# Australian Citizen Moving to Spain



## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

The sister of a friend of mine (who is an Australian citizen having emigrated there many years ago) is moving to Spain to spend her retirement here, and has applied for the appropriate visa via the Spanish Consulate in Sydney. She is over here for a short stay at the moment and has asked me a question to which I don't know the answer, and I would be grateful if someone who has been through this process could shed some light on it.

Once she has received her visa (which the Consulate have advised her could take up to a month) and enters Spain, does she subsequently have to register as a foreign resident at the Extranjeria? She is aware that the visa will be issued for one year initially, which she can apply to extend for five years.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Lynn R said:


> The sister of a friend of mine (who is an Australian citizen having emigrated there many years ago) is moving to Spain to spend her retirement here, and has applied for the appropriate visa via the Spanish Consulate in Sydney. She is over here for a short stay at the moment and has asked me a question to which I don't know the answer, and I would be grateful if someone who has been through this process could shed some light on it.
> 
> Once she has received her visa (which the Consulate have advised her could take up to a month) and enters Spain, does she subsequently have to register as a foreign resident at the Extranjeria? She is aware that the visa will be issued for one year initially, which she can apply to extend for five years.


What she needs to apply for is a non-lucrative visa. Some consulates also list a specific 'retirement' visa, but the Sydney one doesn't seem to have much info. 

Once the visa is issued she could then move to Spain & would have to register on the padrón & also apply for residencia at the extranjería within 3 months. Not all extranjerías deal with non-EU residecia applications. People I know living in my area had to go to Alicante, whereas EU citizens go to Dénia.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

xabiachica said:


> What she needs to apply for is a non-lucrative visa. Some consulates also list a specific 'retirement' visa, but the Sydney one doesn't seem to have much info.
> 
> Once the visa is issued she could then move to Spain & would have to register on the padrón & also apply for residencia at the extranjería within 3 months. Not all extranjerías deal with non-EU residecia applications. People I know living in my area had to go to Alicante, whereas EU citizens go to Dénia.


Thank you. The visa application has already been made, and now we know that she also has to apply for residencia within 3 months of her arrival in Spain once she has her visa. I'm sure it's the non-lucrative one she has applied for, as I've seen the list of what she had to supply, which included proof of sufficient financial resources to support herself. It won't be a problem as she's a retired senior nurse. We'll try the extranjeria at Torre del Mar initially, but if they don't deal with non-EU applications there we may, I suppose, have to go to Málaga. I seem to have been "volunteered" to help shepherd her through the process, but her sister and brother-in-law are good friends and have been very good to us so fair's fair.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

If she "emigrated to Australia some time ago", was that from UK? If so, isn't she still classed as a UK citizen?

Wouldn't that make it a lot easier?


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

snikpoh said:


> If she "emigrated to Australia some time ago", was that from UK? If so, isn't she still classed as a UK citizen?
> 
> Wouldn't that make it a lot easier?


Yes, she was a British citizen but no longer has a British passport. I did actually suggest some time ago that the easiest thing would have been for her to apply for a new British passport and come to Spain as an EU citizen, but for whatever reason she's chosen to do it the hard way. You can lead a horse to water, but .......


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## kdsb (May 3, 2015)

We are in Spain on non lucrative visas and the timeline we were told is that we had to register with the extranjeria within 30 days of arrival in the Schrengen zone. For us, this was two weeks prior to arrival in Spain since we first traveled to other European countries, so we only had two weeks after arriving to find a place to live, register on the padron, and go to the extrajeria. Thankfully the timing all worked out. It is possible there is more flexibility with this timeline than indicated, but definitely not something we wanted to risk. Our entry visas were for a 3 month window but once we entered the country we only had 30 days.


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## 95995 (May 16, 2010)

Lynn R said:


> Yes, she was a British citizen but no longer has a British passport. I did actually suggest some time ago that the easiest thing would have been for her to apply for a new British passport and come to Spain as an EU citizen, but for whatever reason she's chosen to do it the hard way. You can lead a horse to water, but .......


