# Moving to Valencia with non-EU partner



## icitaiwan (May 28, 2010)

I am an EU citizen and my husband is a Taiwanese citizen. We have decided to move to Spain in December to live with my family-in-law who own a house in Valencia. They are also Taiwanese, but do hold a Spanish residence permit.
My husband doesn't have a residence permit, so he'll have to obtain one as soon as we get in Spain. That shouldn't be a problem, since I am a EU citizen, right?

For now we are thinking about staying in Spain for about 4 to 6 months. The time depends on how long it will take for my husband to obtain his Spanish residence permit. After 4 to 6 months we want to move to another EU country, my home country.

I know that it won't be easy to find a job in Spain at the moment, so we do need a "back-up plan" in case we won't be able to find a job...enough cash to support ourselves. I know that you can stay in Spain without any problem up to 3 months, but after that you'll need to be able to show that you can support yourself. Does anyone know how much money you'll need on your account? 
I am a qualified English teacher in Taiwan and hope to find a temporarily teaching job in Valencia while we are there.

We are going to give up everything in Taiwan to achieve our final goal, a new life in my home country with a stop in Spain (EU-immigration route) and have to make sure that all possible issues are "covered" before we leave.

Furthermore I have some more questions:
1. How to arrange healthcare while we don't have a job. We are going to stay in Valencia. I've heard something about a "private" national healthcare in Valencia. Does anybody know more about that? 
2. How to find a school for my 6 yrs old daughter and are there recommendations? 
3. How much money do we need on our account to proof that we can support ourselves

Are there more people who are living Spain temporarily to obtain a residence permit for their partner? I'd like to hear more about your experiences, too


----------



## timr (Feb 1, 2010)

Hi, on the issue of healthcare. I think the "private" national scheme you mention is probably the Valencia "Private Patients covenant". Here´s a link to the application process;
PUMA 22 - Accessing Healthcare in Valencia: Making the system work for us

As you can see it´s complicated and I´m not sure you´ll meet all the criteria.

If you work legally here either as teacher employed at a school or self-employed as an autonomo, you should qualify for healthcare thru affiliation to the Social Security system. The social security payments for an autonomo are 251 euros pm and this would cover you and (I believe) your partner as a beneficiary.


----------



## icitaiwan (May 28, 2010)

Thanks for your reply. It might be the insurance that people were talking about. They also called it "Valencia Servicio de Salud". I don't think that we meet all the criteria for the Valencia "Private Patients convent". Are there other options beside this one?

I know that the easier way will be to find a teaching job, but I don't know if that will be an "easy" job to find...of course I'm going to try to make it as easy for us as possible


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

icitaiwan said:


> I am an EU citizen and my husband is a Taiwanese citizen. We have decided to move to Spain in December to live with my family-in-law who own a house in Valencia. They are also Taiwanese, but do hold a Spanish residence permit.
> My husband doesn't have a residence permit, so he'll have to obtain one as soon as we get in Spain. That shouldn't be a problem, since I am a EU citizen, right?
> 
> For now we are thinking about staying in Spain for about 4 to 6 months. The time depends on how long it will take for my husband to obtain his Spanish residence permit. After 4 to 6 months we want to move to another EU country, my home country.
> ...


If you need any info about teaching English in Spain there's a sticky about it at the top of the Spain form. There are some jobs in January sometimes, but I'm not sure what the situation is/ will be in Valencia.


----------



## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

icitaiwan said:


> Thanks for your reply. It might be the insurance that people were talking about. They also called it "Valencia Servicio de Salud". I don't think that we meet all the criteria for the Valencia "Private Patients convent". Are there other options beside this one?
> 
> I know that the easier way will be to find a teaching job, but I don't know if that will be an "easy" job to find...of course I'm going to try to make it as easy for us as possible


the only way at present to access state health care is to pay into it one way or another - either as autonomo, an employee, payment by the 'cuota scheme' 

Health Care Changes for the Valencian Community - RTN Costa Blancas Free Newspaper - Round Town News

or free with the the 'covenant' suggested by timr

btw - autonomo payments vary dependent upon your age - but yes, all family members/dependents are covered

of course - there is always private health cover


----------



## timr (Feb 1, 2010)

Hi, the "Private Patients Convenant" is the "official" name for the cuota scheme. Apart from the Generalitat, everybody else refers to it by the latter name and I would have been better doing the same to save confusion !


----------



## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

timr said:


> Hi, the "Private Patients Convenant" is the "official" name for the cuota scheme. Apart from the Generalitat, everybody else refers to it by the latter name and I would have been better doing the same to save confusion !


that's what I thought - & started to post in that way - but the OP seemed to think they wouldn't qualify, so I thought perhaps they were thinking more about qualifying for free health care

confused - I am:confused2:


----------



## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> the only way at present to access state health care is to pay into it one way or another - either as autonomo, an employee, payment by the 'cuota scheme'


Not quite right dear friend,

If one is a frizzled up wrinkly bad tempered old git, like me, and resident, then those kind Spanish people allow you to partake in their incredible health care system for free.

