# A few questions re obtaining residency



## rossob (Jun 17, 2014)

Hi all,

I'm hoping to move to Madrid in the next few months and stay there for a duration of around a year.

I'm currently a self-employed web developer working out of the U.K. (sole trader), and my work is remote so I can keep all my existing clients after moving to Spain, and won't be looking for work on arrival.

I've been doing a lot of research, and answered a lot of questions myself from reading this forum (a great resource) and around the web, but I have a few questions remaining. So I thought I would just ask.

Here is my current plan:

1) Visit Madrid for a few days and open a Spanish bank account while there. Also view some flats.
2) Find and rent a flat, move to Madrid.
3) Make payments into the Spanish bank account for proof of financial support, take out short term private health insurance.
4) Apply for a Spanish Residence Certificate/NIE as soon as I have arrived.
5) Register on the local Padron.
6) Apply for a Foreigner’s Identification Card (TIE). I realise this isn't legally required, but have read it's still useful as a handy form of identification compared to carrying around your passport.
7) Register as Autonomo once I have residency/NIE (I will have to work in the meantime, as a UK resident, living in Madrid and awaiting Spanish residency).
8) Stop paying HMRC from the day I have Autonomo, and start paying the Spanish government instead. Also, cancel my short term health insurance since Autonomo should provide my health coverage.
9) All set (hopefully).

I have a few points I'm still not sure about...

First, I've arrived at the conclusion I'll need to take out private health insurance to get my residence certificate.

As far as I can see possible "free health coverage" options would have been EHIC or filling out an S1 form. My understanding is that S1 is now scrapped for those under the pensioner age (I'm 30), and EHIC becomes invalid as soon as you are a Spanish resident -- which I assume means I can't use EHIC as the "proof of health insurance" needed to obtain residence. Is this correct? If so, is getting short term health insurance (just to cover the time between arrival and autonomo registration) a problem, i.e. do private health insurers tie you into long contracts?

Also although Autonomo will give me health coverage, my understanding is I need to be a resident first, before I can apply for Autonomo. Or would it be possible to obtain JUST a NIE before moving, apply for Autonomo using this immediately on arrival (but before I'm officially resident), and use Autonomo's health coverage in my application for a residency certificate? This would be preferable if possible, since it means I don't need to faff about finding private health insurance I don't really need other than for the purposes of applying for residency.

Second, as far as proof of financial support I have seen a few posts which infer you need to have €5000 in savings in a Spanish account to prove financial support, when applying for residency.

I won't have €5000 to deposit into a Spanish account and leave there -- I can prove I have a steady income typically €2000-€3000/mo through bank statements, but this usually comes close to my living costs, so I don't have any savings to speak of (I usually swing in and out of overdraft month-by-month). I could probably deposit around €5000 into a Spanish bank account over a few months, but would need to also withdraw much of it in the same time period to cover living costs!

Is this likely to be an issue in the way of me getting residency? Basically I can prove a steady income for the last few years in the UK, but I can't show them an account with savings set aside.

Third, will I have a problem renting a flat on a 6 or 12 month contract without Spanish residency, a NIE, etc? At the point I will be looking to rent I will be a UK resident, with no Spanish paperwork to speak of. I haven't read anything specifically saying this is a problem, but I can't help but think it might be!

Any help and advice would be much appreciated. Either on the points above, or if anyone can see problems generally with the plan I have outlined.

Thanks!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

rossob said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I'm hoping to move to Madrid in the next few months and stay there for a duration of around a year.
> 
> ...


:welcome:

it's not that complicated actually

if you're planning to come over to secure accommodation in advance, you can open a non-resident bank account then, with your passport usually - or get a NIE number as a non-resident & use that

tell HMRC that you are leaving as you leave  

once here, register on the padrón, then register as autónomo - that will cover both the healthcare & and income requirements for registering as resident

the resident registration is done on the spot - you might have to make an appointment in advance, but the actual registration & issue of the certificate/card is immediate

you don't need to be a registered resident to register as autónomo - I know several people who have done it this way in the past few weeks

your point #6 - that isn't available to EU citizens


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

rossob said:


> Hi all,
> 
> 6) Apply for a Foreigner’s Identification Card (TIE). I realise this isn't legally required, but have read it's still useful as a handy form of identification compared to carrying around your passport.


 As far as I'm aware the little Green NIE ( resident ) card is all you need - as
your an EU citizen coming from the UK. TIE are mainly for those citizens who come
from beyond the pale, lol ( namely - those citizens from non EU - EFTA countries )
As for the handy form of identification, so long as you have a current driving
license, UK one will do - so long as it's the photo card one - not the antiquated paper
one. That will do nicely when out shopping using your Spanish credit or debit card.
And is obviously an acceptable form of id elsewhere, of course if your staying
here long term - not ever planning to return to UK before your UK driving
license expires.
You might just as well change it for a Spanish one.


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

You can't just stop paying tax to HMRC they tell you when you can stop!

Have a look at HMRC website which has lots of info on the scenarios if you are moving abroad. There is a form you have to complete to tell them of your intentions - when you are moving, how long you intend to stay abroad, etc. and from the information you provide, they will tell you what to do.

It is quite likely that you may continue to be taxed by HMRC for the first part tax year you are in Spain, and after that you may have to complete self assessments to HMRC for a number of years as well as completing Spanish tax returns. Don't worry there is a reciprocal tax agreement so you won't pay the same tax twice.


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## rossob (Jun 17, 2014)

xabiachica said:


> :welcome:
> 
> it's not that complicated actually
> 
> ...


Thanks for the welcome xabiachica.

I might be over complicating things a bit.