She might be playing it safe in terms of Brexit, especially given that she has the necessary resources. I'm sure she wants to retain her Australian passport, in case she wishes/needs to return (Australia effectively now being her home country). Rest assured not everyone wants to be paying out to maintain multiple passports (I know I won't be renewing my UK passport). Also, if her UK passport it well and truly expired, it's more of an effort and more expensive to renew (though of course doable).


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

EverHopeful said:


> She might be playing it safe in terms of Brexit, especially given that she has the necessary resources. I'm sure she wants to retain her Australian passport, in case she wishes/needs to return (Australia effectively now being her home country). Rest assured not everyone wants to be paying out to maintain multiple passports (I know I won't be renewing my UK passport). Also, if her UK passport it well and truly expired, it's more of an effort and more expensive to renew (though of course doable).


Oh yes, I hadn't thought of it that way, but it's entirely possible.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

kdsb said:


> We are in Spain on non lucrative visas and the timeline we were told is that we had to register with the extranjeria within 30 days of arrival in the Schrengen zone. For us, this was two weeks prior to arrival in Spain since we first traveled to other European countries, so we only had two weeks after arriving to find a place to live, register on the padron, and go to the extrajeria. Thankfully the timing all worked out. It is possible there is more flexibility with this timeline than indicated, but definitely not something we wanted to risk. Our entry visas were for a 3 month window but once we entered the country we only had 30 days.


Thank you for the information. I think her plan is that after she returns to Australia following this short visit, to await the issue of her visa, she will then return directly to Spain without visiting any other countries beforehand, so we will need to check the 30 day issue. She will have somewhere to live initially as she will be staying in her sister and brother-in-law's holiday home so she already effectively has a Spanish address which can be changed at a later date when she finds somewhere of her own to rent, so that should make things a bit easier.


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## 95995 (May 16, 2010)

Lynn R said:


> Thank you for the information. I think her plan is that after she returns to Australia following this short visit, to await the issue of her visa, she will then return directly to Spain without visiting any other countries beforehand, so we will need to check the 30 day issue. She will have somewhere to live initially as she will be staying in her sister and brother-in-law's holiday home so she already effectively has a Spanish address which can be changed at a later date when she finds somewhere of her own to rent, so that should make things a bit easier.


I suspect that with her flights she will actually enter the Schengen area before she enters Spain (unless the flight is via the UK), however it might at worse mean a one day difference (bar flight delays). I don't know about the 30-day requirement in Spain (as opposed to 3 months), but the clock always starts from entry to Schengen and details should be provided with her visa. Even so, I would think that will give her time to register (for which she will IMO most likely need to go to Malaga). It might be worth you (or her family) checking out whether she can register locally prior to her eventual entry on the visa, but then again I would have thought the Spanish Consulate in Sydney could tell her where she needs to register. 

Bear in mind she will likely be exhausted on arrival - it's an extremely long flight, especially with the various transfers that are required (not to mention the significant difference in time zone). It can be far worse when you make the final move than when you just come over on holiday


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

EverHopeful said:


> I suspect that with her flights she will actually enter the Schengen area before she enters Spain (unless the flight is via the UK), however it might at worse mean a one day difference (bar flight delays). I don't know about the 30-day requirement in Spain (as opposed to 3 months), but the clock always starts from entry to Schengen and details should be provided with her visa. Even so, I would think that will give her time to register (for which she will IMO most likely need to go to Malaga). It might be worth you (or her family) checking out whether she can register locally prior to her eventual entry on the visa, but then again I would have thought the Spanish Consulate in Sydney could tell her where she needs to register.
> 
> Bear in mind she will likely be exhausted on arrival - it's an extremely long flight, especially with the various transfers that are required (not to mention the significant difference in time zone). It can be far worse when you make the final move than when you just come over on holiday


She has visited twice now and flown with Emirates to Madrid, via Dubai, so assuming she does the same again I think her point of entry into Schengen will be directly to Spain. Yes, hopefully the information about where she needs to register on arrival can be provided by the Consulate in Sydney, I will suggest she checks that out.


