Starting out on moving to Spain

Hello Allison - you would do well to look at this thread which covers some important financial and residency issues that you must consider:

Regulations concerning Residencia as of July 6

If you do relocate to Almeria, and by definition become Spanish tax resident, then you will have to pay tax in Spain on your worldwide income, including investment income.  I don't know where you stand regarding the PIP payment, but in both cases you should seek proper tax advice.

Note that in order for you to gain residency in Spain there are minimum income requirements, which are expected to increase significantly once the Brexit transition period has ended, so your investment income will need to be enough for you to meet those requirements.     

Thanks for the advice , I will of course look at everything very closely , before we make the plunge .

Hi, first time I've seen anything about increases in minimum liquidity post Brexit. Surely the Spanish will take note of pensioners and their income levels ?. No-one has any ideas as to what Brexit will garner.

Sadly Chevy, no, Spain is making no Special Arrangements.

Spain has announced that post 31/12, British Nationals are third-country national and will have to meet the same financial requirements as any other third-country national migrating to Spain.

Many Brits believed there would be a “special relationship” to cater for the British pensioners wishing to retire here post Brexit, a “special arrangement”

There isn’t.

The UK announcing cessation of pension reciprocity as of 1/1/21 was the final nail in the coffin for the retirement dreams of many.  Brexit has well and truly screwed them.

Hi Dario, thanks for the heads up. Do you have any ideas as to what the base minimum figure might be pension wise after Brexit as opposed to before that leads to the assumption that pensioners like my partner self and probably thousands of others are going to be screwed ?, worrying !.

If you are here already and already have S1 form accepted, then you are covered by withdrawal agreement and nothing changes;  for those that settle post transition, then the following fine bit of research by Dave777 applies :-

A. The main income earner needs to prove they have a minimun pension of approximately €2100 per month and if married the spouse has around €600 pm income = €2700 pm (its actually slightly less).  If not married they both need to prove income of €2100 pm.

B. If they cannot officially prove via Tax statements the above, they then need to prove they have savings for one year of €33000 per married couple. At the end of year 1 they have to prove savings for Years 2 and 3 (€66000 approx) and the same again for years 4 and 5 before residence can be obtained.

C. Arriving after 31 December the reciprocal healthcare arrangements no longer apply. Private health policies have to be purchased and shown to the relevant authorities before you are granted permission to rent long term or buy. These are around €5400 pp pa with no health conditions. Much more with underlying health conditions. 

The cost of private health cover is probably quite variable depending on the insurer's perceived risk of the individual(s) being insured, but in my experience €5400 pp pa would be a vast overestimate.  Our annual cost is less than 20% of that.   

Further info on the process, originally posted by Anne Hernández, Brexpats in Spain:

THE TIE (RESIDENT CARD) FOR NON-EU CITIZENS (BRITISH CITIZENS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE WITHDRAWAL AGREEMENT)

I cannot stress this enough but if you already have a green residency (A4 paper or credit-card size) you do NOT have to do anything to exchange it for the TIE. Until further notice and, for as long as you remain a resident here, that green residency will remain valid. You can apply to exchange it on a voluntary basis at any time but it is NOT an obligation to do so. In fact, it is preferred you wait until after the transition period to avoid clogging up the system because many newly arriving Brits are going to be rushing to get theirs!

You are legally obliged to keep it updated though - change of address etc and this can be done at your nearest National Police station or, in its absence, from the Foreign Office of your province (both by prior appointment). To prove your change of address it is advised to take a current padrón (issued within the last 3 months) from your local town hall that proves you are an inhabitant of the municipio. If you change from renting to buying a property then for a few euros you can also get a new Nota Simple (summary of Deeds) from the Property Registry that proves you to be the owner.

If you have had your green residency for 5 years and want to change from temporary to permanent, as before, by prior appointment, you can also do this at the nearest National Police station.

For any changes to your existing green residency, apart from the TIE application form, the only extra thing you will need to take that you didn’t need to present before is a colour passport photo (Spanish-sized not UK-sized) because you will be issued with a TIE and might also be needing fingerprints but that is yet to be clarified.

The UK had until 30 June to request an extension to the transition period, it did not so after 31 December, that period will end and things will change for new arrivals to Spain after that date because we shall become third-country nationals. As EU citizens it was our right to reside in an EU country, as third-country nationals we have follow a different system of the country to allow us to reside. Spain has opted for the declaratory system so the grace period of 6 months thereafter (until end June 2021) does not apply.

What does this mean?

Any British nationals who do not already have a green residency should apply for their TIE before 31 December if they wish to take advantage of the Withdrawal Agreement that protects our rights as EU citizens until then. For those who apply after 31 December 2020 but have been living in Spain prior to this date will have to prove the fact of their residency in Spain and we do not have confirmation of what evidence they would accept to demonstrate this.

This involves a new system. Until 31 December the same documentation is required plus a photo and possibly fingerprints, the TIE application form must be completed and presented with the documentation. The initial application must be made at the province’s Foreign Office by prior appointment or online using your digital signature, if you have one. Within 3 months you will receive their decision and, if positive, an appointment must be made within one month at your nearest National Police station to then collect your TIE. If a negative decision is given, you are entitled to lodge your appeal.

This same new 2-step system will apply for all Brits arriving after 31 December who wish to apply for residency but they will have to meet the more strict requirements as third-country nationals. 

Hiya

For lawyers I can indicate 2 names highly recommended by everyone in the Mojacar area. 

Maria Morato 

Ângela Morales 

We have just used Angela Morales 3 days ago and we really really liked! She’s a lovely and helpful and honest lawyer right on Mojacar playa.(office in front of the beach)

Good luck on everything else.!