE” or who want to move to Spain before the 31st December 2020,  need to apply for a biometric residency card (TIE) and they have to do it at the Foreigners Office of the province or area where they will be residing. The Foreign Commonwealth Office has some useful advice in its website about this topic.

The application should be done on-line before the 31/12/2020.

If this is not done before the 31st December 2020, they will then be treated in the same way as the citizens of non-EU countries, which could involve having to apply for residence status from the UK and longer procedures with a larger amount of requirements.

We would therefore recommend that they do it before the 31st December 2020 as this will allow them to benefit from their rights in terms of residence, free circulation and Social Security which were granted specially by the EU withdrawal agreement.

If you are resident in Spain at the end of the transition period, you will be covered by the Withdrawal Agreement, and your rights will be protected for as long as you remain resident in Spain.

Those who do the above will preserve their rights to health, pensions and other social security advantages and if they are receiving a UK pension they will still be entitled to receive it in Spain.

The withdrawal agreement does not require the applicant to be full time physically present in Spain at the end of the transition period (31.12.2020) but requires two appointments in person at the police station, one to take the digital print and another one to collect the biometric residency card (TIE). It is paramount to have the first appointment before the end of 2020. The second appointment can take place later in 2021 if needed.

Last but not least, and depending on whether the applicant is an employee, self-employed, retired or a student, certain documentation needs to be supplied. The lawyer dealing with the application will be able to indicate which documents are required in your specific case.

The TIE card will then be valid for a period of 5 years.

For further information please contact Spanishdesk@gunnercooke.com

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