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## 95995 (May 16, 2010)

Lynn R said:


> She has visited twice now and flown with Emirates to Madrid, via Dubai, so assuming she does the same again I think her point of entry into Schengen will be directly to Spain. Yes, hopefully the information about where she needs to register on arrival can be provided by the Consulate in Sydney, I will suggest she checks that out.


Emirates are arguably the best way to fly from Australia (usually there is a transfer in Singapore but it's only 1-4 hours between flights and no need to go through customs there - you just wait in the transfer lounge). Theirs was actually the quickest flight I've had from Australia. So, yes, direct into Spain and likely the full 3 months to register  Takes the pressure off


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

We have been to the Extranjeria in Torre del Mar this morning to apply for an NIE number for her as she wanted to try to get that sorted out on this visit and set up a non-resident bank account and possibly a rental property she could move into once she has her visa. They were happy to deal with that there (I explained that she is only here for a visit and will be obtaining a visa once she returns to Australia to enable her to move here at a later date) and were also dealing with resident registrations for quite a number of non-EU ciitzens (Morroccans and South Americans) so perhaps it will not be necessary for her to go to Málaga to register once she has her visa. She has to pick up her NIE certificate tomorrow.

As an aside, when we had to go to the copy shop next door to get copies of the Modelo 790 to enable her to pay the fee for the NIE, I got roped in by the man in the shop to help a British woman who came in after us fill in her EX18 form and the Modelo 720. It transpired that she already had an NIE number and has been here since 2007, and is working as she was wearing a nurse's uniform and name badge saying Enfermera, but is only now registering as a resident. I thought to myself I bet this is because of Brexit, and sure enough, she said "I thought I'd better get this sorted out now because of the Brexit thing". Obviously can't speak any Spanish either after 9 years here. I rather wish I'd said sod off now.


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## kdsb (May 3, 2015)

Our consulate told us the 30 day window but did not tell us where to go. It was pretty simple, though, since we just had to look up Extranjería and the city name. We went there the day after we arrived to check on the process and were able to make an appointment for the following week, which was enough time to find a place to live and get on the padrón. 

I have heard of other people in Barcelona and Javea not being able to get an appointment within the 30 day window which caused them some distress but worked out in the end. I guess if the Extranjeria realizes they are behind and can't give you an appointment quickly they are flexible about this window.

I attempted to call our local Extranjeria multiple times with questions prior to the move but they never answered the phone.

We received a little slip of paper that they attached to our passports detailing what we had to due when we arrived in Spain, but we removed them after the process so I can't reference them now. But the Chicago non-lucrative visa requirements mention the 30 day timeline at the end and says what documents to bring: http://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consul...o/Documents/documentosvisados/nolucrativa.pdf
I have heard many different requirements about what documents are required at this step and have heard of others having trouble with their health insurance (especially in Barcelona). Our consulate also advised us to get updated medical letters and background checks before departure. In the end, they didn't ask for any additional paperwork at all so it was completely unnecessary, though I imagine every consulate is different.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

My new Australian friend picked up her NIE certificate today (between 1.30 and 2.00 pm as they advised us yesterday). She said there was no queue at all and was surprised by how simple the process has been. She has had dealings with the Australian Immigration authorities on behalf of clients she has worked with, and says their offices are far worse to deal with than what she has experienced in Spain, and their staff are very rude and unhelpful by comparison. Nice to hear Spain has made a good impression!


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## 95995 (May 16, 2010)

Lynn R said:


> My new Australian friend picked up her NIE certificate today (between 1.30 and 2.00 pm as they advised us yesterday). She said there was no queue at all and was surprised by how simple the process has been. She has had dealings with the Australian Immigration authorities on behalf of clients she has worked with, and says their offices are far worse to deal with than what she has experienced in Spain, and their staff are very rude and unhelpful by comparison. Nice to hear Spain has made a good impression!


Australian immigration is horrible and only getting worse (and that may be exactly where UK immigration is heading - although in fact few people have any idea of what immigration might be like in their home countries). It's great to hear your new friend's experience in Spain has been good.


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