Questions after Brexit - Page 4

Our understanding is that we could come for 12 weeks around May, June and July. Go home for August and then come for 7 weeks in September  and October

That means less than 180 days in total and not more than 90 days in any single spell

What happens after the transition period we will wait to see what is eventually agreed but we do not want to become residents if we can avoid it

Yes CFC1905 you can do that this year but not next year. In fact you could stay 2x 12 weeks with little time away in between and still be ok this year but after 31st December you can still have your 2x12wks in Spain but there has to be a minimum of 90 days in Uk between those stays to enable a fresh 180days to start again. We did this last year as we expected Shengen rules might have applied after the March but again we are doing same this year as we feel we might as well get used to it as a non resident in the future. We,re doing March to June and Sept to Dec. Admittedly we will miss out on the warmest months(I do love July but too hot in August) but its the price to pay for non residency I,m afraid. Its a very expensive way to live, maintaining 2 homes in differrent countries but its our preferrence.

Regards

Pauline.

Mags44 your information is 100 % correct! 

Is it reasonable to assume that these potential Shengen rules may change depending on what is agreed during the coming year or is everything set in stone

And the UK's attitude to European immigrants to the UK doesn't give me much confidence on the prospects of UK immigrants to Spain, unless the UK changes its tune during negotiations. Free movement, or not, will be a game-changer. 

I,m not hopeful that rules could be changed after December 2020 regarding Shengen rules towards UK immigrants as it would set a precedent towards other 3rd world countries demanding a change to the rules they have always had to abide by. Whether Spain would be able to alter their own rules depends on them abiding to Shengen rules overall. Whilst they have committed us to not requiring a visa as other countries are forced to do may be our only bit of discretion. We,ll have to wait and see, but regardless, the freedom of movement will end on 1st January 2021 to comply with the rest of the world. However if Spain decided to leave the Shengen Zone that could allow them to change the rules, but dont know if that would be possible.

Regards

Pauline.

The rule is any 90 days in any 180 days  on a rolling basis. If you come for May June and July, then you have to be out of the area for 90 days before returning again, so August Septemebr and October out and you can come again in November. Check out the Schengen calculator to see how it works. https://schengen-calculator.com/

Better, join the Citizens Advice Bureau Spain's Facebook group or check out their website. Their information comes directly from the Spanish and British government! https://www.citizensadvice.org.es/

Why would the Schengen/EU group of countries even consider changing their rules to allow the one country, who voluntarily chose to leave the EU, have any different options to all the other non-EU countries, who manage to get along perfectly well living within the rules?? Freedom of Movement was the one thing that Brexit was all about in the end and Bozo and the Patel woman have spent the past few weeks gloating on how well it's going to work. Well freedom of movement works both ways - it's one of the prizes that the Brexiteers "won", and not being able to swan off to spend the winter in Spain, will be one of the casualties of war.

The shengen rules only kick in next year . As for freedom of movement and other rule changes only time will tell but I am quite sure that the Spanish government appreciates how much the uk puts into their coffers so will also have to give that due consideration