H


----------



## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Hepa said:


> Not quite right dear friend,
> 
> If one is a frizzled up wrinkly bad tempered old git, like me, and resident, then those kind Spanish people allow you to partake in their incredible health care system for free.
> 
> H


well - yeah - that's true(ish) - the UK govt pays instead!


----------



## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> well - yeah - that's true(ish) - the UK govt pays instead!


I think that with the over 65's, there is a joint EU agreement to allow residents but not nationals of the country of residence full health care. Maybe the U.K. in this case payed a lump sum. I know that I am no longer allowed, except in emergencies, to use the U.K. national health. I have also been provided with a Spanish Health card.

H


----------



## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Hepa said:


> I think that with the over 65's, there is a joint EU agreement to allow residents but not nationals of the country of residence full health care. Maybe the U.K. in this case payed a lump sum. I know that I am no longer allowed, except in emergencies, to use the U.K. national health. I have also been provided with a Spanish Health card.
> 
> H


the UK govt pays so much a year per pensioner - not sure how much, but it does pay


----------



## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> the UK govt pays so much a year per pensioner - not sure how much, but it does pay


Thanks for that, I always wondered how it worked,

H


----------



## timr (Feb 1, 2010)

The Spanish Government does quite well out this since the lump paid by the British Govt is 3600 euros pa (per pensioner) whereas the actual estimated cost of care is only 1500 euros (according a recent article in El País).


----------



## icitaiwan (May 28, 2010)

Thanks for your answers, but the most important thing is that I am a EU-citizen who's living in Taiwan now, a non-EU country. I don't have a health insurance that's being recognized by Spain right now. Besides that, my husband is Taiwanese, non-EU citizen. We need a new insurance, but well....which one :S..


----------



## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

icitaiwan said:


> Thanks for your answers, but the most important thing is that I am a EU-citizen who's living in Taiwan now, a non-EU country. I don't have a health insurance that's being recognized by Spain right now. Besides that, my husband is Taiwanese, non-EU citizen. We need a new insurance, but well....which one :S..


I'm sure it will depend upon which EU country you are a citizen of

if this country has an agreement with Spain, it's possible/likely that your husband is also covered

if not, then private healthcare is not particularly expensive here


----------



## icitaiwan (May 28, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> I'm sure it will depend upon which EU country you are a citizen of
> 
> if this country has an agreement with Spain, it's possible/likely that your husband is also covered
> 
> if not, then private healthcare is not particularly expensive here


 .

My husband doesn't have any EU residence permit and will be seen as a tourist until we come back to my home country with a Spanish EU residence ship. Then we can exchange the Spanish residence permit for one from my home country. I need to "cut" all ties with my home country to proof that we really lived in Spain, so I can't apply for any insurance from my home country ....sounds a bit "mysterious", but I've heard that immigration officers also read forums like this and therefore I don't want to mention my nationality .

Regarding private healthcare. Will they always accept you, or are there exceptions?


----------



## geez (Apr 4, 2010)

Hi,

Can't help you with your other qs but have a suggestion about your health situation. Private health insurers, in my experience, don't really want to deal with you if you are looking at stretches of less than 12 months.

We move countries every year and I always keep a top-range, international 12 month travel insurance policy. For the last few years I've been lucky to get this coverage for under E1000 for two but last renewal cost quite a bit more. They also do 6-month stints too.

We visit private doctors here and just pay as we go (highly variable but I've always found the support staff willing to arrange quotes before treatment). I was unlucky enough to have to have an emergency admission in a public hospital last year in Catalonia and after a day in a bed and a small operative procedure requiring anaesthesia was handed a bill of E115. I'm not an EU national and am able to be treated via reciprocal treatment arrangements in most EU countries, but not Spain. Anywhere in Europe you have a right to treatment if the situation is dire. As you can imagine, I've never made a claim against our travel insurance as the bills are too small to warrant it.

Just a thought: wouldn't it be easier if you registered your husband and child in your home country before going to Spain? I understand why for some non-EU nationals Spain has been considered a soft entry point into the EU (would not be expecting amnesties in the next decade though), but your husband has a legitimate claim to EU residency due to your relationship. 

All the best with the move.


----------



## ARO (May 31, 2010)

Why use Spain? Why not go directly to the UK. If its a genuine marriage there wont be a problem. Your making things complicated for yourself. 
Health insurance - you wont get cover for an existing illness


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

AROCAREANGELS said:


> Why use Spain? Why not go directly to the UK.


Why not? We can afford it.


----------

