Permanent Residency

You can’t be resident in two countries.  Theoretically if you register as resident in UK, you would lose your Spanish residency.

Given you have permanent residency, you can now be outside Spain for up to 5 years continuously without forfeiting residency - do you need to register as a UK resident?

Thank you for your reply.

I am in the process of buying a property in the UK . To fund it l had to sell a portfolio of investments based in Spain and a withholding tax of over €7k was deducted. Normally my Spanish tax liability is considerably less.

l had previously been advised that, should l return to the UK, l should register with HMRC in the 3 month gap  between the Tax years.

I haven't  yet decided whether to reside in the UK  permanently. Would l be better off as a Spanish resident with a home in the UK or a British resident with a home in Spain?

I have a 3 year window to sell my apt in Spain to reclaim the additional rate of stamp duty the British govt levies on the purchase of the UK property.

Perhaps in the light of the 5 year time scale you mentioned l would be better not registering with HMRC and continue to pay Spanish taxes.

As a UK resident with a home in Spain, you are restricted to visiting 90 days in every 180.

As a Spanish resident with a home in the UK, you can come and go as you please and be absent from Spain for up to 5 years continuously.

I guess you really need to have a hard think about where is the best place personally for you to reside, tax issues aside.  I think maybe try and project honestly into the future and see which country will be better placed to suit your future lifestyle needs.

No one can make that decision for you, but just remember, once you give up Spanish residency, you can’t just come back at some point and pick up where you left off, you’d need now to apply for a migration visa and that also has its own restrictions.

Thank you very much for your advice.It has been very helpful.

Hi Dario,

This was very helpful thank you. but do you know what happens if you are a Spanish Resident and you go back to the UK for say 3 yrs can you get medical treatment in the UK on the NHS??  Or do you have to give up your Spanish Residency to get this. Having looked on the government website I am even more confused than ever!!!!!! Thank you

I have no idea Jenni - some have said you must be UK Resident to obtain health care, others say you just need to be lawfully living there.  I would suggest that if you are a UK passport holder and have a UK national insurance number, and are there for the period specified, but are Spanish resident you’d be able to get NHS care - whether or not you’d be *entitled* to it is a separate argument….

I’d be very interested to hear from someone who has been in a similar position and can give first hand info

Thanks Dario, its a conundrum , perhaps someone else has some knowledge of this and enlighten us. Have a good Sunday

Hi Jenni, I have friends who just go to their previous doctor in the U.K. whenever they need to, they have been resident in Spain for years, no one seems to check. Nothing to lose by trying, they can only say, very politely, don’t you live abroad lol.  

Morning,  How are you, we have YUK weather here at the moment, rain rain and even more rain, and I think you have over 20 degrees and sunny.

Anyway, when we have been back to the Uk for an extended holiday I have gone to my old GP for our meds, no problem they just registered us as a temporary patient.  But I wonder if I would get say a hip replacement should I ever need it or any other long term care, or would they just say, you are a Spanish resident you must go back there for treatment. Just like the Spanish do if you go to the hospital with a Ehic card, they only give you emergency treatment and then tell you to get on a plane back to your own country, (and that not hearsay thats from experience) Its a bit of a grey area, because the UK pay Spain for our health care, so if we receive long tern health care whilst we are in the UK then the UK are effectively  paying twice for the treatment. I hope I have explain that clearly enough.