# Can someone clarify who's covered by SS in Spain?



## ylcard (Mar 16, 2017)

Hey, first post here, I was looking for a place like this before, I think I've seen a few threads before.

Some background:
I'm from a Non-EU country, I have a residency permit in Spain, I've been living here for a year now with my partner, who is a Spanish national. I live in Cataluña.

After I got my card, I went to the CAP to ask about the Tarjeta Sanitaria Individual (TSI), they've told me that it's no problem, that I'd have to bring some form from the SS first.
I went to the SS and they told me that I can't have that form, because I'm unemployed and I never worked in Spain before, therefor I can't "subscribe" to SS (darse de alta).
At first I was confused, I didn't realize it was what I needed to do, I checked with them that what I needed from them is just that form so I can get the TSI but no dice.

I resigned and started looking for a job, but I still don't have one, so according to what I've been told before, I'm still ineligible for the SS and thus, can't have the TSI.

This doesn't make any sense for two reasons. In Cataluña, you don't need to be signed up in SS to have a TSI, you can just ask for the form that shows that you're not signed up, but they still don't want to give it to me.

Secondly, I've been looking through the various Royal Decrees, specifically Real Decreto 1192/2012, which has a set of requirements that I don't fulfill:


Being employed by a third party or self-employed, registered with the Social Security system as active or in an equivalent situation.
Being a pensioner in the Social Security system.
Being in receipt of any other periodic Social Security provision, including unemployment benefits and others of a similar nature.
Having exhausted unemployment benefits and others of a similar nature, being unemployed, not having insured status on any other grounds and residing in Spain. This scenario will not apply to those persons mentioned in article 3 (c) of Law 16/2003 of 28 May (foreigners not registered or authorised as residents in Spain).

But, it goes on, and the very last requirement is confusing:



> Individuals not covered by the preceding point or by article 3 of R.D. 1192/2012, of 3 August, who do not have mandatory health insurance by some other means and who are in any of the following situations:



Having Spanish nationality and residing in Spanish territory.
Being nationals of a member State of the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland and being registered on the Central Register of Foreign Citizens.
Being nationals of a country other than those mentioned above, or stateless, and having authorisation to reside in Spanish territory, *for as long as that authorisation is valid in accordance with the terms provided for in its specific regulations*.
*
On the surface it appears that I fulfill that requirement, and I guess every other resident.. the thing is, what does the last part, in bold and colored red, means?*

Someone suggested that most residency permits require you to have medical insurance at the time of solicitation, which I did - although it was merely a travel insurance, which they accepted. So, in turn, if you have one of those permits, it means that you are *not* covered by the SS in Spain, as it would disqualify you because you supposedly have a medical insurance already, and if you don't, it would disqualify you for not meeting the original requirements for the permit.

I'm having a difficult time swallowing that explanation, the person could not provide any documentation on it and claimed he heard it during a lecture on immigration.

Now, even if it were true, that would mean that if you found yourself a job, you'd still not be covered by the SS, as per the explanation above, which is completely illogical to me. *Are you really forced to spend the rest of your life (until naturalization) paying for a "private" medical insurance?*

If it's as I'm suspecting, not quite correct, would that mean that basically any resident of Spain is covered by the SS?

Let's say that I am covered, being unemployed, do I have to pay a contribution, or is it "free"? I ask, because autonomous workers have to pay out of their own pocket, so do people who go for the special convention, which is a buy in SS coverage, but I'm not sure if I'm eligible for it, or if it's even necessary for me.

I've also spoken to an NGO here, who has said the same thing, I can't sign up for SS as I've never worked in Spain before, but it doesn't prevent me from having a TSI. Although they denied me before, so I'm asking others to clarify things.

Sorry for the long post, I'd leave a potato but I can't post links yet.


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## elabadpiripi (Mar 19, 2017)

*SS in Spain*



ylcard said:


> Hey, first post here, I was looking for a place like this before, I think I've seen a few threads before.
> 
> Some background:
> I'm from a Non-EU country, I have a residency permit in Spain, I've been living here for a year now with my partner, who is a Spanish national. I live in Cataluña.
> ...


Hello. The bottom line is that you must have a job to register for SS, and once in the system you're covered immediately. Then, according to the terms of your contract (full-time, part-time, hybrid-inbetween) amounts are deducted to pay for unemployment and health care, among others.

Until that time, private medical insurance from an authorized company is mandatory. Travel coverage only should not have been allowed, so I'd be looking into Mapre/Allianz/etc. right now. The travel insurance would probably refuse coverage as you're no longer traveling due to having a residency card, and this would also cause big problems if found out by the spanish authorities.


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## Gran Erry-Bredd (Nov 1, 2016)

Hi elabadpiripi. I think you deserve a lot of credit for even attempting to answer the post by ylcard. Surprised you've received no thanks yet. I doff my cap to you. :yo:


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

As far as I know in Spain you have to pay into ss to get something out and Catalonia is (still) part of Spain. However some unemployed people get coverage through being _sin recursos. _Are you sin recursos?
If I were you I'd go to a SEPE office or whatever they are called in Catalonia and ask them to inform you if there's any way in your present situation that you can be covered.
Marriage might be another way!