That's a good tip re telling the HMRC as I leave the UK -- I was planning on waiting until I was registered as Autonomo.

Am I right in saying that for Autonomo I will first need an NIE number though? If that's the case it sounds like I should get a non-resident NIE number now, before going there, and use it to both open a bank account as well as to register for autonomo on arrival in Spain.

I assume then when I'm applying for residency I will need to make sure and tell them I already have an NIE number, so I don't end up with 2.

OK, thanks for the tip re #6. I thought I read on a UK gov site that it was recommended to ask for one even though it wasn't required, implying it was possible for UK citizens to have one, but can't find the link now. It was probably out-dated information.


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## rossob (Jun 17, 2014)

Williams2 said:


> As far as I'm aware the little Green NIE ( resident ) card is all you need - as
> your an EU citizen coming from the UK. TIE are mainly for those citizens who come
> from beyond the pale, lol ( namely - those citizens from non EU - EFTA countries )
> As for the handy form of identification, so long as you have a current driving
> ...


Great, thanks for the info, it sounds like my driving license will do for ID then. I had the idea that I needed a Spanish form of ID to carry around at all times, not sure where I picked that up from.

I'll probably only be in Spain for a year or so, and I don't own a car at the moment or intend to buy one in Spain, so will prob just leave my license as a UK one.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

rossob said:


> Thanks for the welcome xabiachica.
> 
> I might be over complicating things a bit.
> 
> ...


when you fill in the EX18 to register as resident, there's a space for you to put your NIE number, so that will solve that problem

you can either get a NIE before you come over, or once you arrive - that's up to you - but yes, you'll need one to register as autónomo

bear in mind that the NIE certificate has a 3 month shelf-life though - not the number, that's for life - just the cert


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## rossob (Jun 17, 2014)

brocher said:


> You can't just stop paying tax to HMRC they tell you when you can stop!
> 
> Have a look at HMRC website which has lots of info on the scenarios if you are moving abroad. There is a form you have to complete to tell them of your intentions - when you are moving, how long you intend to stay abroad, etc. and from the information you provide, they will tell you what to do.
> 
> It is quite likely that you may continue to be taxed by HMRC for the first part tax year you are in Spain, and after that you may have to complete self assessments to HMRC for a number of years as well as completing Spanish tax returns. Don't worry there is a reciprocal tax agreement so you won't pay the same tax twice.


Yeah I have a solid understanding of UK tax laws, I was just abbreviating. At the moment I'm registered as a sole trader in the UK. Once I've registered with autonomo I will un-register with the HMRC, and will have no tax obligations to them after that date. Of course I'll still have to pay income tax for that tax year up until the date I un-registered


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## rossob (Jun 17, 2014)

xabiachica said:


> when you fill in the EX18 to register as resident, there's a space for you to put your NIE number, so that will solve that problem
> 
> you can either get a NIE before you come over, or once you arrive - that's up to you - but yes, you'll need one to register as autónomo
> 
> bear in mind that the NIE certificate has a 3 month shelf-life though - not the number, that's for life - just the cert


Brilliant, that's really helpful to know. I'll bear that in mind re NIE, it sounds like that would be an easy one to miss as I hear in general you don't get notified when your paperwork expires in Spain, you need to proactively go about renewing it.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

rossob said:


> Brilliant, that's really helpful to know. I'll bear that in mind re NIE, it sounds like that would be an easy one to miss as I hear in general you don't get notified when your paperwork expires in Spain, you need to proactively go about renewing it.


you wouldn't need to worry about the NIE cert expiring unless you needed a copy for something official

but once you register as resident that replaces the NIE cert & won't need to be renewed


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## rossob (Jun 17, 2014)

xabiachica said:


> you wouldn't need to worry about the NIE cert expiring unless you needed a copy for something official
> 
> but once you register as resident that replaces the NIE cert & won't need to be renewed


Great, hopefully I'll be able to get a relatively quick appointment to register as a resident, long before the NIE cert expires.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

rossob said:


> Great, hopefully I'll be able to get a relatively quick appointment to register as a resident, long before the NIE cert expires.


some extranjerías have a walk-in system - so you might be really lucky


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## rossob (Jun 17, 2014)

The only real questions I still have -- for residency, do I need to show a balance of €5000 to prove I can support myself financially? I have been supporting myself in the UK for 5 years while self-employed, I just don't have savings (my income and living costs are virtually equal). I can prove a steady income, more than enough to support myself, just not a surplus of income 

Also, am I likely to run into problems renting a flat on a 6-12 month contract prior to gaining residency? If so it might make sense for me to look for temporary accommodation on my arrival, and wait for residency before doing the real flat hunting.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

rossob said:


> The only real questions I still have -- for residency, do I need to show a balance of €5000 to prove I can support myself financially? I have been supporting myself in the UK for 5 years while self-employed, I just don't have savings (my income and living costs are virtually equal). I can prove a steady income, more than enough to support myself, just not a surplus of income
> 
> Also, am I likely to run into problems renting a flat on a 6-12 month contract prior to gaining residency? If so it might make sense for me to look for temporary accommodation on my arrival, and wait for residency before doing the real flat hunting.


once you're registered as autónomo that will cover the healthcare & income requirements - you won't need to show anything else


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## rossob (Jun 17, 2014)

xabiachica said:


> once you're registered as autónomo that will cover the healthcare & income requirements - you won't need to show anything else


Wow, that's fantastic news! It makes the whole process so much simpler. 

I was at first dreading signing on for autonomo, but after hearing they now offer a big discount for the first 12 months it's really not a problem at all.

That info helps me enormously, thanks xabiachica.


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