# New residency requirements??



## littlejools (Jun 7, 2012)

Hi everyone, thanks for all your input on my last question. The main thing that it threw up was this change in residency requirements. I have been trawling through forums and pdfs all day and am still kinda none the wiser.
We will be living with a friend for at least 3 months and will have an income paid into our UK bank account. I might be able to get the friend who is renting our flat to pay in £700 per month so that our income is higher than the 430eur that people are quoting. The other thing I have read is proof of health care. Does this mean that we have to take out private health care? If we were to take it out and then not renew after a year would we still be able to apply for Spanish healthcare having paid tax in spain for a year etc? Or will we have to keep it forever? Not such a bad thing really looking at the state of the NHS in the uk and spain! I just wondering whether we should be doing this the moment we set foot on spanish soil even if we decide after a few months we aren't enjoying life there or should we wait. The change has given me a whole new bunch of things to worry about and what order I should be doing them in and then hardly anyone seems to know exactly whats required and then some government offices are sticking to the new rules and some aren't. I am very confused and am in need of some clarity!!
Please help!!
Jools


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

You will need private health insurance.
Even £700 a month isn't enough to keep two people.
The best advice anyone can give you is to take a holiday and investigate the prospects for work of the kind you are seeking.
You have to actually earn before you pay tax...and earning is your major problem.


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## littlejools (Jun 7, 2012)

In the village where our friend lives 1 bedroom flats are renting at 300eur per month, I would like to think that we can live on the remaining 500 odd eur if we have to. We have visited the area we plan to move to and have 2 very good friends who live there too, we are not doing this with no thought or research. Although, this rule change has come up right at the last minute and has thrown me slightly. Worst case scenario we can always come back to our flat but we'd like to give it a go, the economic collapse has just got in the way!


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

littlejools said:


> Hi everyone, thanks for all your input on my last question. The main thing that it threw up was this change in residency requirements. I have been trawling through forums and pdfs all day and am still kinda none the wiser.
> We will be living with a friend for at least 3 months and will have an income paid into our UK bank account. I might be able to get the friend who is renting our flat to pay in £700 per month so that our income is higher than the 430eur that people are quoting. The other thing I have read is proof of health care. Does this mean that we have to take out private health care? If we were to take it out and then not renew after a year would we still be able to apply for Spanish healthcare having paid tax in spain for a year etc? Or will we have to keep it forever? Not such a bad thing really looking at the state of the NHS in the uk and spain! I just wondering whether we should be doing this the moment we set foot on spanish soil even if we decide after a few months we aren't enjoying life there or should we wait. The change has given me a whole new bunch of things to worry about and what order I should be doing them in and then hardly anyone seems to know exactly whats required and then some government offices are sticking to the new rules and some aren't. I am very confused and am in need of some clarity!!
> Please help!!
> Jools


To be honest I don't think anyone knows the details yet, there haven't been any test cases and the British Council are still trying to clarify the requirements.

Let's say you are coming for a three month trial period. Your EHIC card will cover your healthcare and you don't have to apply for residence because you will be a visitor.

Then, supposing you decide to stay longer, you will need to get your residencia. Have you been working and paying NI contributions in the UK? If so your healthcare should be covered for the first year or two; you need to contact the DWP about an S1 form. It's not clear whether or not you have a job in Spain but if so you will be covered anyway, via your Spanish SS contributions. If not, when your S1 cover runs out you'll have to think about private insurance (you'd have to do that anyway, regardless of whether it is a residence requirement or not).

IMO it is unlikely that anyone with somewhere to live and a regular income is going to be refused residency, let alone asked to leave. Come for three months and see how it goes!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

littlejools said:


> In the village where our friend lives 1 bedroom flats are renting at 300eur per month, I would like to think that we can live on the remaining 500 odd eur if we have to. We have visited the area we plan to move to and have 2 very good friends who live there too, we are not doing this with no thought or research. Although, this rule change has come up right at the last minute and has thrown me slightly. Worst case scenario we can always come back to our flat but we'd like to give it a go, the economic collapse has just got in the way!


if you look at the top of 'Spain' you'll find a closed sticky thread about the changes

there is a link to the British consulate - they will update their site when they know what exactly is required

just keep checking the link


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

littlejools said:


> In the village where our friend lives 1 bedroom flats are renting at 300eur per month, I would like to think that we can live on the remaining 500 odd eur if we have to. We have visited the area we plan to move to and have 2 very good friends who live there too, we are not doing this with no thought or research. Although, this rule change has come up right at the last minute and has thrown me slightly. Worst case scenario we can always come back to our flat but we'd like to give it a go, the economic collapse has just got in the way!


