Questions after Brexit - Page 2

Not quite true ff: the 183 days is within a calendar year, so you could in theory arrive 1st July and leave following May. This ignores the other factors, like having a permanent home and a business here, when the tax man could (quite rightly IMHO) consider that your main fiscal activity is in Spain therefore you should be taxed here.

Note that as N332 has published it will not be possible to transfer to a Spanish driving licence after 1st November if UK leaves EU with no deal, and as a Spanish resident you may well have to take a full Spanish driving test to obtain the (compulsory for residents) Spanish licence.

I have read so much info regarding the time being spent in Spain staying as a non resident and both Frequent Flyer and PeterC have I feel both given incorrect information. After a 90day stay you are required to sign up to residencia and the 183days(not 181) is the timeframe for becoming a tax resident. The tax year is Jan to Dec and even if intermittent visits result in 183+days in the calender year then you are considerred to be a tax resident with all worldly assets to be declared to be taxed in Spain. Peter has stated a visit from July to May, in theory July to Dec equals 184days so that year results in fiscal residency(4mnths have 31days +2x30days). However after initial 90 days you are required to become a resident anyway, staying any longer without residency you become an illegal immigrant in Spain(as so many have done in the past) but after Brexit it will not be possible to stay longer than 90 days in a 180day period and will have to remain out of the Shengen area until 180days have passed after first entry into Shengen(of which Spain is)so impossible to do as Peter suggests as your entry and exits will be monitored.

I hope this clarifies the situation as it has affected my visits whilst still remaining a non resident. Added to this if people are considerring residency as an option to allow visits over 90days whilst staying as a tax resident in Uk, this is not a good idea as residency in Spain requires you to leave in first few years no longer than 6months hence over 183 days must be spent in Spain resulting in Spanish tax resident also or residency will be removed.

Regards

Pauline.

There is “residency” and “tax resident” - two different things....I did not give a date for the July arrival as I was just illustrating what a strange rule it is....depending on how long a journey took (as the time officially starts when one leaves the UK rather than when you land in Spain...) you could start the clock ticking on the 2nd July.

You do not sign up to residency for visits over 90 days, but are signing on the Register of Foreigners. This 90 day period only applies to European citizens, different rules apply for others.

Non-EU citizens visiting Spain, can actually spend 90 days in any 180 days on a rolling basis, which means that you can stay in any country in the Schengen area for 90 but then you must leave and cannot return for another 90 days. All non-EU citizens will have their passports scanned on entry and exit to any Schengen country and over-stayers can be stopped from entering when they next try and could face a ban from entering again for 2 years. All the correct and up-to-date information is available on the Citizen's Advice Bureau Spain's website and Facebook group - the latest news regarding Residencia applications and the exchanging of UK driving licences for example. It's worth being prepared for whatever the outcome is and remember that Spain is part of the EU and must follow EU rules, so unless the UK makes a separate reciprocal agreement with Spain, Brits will be treated the same as all other non-EU citizens if Brexit goes ahead. I don't know if we are allowed to put links here but I'm sure that someone will let me know if it's not! This is the information for those of us who currently have residencia (temporary or permanent) in Spain. https://www.citizensadvice.org.es/no-deal-instructions-for-residents-contingency-plan-follow-up/?fbclid=IwAR1uD1kBcbIJ3h5i4FiuLb9Xvcgk3C5qUt8xtbjJ3LgpckWUyl4bijC81ZM

Hi Pauline & Mags44,

Does it take away one's British nationality once becoming a Spanish resident?  Or can you have dual nationalities? Or being a Spanish resident, doesn't make you a Spanish national? Is that correct?

Thans

Spain doesn,t allow dual nationalities, and becoming resident still keeps your British nationality. You may in the future after becoming permanent (5 years) give up your British nationality.

Pauline.

No, you stay as a British citizen but with residency rights in Spain - similar to what the EU citizens are doing now (finally) in the UK, when applying for settled status. As an EU citizen, you have the right to move and reside in any of the EU countries and after 90 days, you should register as a resident in that country, if you want to stay. After 183 days, you are considered as a tax resident and must submit an annual tax return (declaración de la renta) even if you are just a pensioner with no other income. Once you have been issued with your residencia document, (which at the moment is a green card without a photo but if the UK leaves the EU and we all become non-EU citizens, then we'll go back to having a proper photo ID), the initial 5 years of the residencia is considered as temporary and after 5 years, this becomes permanent. Currently, those with the green card, can exchange this initial card for one that states that the holder is a permanent resident. This document will play an important part if Brexit takes place and those not in possession of either version, will need to apply for one of the non-EU citizen photo ID cards, which will be a lot harder and more expensive if Brexit happens. After 10 years of being a resident, it's possible to apply for Spanish citizenship but this would mean losing your British citizenship, so not to be taken lightly. Dual nationality is not permitted in Spain for EU citizens, so you choose if you really want to become Spanish. Residents have most of the same rights as Spanish citizens, other that we cannot vote in General Elections, so it's really not necessary to take this step. But if you do, there is a language test as well as a test for knowledge about the Spanish Constitution that applicants must pass to qualify. At the moment, there are so many applications that there is a 3 to 4 year wait to have Spanish citizenship granted. The most common way to be granted permission to live and work in Spain, is to get residencia and follow the rules. UK driving licences must be exchanged for a Spanish licence within 2 years of becoming a resident and failure to do so, could result in a fine, if stopped whilst driving. Anyone thinking about applying for residencia but are not planning on actually moving to Spain, could find themselves becoming a tax payer in Spain and losing their NHS health care in the UK and will not qualify for Spanish health-care unless either an S1 holder (this may no longer be available if Brexit goes ahead) or paying into the Spanish social security system. EHIC cards are likely to be discontinued after Brexit, so those people who having been using these as their health-care option (illegally) will need to find themselves another form of health-care.

Thanks for correcting me re. 10years before relinquishing ones British citizenship, a choice which needs deep considerration. 

Pauline.

I wasn't actually correcting you Pauline. I was just replying to Fem 90's query and didn't press the "post" button immediately! :-) You seem pretty clued up yourself on the Brexit situation and obviously get quite a bit of your information from the CAB, as I do!

Clearly no one, including the respective governments, have no clear idea

Totally agree that the Brits bring so much to the Spanish economy that they cannot afford to throw everyone out

I suspect some changes will be made and probably we may have to pay some token charges but I do not anticipate anything radical at all