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## elabadpiripi (Mar 19, 2017)

To "do off", as in to "take off"......unreal how close to extinction the word was (only used by 'rustics' until the Bard rejuvenated it in Romeo and Juliet. Therefore I doff mine to you in appreciation.


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## ylcard (Mar 16, 2017)

elabadpiripi said:


> Hello. The bottom line is that you must have a job to register for SS, and once in the system you're covered immediately. Then, according to the terms of your contract (full-time, part-time, hybrid-inbetween) amounts are deducted to pay for unemployment and health care, among others.
> 
> Until that time, private medical insurance from an authorized company is mandatory. Travel coverage only should not have been allowed, so I'd be looking into Mapre/Allianz/etc. right now. The travel insurance would probably refuse coverage as you're no longer traveling due to having a residency card, and this would also cause big problems if found out by the spanish authorities.


Thanks for the reply, and sorry for my late reply.

That's what I've gathered from talking to SS, that's why I was (or still am) confused by the seemingly contradictory RD requirements.

I've only done this process once, so I'm not sure if the travel insurance was a fluke or what, but I made sure that they'd go through all the documentation and tell me what needs to be revised, and they did deny me another document, so I figured they're strict enough to properly check the documents. I took it as a sign that everything I gave was legit.

I actually haven't seen anything mentioning residency in the conditions. And, according to the residency requirement, they just want a medical coverage equal to what is offered in SS, which would cover you in Spain - my travel insurance satisfies those requirements, or at least did.

I'll look into your suggestions, as it was a temporary solution. Thank you.


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## ylcard (Mar 16, 2017)

Gran Erry-Bredd said:


> Hi elabadpiripi. I think you deserve a lot of credit for even attempting to answer the post by ylcard. Surprised you've received no thanks yet. I doff my cap to you. :yo:


I think so too, he deserves a kudos 
And you're right about the other thing as well, my bad, I got a notification in my email and quickly discarded it and forgot about the thread. I'm sorry.



Pesky Wesky said:


> As far as I know in Spain you have to pay into ss to get something out and Catalonia is (still) part of Spain. However some unemployed people get coverage through being _sin recursos. _Are you sin recursos?
> If I were you I'd go to a SEPE office or whatever they are called in Catalonia and ask them to inform you if there's any way in your present situation that you can be covered.
> Marriage might be another way!


Thanks for the help. Well, being part of Spain they still have a degree of autonomy in regards to immigration. The sin recursos part is based on one's income, or the bank balance? If they even look at it. Since I'm not employed (yet), I have no income, but I do have money, so I'm not sure if I qualify.

Marriage, for the time being, is out of the question, but yeah - I figured as much that it would solve a lot of issues (and perhaps introduce new ones).



elabadpiripi said:


> To "do off", as in to "take off"......unreal how close to extinction the word was (only used by 'rustics' until the Bard rejuvenated it in Romeo and Juliet. Therefore I doff mine to you in appreciation.


For a moment there I thought this was some kind of a bot posting.. did a double take. 

Again, thanks for the help guys.
Although, for the sake of argument, what do you think the bold part means? In the RD. Is it Spain saying one thing but doing another? Is it something that should be challenged in court? I've read articles about Spain denying certain residencies and other permits / applications even though they are in order and they are legally 'deserve' whatever they were applying for. Then those people would sue Spain or more specifically the institution that 'wrongfully' denied them.

So it wouldn't surprise me if Spain sometimes goes against its own laws.


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## elabadpiripi (Mar 19, 2017)

You're welcome.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

ylcard said:


> I think so too, he deserves a kudos
> And you're right about the other thing as well, my bad, I got a notification in my email and quickly discarded it and forgot about the thread. I'm sorry.
> 
> 
> ...


I was under the impression that any residency permit issued to non-EU citizens was conditional on the holder having healthcare insurance. So if you don't have any - how did you obtain the visa?

You suggest that you are looking for employment - employment visas are issued for a specific employer to employ a non-EU citizen.

What kind of visa do you have?


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## ylcard (Mar 16, 2017)

xabiachica said:


> I was under the impression that any residency permit issued to non-EU citizens was conditional on the holder having healthcare insurance. So if you don't have any - how did you obtain the visa?
> 
> You suggest that you are looking for employment - employment visas are issued for a specific employer to employ a non-EU citizen.
> 
> What kind of visa do you have?


I've applied for Tarjeta de Residencia Temporal de Familiar de
Ciudadano de la UE Supuesto general de residente
fuera de España (art. 8.5) Pareja registrada (verbatim).


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## elabadpiripi (Mar 19, 2017)

Xabiachica, you are operating under the correct impression.....all citizens from countries outside the EU applying for residency here in Spain must show proof of insurance in force with a Spanish insurance company, and further proof of a funeral policy with a body repatriation clause to their country of citizenship (again with a Spanish insurer ), as well having to provide criminal records issued by their local jurisdictions in their home countries which then must be apostilled (Hague convention diplomatic level) by their national governments AND THEN juridically translated (meaning by someone recognized by the government as an official translator) into Spanish. Not to mention the proof of economic viability documents which enjoy the same translation/apostille treatment. These requirements have been in place for at least five years...... I was wondering along the same lines as you.


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