I don't know what sort of accommodation you'll get for 300 euros a month...most likely not what you have been used to in Brighton.

But add to that electricity, phone , internet, transport etc. That's got to be another 200 euros a month.
That leaves less than 100 euros a week for two people to live on...
Spain isn't that cheap and if you have enjoyed a good scene in Brighton you'll want the same here.

Be sensible: come for a holiday. See for yourself how things are. As you say, you have a place to live in if you go back to the UK.


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## littlejools (Jun 7, 2012)

Thanks for that, it's really confusing but I guess we'll just have to see how it goes. I just like to be prepared and don't want to mess people about. I have looked at the British consulate web page but as yet it still shows no information. Thanks Alcalaina for all that info, we already have the healthcare card things and will look at getting proof of NI contributions as up until a couple of years ago I was employed and paid all that I should, now I'm self employed I haven't paid so much. I'm sure we'll be fine but I don't like surprises when I do my research!!


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## littlejools (Jun 7, 2012)

We are living in a 1 bedroom basement flat which I own, its nothing exciting but its ok. The properties we have been looking at in Chinchon near Madrid range from 1 bed to 3 bed and are with an agent online called fotocasa, i think they're a pretty expensive site to be honest. Our friend thinks that through the private market things could be cheaper and better. We don't want to spend lots of money and live on less than £300 per month in the UK on food and bills. We have been for a holiday, many times especially to the area we are moving to and have done a years worth of research through our friend who has supplied us with a lot of useful info on the price of things. I don't wish to sound rude but I think you are being overly negative. Anyway, suggestions noted, any other advice?


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

littlejools said:


> We are living in a 1 bedroom basement flat which I own, its nothing exciting but its ok. The properties we have been looking at in Chinchon near Madrid range from 1 bed to 3 bed and are with an agent online called fotocasa, i think they're a pretty expensive site to be honest. Our friend thinks that through the private market things could be cheaper and better. We don't want to spend lots of money and live on less than £300 per month in the UK on food and bills. We have been for a holiday, many times especially to the area we are moving to and have done a years worth of research through our friend who has supplied us with a lot of useful info on the price of things. I don't wish to sound rude but I think you are being overly negative. Anyway, suggestions noted, any other advice?


Fotocasa is an aggregated site used by agents and individuals. I don't know the area you are moving to, but round here in inland Cadiz you can get a decent 2-bed flat or townhouse for €300 a month. A lot of people just stick up notices in bars rather than use the internet.


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

littlejools said:


> In the village where our friend lives 1 bedroom flats are renting at 300eur per month, I would like to think that we can live on the remaining 500 odd eur if we have to. We have visited the area we plan to move to and have 2 very good friends who live there too, we are not doing this with no thought or research. Although, this rule change has come up right at the last minute and has thrown me slightly. Worst case scenario we can always come back to our flat but we'd like to give it a go, the economic collapse has just got in the way!


A little confused with your calculations. 600 euros, or even 700, rent from your UK property will not leave you with 500, if you pay 300 for rent. 

If by the time you need to register the requirement is confirmed at 430, it is likely that that will be per person, so you will not have enough income to qualify.

You should also remember that apart from possibly having to pay tax on your rental income, you will also need to pat Landlord tax and should allow a contingency for repairs, etc.

Certainly in the area I've looked at, fotocasa's prices are pretty typical. Probably worth remembering that if you live in a very rural area, where rents are as low as 300e, you are greatly limiting your market area for employment. Rent in the city r popular areas could easily be nearer 600 for a one bed apt.

You will need to check if you have paid enough NI contributions, while self employed, to access Spanish healthcare. I think it's only contributions from the last couple of years that count. 

EHIC is only for EMERGENCY healthcare while you are on holiday.

If you work on a self employed basis in Spain, you have to pay 250e/ month auto nomo, whether you actually earn a penny or not.

No one is trying to be negative, only realistic about the situation in Spain at the moment.


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

If you do decide to go over for 3 months and don't get any work, what will you do?

