# Brit & Aussie Wife Moving to Spain



## mrustean (Feb 20, 2014)

I hope you guys can help. I am Australian my husband is duel British/Australian. We live in the UK at the moment but want to move to Girona Spain. I am on a spouse visa but really we do not want to stay in the UK so no need for me to get a passport here. I did live in Girona for 3 months in 2013 & hubby came out every weekend. We adored Girona & made amazing friends there. Hubby has a good job with a British/ Norwegian company & works from home 90% off the time so his boss is happy for him to relocate as long as he has Internet connection. We are taking Spanish lessons at the moment. We have also been offered rental of the same apartment we rented last time. We have top private health insurance that will cover us anywhere in Europe. So the question can hubby work for a British company & be paid by them in pounds into British account & be based in Spain & as I am Australia what am I required to do to be able to live & work in Spain for more than 90 days. Hopefully not jump through hoops for 2.5 years like we did with the UK. We have been told by Spanish friends that we must also open a Spanish bank account which we are more than happy to do. Thank you.


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## Issi (Nov 20, 2011)

*visa*

You will need a visa, proof that you can support yourself either with steady income, a pension or more than 6000 euros in the bank and private health cover , which you already have. Australian Federal Police clearance is also required. The visas are issued from Melbourne Australia, you will need to contact The Spanish Embassy in London and ask what is required. The visa which is most likely the one you will be issued, is a 'non lucrative visa' which means you will be unable to work. Different rules will apply to your husband as he is a citizen of an EU country. 
Your husband will have to pay income tax in Spain if he resides her on a permanent basis. If you post 3 more times you can then email me and I can assist you further. I am an Australian living in inland Andalucia. You will have to jump through hoops but it wont take 2.5 years, my visa took 3 months.


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

I'm not certain the above is correct because you are married to an EU citizen and he will be excercising his EU rights to have a spouse or family member living with them in the EU.
You shouldn't need a visa at all but you will need a "tarjeta de residencia de familiar de ciudadano de la Unión"(?) which you apply for at the foreigners office once you are here.
It is your husband as an EU citizen who will need to prove his financial capabilities of sustaining the family.



> What do I need to do to get an EU-family member residence card (tarjeta de residencia de familiar de ciudadano de la Unión)?
> 
> You should register within three months of arriving in Spain. Here’s how:
> 
> ...


I know a few of our American members are probably more familiar with this and can maybe chime in and possibly correct me.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Issi said:


> You will need a visa, proof that you can support yourself either with steady income, a pension or more than 6000 euros in the bank and private health cover , which you already have. Australian Federal Police clearance is also required. The visas are issued from Melbourne Australia, you will need to contact The Spanish Embassy in London and ask what is required. The visa which is most likely the one you will be issued, is a 'non lucrative visa' which means you will be unable to work. Different rules will apply to your husband as he is a citizen of an EU country.
> Your husband will have to pay income tax in Spain if he resides her on a permanent basis. If you post 3 more times you can then email me and I can assist you further. I am an Australian living in inland Andalucia. You will have to jump through hoops but it wont take 2.5 years, my visa took 3 months.





Pazcat said:


> I'm not certain the above is correct because you are married to an EU citizen and he will be excercising his EU rights to have a spouse or family member living with them in the EU.
> You shouldn't need a visa at all but you will need a "tarjeta de residencia de familiar de ciudadano de la Unión"(?) which you apply for at the foreigners office once you are here.
> It is your husband as an EU citizen who will need to prove his financial capabilities of sustaining the family.
> 
> ...


welll - yes, as the spouse of an EU citizen 'exercising treaty rights', things are a little easier

but Issi is correct in that the dual British/Australian husband will have to prove that he has sufficient income/funds to register as resident in the first place before mrustean can apply for residency

to do that, more proof of income & funds will be required, & recently we've heard of people being refused when there is doubt that it's a genuine marriage, so proof of marriage & ongoing relationship is also required, apart from the usual apostilled marriage certificate 

mrustean can enter Spain with a Schengen visa


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

They are much easier, no Federal police checks, no visas, no dealing with Embassy's out of the country and no burden of proof for financial liability on the non EU citizens behalf and once granted your card you will be able to live and work in Spain until it needs to be renewed.
That was my main point in posting as the above post was incorrect on those points. No need to unduly worry someone with all that.

I pointed out too that the husband is the one that will need to prove income to sustain the family, not the Australian citizen however as was implied.
I did not explain it further though as it's not a process I have done but yes, any EU citizen has to provide this information more so if supporting a family.

I agree Spain can be difficult with the way they interpret EU law and it could be more time consuming and possibly more difficult to prove than it should be, and yes we have heard of people with this exact trouble on the site and it would be great if they could post there experiences again.

The good thing it sounds as if they have good health care and a decent job in hand so proving that much at least shouldn't be an issue.


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## Issi (Nov 20, 2011)

As I said, contact the Spanish Embassy in London to find out EXACTLY what is required!


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## mrustean (Feb 20, 2014)

sadly I see that Spain has gone the VFS Global route. The worst nightmare in regards to visa's in Australia they have caused chaos.


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## mrustean (Feb 20, 2014)

Thanks for the replies. We have been married for nearly 4 years & married in Australia. We also had to remarry again in the UK as the Home Office said our marriage in Australia was invalid. We now have a lovely apology from the Home Office after the Australian Government went kind of crazy so we have married twice. My husbands job brings in about 60,000 euros a year. We also have life insurance & I have a very healthy Australian pension.


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

As a EU citizen, your husband will have to apply for his residence within ninety days of arrival. To do so, he will have to show regular income and/ or savings in a Spanish bank account and proof of healthcare provision. Private healthcare will have to be provided by a Spanish company, your existing one won't suffice for either of you. See the FAQ thread for further info about residence.

Once he has his own residence, he can start the procedure for you. As has already been advised, contact the Spanish Embassy to see what will be required of you, and what if any tourist visa you will need initially.

You should take expert advice on your tax situation etc. Assumimg he pays tax in the UK, that is likely to continue but he would also be tax resident in Spain ( as he would be living there) and so would have to make a declaration of all worldwide income, in Spain. Double taxation treaty means same tax wouldn't be paid twice but if he is due more by Spanish allowances, then it will have to be paid. Spanish tax allowances may not be favourable.

Assume he is actually employed by the UK company and won't have to register as self employed in Spain- or else you will have to check out the implications of this too.


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## Porckchop (Feb 25, 2015)

Hi there, I've been reading this thread with some interest. I'm an Aussie too, living here in Oz with my Dutch-born wife and two offspring, 16 and 19yo. We would like to live in Europe for a reasonable length of time (more than just a short vacation) and ideally in the Netherlands where a lot of my wife's family still reside. Long story short, we don't particularly want to try for Family Reunification in the Netherlands as it is quite an onerous process, we would rather opt for the EU freedom of movement option (my wife still retains her EU passport/Dutch citizenship) and enter NL via Spain. I appreciate that this is the Spanish section of the site but much of the info here pertains to our situation as well. My understanding is:

# We would need to reside in Spain for approximately 6 months to qualify as 'resident'.
#That we can be classed "economically non-active" as long as we can show sufficient income/funds held in a Spanish bank.
#That we must be privately insured as a family/individuals health-wise.
#That we are able to secure rental for the relatively short term stay of say, 6 months.

Having read all the info regarding taxation in this thread it sounds like a whole new can of worms has opened up! If we are only resident long enough to satisfy the EU Freedom of Movement requirements once in NL would we need to pay tax or fill in taxation forms whilst in Spain for example? It sounds as if the whole process of using the 'EU route' is becoming increasingly fraught....


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