# Proof of income - Paid in the UK, Living in Spain and now needing 'residencia'



## samthemainman (Aug 15, 2012)

Hi all

Before I phone up the extranjeria in Valencia to ask (!). I work for a major IT company who have allowed me to work from Spain but remain on the UK payroll.

I turned up a few weeks ago all smug thinking I'd got everything I needed to get my new flimsy green 'residencia' card (or whatever they call it now for EU people staying longer than 90 days!). I took originals and photocopies of passport, rental contract, my empadronamiento (contrary to what I was told, in Valencia you need to be on the Padron BEFORE you obtain residency), a letter from my company saying I was employed on a permanent contract, with my salary details etc. I took payslips, I took proof of my Sanitas private healthcare. I had everything. Or so I thought...

It turns out a UK work contract is not enough - not because its written in English but because my cash isn't going into a Spanish bank account and that they want to see regular payments going into one. The guy at the Extrajeria said I should open a non-residents bank account. I asked him how regular was regular and how many payments did he need to see -especially as I in theory only have 90 days... He just said 'as many as possible'.

I totally understand why they're doing this - and I did open a non-residents bank account with La Caixa with no problems to pay my rent and other bills. However it annoys me that I have to give them an address in the UK which isn't my address but rather my deceased mother's which I'm trying to sell - the bank won't give you a non-residents account with a Spanish address - why would they). It also is annoying that I'm having to pay through the nose for non-resident charges (inc the 30.25 for the one-off non-residents charge, other admin charges, the 23 Euro charge for a debit card, blah blah blah) and then have to set up a NEW residents account when I do actually get the green card, have to change my DD details with all the utility companies etc. JUST BECAUSE I need to demonstrate cash coming in to Spain via a Spanish bank account.... anyway rant over.

The point is - what do I use as proof - is there a type of Bank certificate I need to request? (I received great personal banking service from the branch from a lady who basically said she'd provide me with whatever document I needed) or are bank statements enough?? The extranjeria understand I can't be paid directly into my Spanish account, and I have so far started transferring my payments across via a SEPA/Structured Payment from the Bank, and I've used my employers name as a payment reference. I plan to go back before the 90 day period to get it sorted. I'm actually making a couple of trips back to the UK in the interim (which I know resets the clock to 'zero' - but I want to get this sorted so I can get a proper bank account which doesn't haemorrhage charges as well as the NIE which I begrudge applying for separately - I'm too busy to have to queue for hours on two different days. I'm a 'get up early and get stuff sorted quickly' kind of guy!

I've moved over with my partner (we're a gay unmarried couple) - he's a teacher on a permanent contract and now has his green card after a pfaff getting the right Social Security documentation - but obviously I don't benefit from that as we're not in a civil union or married... so I'm having to do the leg work for myself (I'm not really a martyr!). Luckily I speak fairly decent Spanish.

Otherwise I'm loving Valencia - its an amazing place and after holidaying here half a dozen times I'm determined to make a real go of it! I'm very luck to have the flexibility from my employer - I just want the piece of mind of that flimsy green card :ranger:


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

samthemainman said:


> Hi all
> 
> Before I phone up the extranjeria in Valencia to ask (!). I work for a major IT company who have allowed me to work from Spain but remain on the UK payroll.
> 
> ...


thanks for the info - so it has to be paid into a Spanish account - interesting

don't panic about the 90 days - I know lots of people who didn't register for YEARS because they simply didn't know they had to - no-one shot them - though if you're going to the UK for a few days that solves the problem & keeps you legal

as soon as you DO have that magic but of green card, change your bank account to resident & say goodbye to the charges - I would have expected a bank statement would be OK & maybe have a healthy balance in it? I've heard that's what they are accepting in Benidorm at least


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

xabiachica said:


> thanks for the info - so it has to be paid into a Spanish account - interesting
> 
> don't panic about the 90 days - I know lots of people who didn't register for YEARS because they simply didn't know they had to - no-one shot them - though if you're going to the UK for a few days that solves the problem & keeps you legal
> 
> as soon as you DO have that magic but of green card, change your bank account to resident & say goodbye to the charges - I would have expected a bank statement would be OK & maybe have a healthy balance in it? I've heard that's what they are accepting in Benidorm at least


... by-the-way, you shouldn't have to change all your DD when moving from a non-resident account to a resident one.

When we did it, the actual account number remained exactly the same!


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

samthemainman said:


> Hi all
> 
> Before I phone up the extranjeria in Valencia to ask (!). I work for a major IT company who have allowed me to work from Spain but remain on the UK payroll.
> 
> ...



La Caixa should just use their own branch as your contact address for the account . That's all they did for us years ago. 
All the extranjeria want to see is regular payments into the account. Once done & you have the certificate , shut it down. There is no requirement /checking , etc; to see that you maintain the account or private healthcare. 

When you become an official 'resident' then La Caixa will automatically change over the account to a residents one on seeing the documents & all direct debits, payments, etc ; will transfer automatically. The account number also used to change but you do not need to do anything re; dd's.


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## samthemainman (Aug 15, 2012)

gus-lopez said:


> La Caixa should just use their own branch as your contact address for the account . That's all they did for us years ago.
> All the extranjeria want to see is regular payments into the account. Once done & you have the certificate , shut it down. There is no requirement /checking , etc; to see that you maintain the account or private healthcare.
> 
> When you become an official 'resident' then La Caixa will automatically change over the account to a residents one on seeing the documents & all direct debits, payments, etc ; will transfer automatically. The account number also used to change but you do not need to do anything re; dd's.


Good news on the DD front (phoning around changing bank details is a real PITA). I know they definitely give me a new account number (maybe new debit card too? not sure). Thanks!


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

And I bet there is a completely different process for different areas.


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