Will you be able to return to your UK jobs and where will you live? I presume you would not be able to evict your tenant? IF the answer is yes - then go have a look see. If not, then you need to think hard about what you're giving up.

Do you really live on £300/month in Brighton? That sounds hard but if you really do, then I assume you could live on that in Spain, too.


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## Solwriter (Jan 10, 2012)

brocher said:


> Do you really live on £300/month in Brighton? That sounds hard but if you really do, then I assume you could live on that in Spain, too.


Unemployed people in the UK are expected to live on less than £300 a month after paying their rent, even in Brighton, so it is possible (although not to be recommended!)


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## Solwriter (Jan 10, 2012)

*Littlejools*, 
there are just the two of you, no children and no commitments other than to each other, correct?

Then, if you really can find accommodation at 300 euros a month (and I know this is very possible, in our area anyway), and can live on the remainder, after considering payments for household bills, and as you already appear to have left your employment in the UK, then go for it.

But... *go for it for three months at first* and see whether it really will be possible for you and your partner to find work here. And that means work you can survive on.
I believe Pesky gave you some ideas about teaching English for your partner and whether or not to go autonomo or work for less in an academy, so that's a start.

As to health cover, you have your EHIC's and are fully entitled to use them for emergency treatment during a stay of up to three months, because up to 90 days, you are not required to sign on as living here.
Saying this, I am assuming you are both fit and well, with no need to sign up for continued medical treatment over a short stay.
I know that people will tell you that the EHIC does not cover things like repatriation to the UK in the case of dire emergency, but there again, neither does the Spanish Health system.

If, during that 90 days, you both decide that you want to stay here, and have the means to do so, then you can either sort out S1's or private health insurance (or even, if you are _really_ lucky, you will have an employer paying your stamp), so that you can apply to be resident here.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

brocher said:


> A little confused with your calculations. 600 euros, or even 700, rent from your UK property will not leave you with 500, if you pay 300 for rent.
> 
> If by the time you need to register the requirement is confirmed at 430, it is likely that that will be per person, so you will not have enough income to qualify.
> 
> ...


You're confused.
I'm confused. (First littlejools was going to Madrid, then she explained that that was only initially, and after Madrid she was going to southern Spain. Then it transpires it's not Madrid city she's going to, but Chinchón in the comunidad de Chinchón all of which makes an enormous difference...)
More importantly littlejools seems confused.

When you have a clearer idea of what's up littlejools, people on here can give clearer opinions, but until then much of what is said can be cancelled out.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> You're confused.
> I'm confused. (First littlejools was going to Madrid, then she explained that that was only initially, and after Madrid she was going to southern Spain. Then it transpires it's not Madrid city she's going to, but Chinchón in the comunidad de Chinchón all of which makes an enormous difference...)
> More importantly littlejools seems confused.
> 
> When you have a clearer idea of what's up littlejools, people on here can give clearer opinions, but until then much of what is said can be cancelled out.


Hi Mods,:wave:
Please sort out my post where I say Comunidad de Chinchón when I mean Comunidad de Madrid :lol:


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Hi Mods,:wave:
> Please sort out my post where I say Comunidad de Chinchón when I mean Comunidad de Madrid :lol:


I think you've done it yourself now


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

Solwriter said:


> Unemployed people in the UK are expected to live on less than £300 a month after paying their rent, even in Brighton, so it is possible (although not to be recommended!)



Agreed, possible in dire circumstances but certainly not easy.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

brocher said:


> A little confused with your calculations. 600 euros, or even 700, rent from your UK property will not leave you with 500, if you pay 300 for rent.
> 
> If by the time you need to register the requirement is confirmed at 430, it is likely that that will be per person, so you will not have enough income to qualify.
> 
> ...




I can't see why you are confused - OP said they would have £700 = about 840euros. Take off 300euros for rent and this leaves in excess of 500euros - SIMPLES!




As a landlord, I can confirm that rental prices have fallen dramatically. 

We have a number of 2-bed and also 1-bed apartments. We were trying to rent them out for 270 euros per month but have just been advised by Carbonell (very large, Spanish estate agent) that we should only offer them for 200 euros/month. They have 3 and 4-bed apartments for 230-240 euros!!!!!!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

snikpoh said:


> I can't see why you are confused - OP said they would have £700 = about 840euros. Take off 300euros for rent and this leaves in excess of 500euros - SIMPLES!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


that does it!!

I'm moving to Ontinyente


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