Are you a UK national or a first-degree dependent on a UK national with residency in Spain? Are you interested in applying for residency in Spain after the Transition Period (31 December 2020)? This may interest you.
DISCLAIMER:
This article is only for orientation purposes and it does not represent any official sources of information. Please bear in mind that criteria may be different from an Immigration Office to another. For specialised advice on this matter, you may wish to seek individualised legal advice from an expert lawyer in the immigration field, or from the immigration department at your local town hall, at different organisations providing legal advice to third-country nationals, or at the Immigration Office (Oficina de Extranjería).
Please be aware that Asociación Babelia is gathering information through this anonymous survey on residency applications that have been rejected, to raise with the British and the Spanish authorities. Please help us by completing it.
Whether it is the first time you apply for residency in Spain or your previous application hasn’t been successful, the first thing you need to do is to make sure you select the type of application that fits your situation the best. The key question here is whether you meet the criteria to be covered by the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement or not. If you don’t, then you may wish to explore the possibility of applying for residency under the ‘Immigration General Regime‘, which applies to non-EU citizens, including UK nationals and their family members not covered by the Withdrawal Agreement.
Be covered by the Withdrawal Agreement means in practical terms that you fulfill one of the following conditions:
- you met the residency criteria before the Transition Period ended on 31st December 2020 and you continued living in Spain afterwards, or,
- you met the residency criteria after the Transition Period ended but you arrived in Spain before the 31st December 2020 and you met the criteria for residency within the first three months of your arrival to Spain, and that you continued living in Spain afterwards. For instance, in the case of healthcare coverage, if you arrived on the 15th of November 2020, you must have purchased the medical insurance before the 15th of February 2021..
- you are a recently arrived first-degree family member of a UK national who falls under the Withdrawal Agreement; such as a minor child, a spouse, or an officially dependent parent or dependent adult child.
Here is a simple test for you to get a general idea of whether you fall under the Withdrawal Agreement or not; if you answer ‘Yes‘ to the following questions, then it may be the case that you do. Please bear in mind that the interpretation of criteria may be different from an Immigration Office to another and that you may need to seek specialised legal advice on this matter.
As an independent applicant:
- Are you able to prove that you are registered at your town hall (Padrón) since before 31st December 2020?
- Are you able to prove that you have a comprehensive healthcare cover with ‘no-copayment’ since before 31st December 2020? Note: An EHIC or a temporary public coverage (temporary ‘SIP card’ in Alicante, Valencia and Castellon) are not considered sufficient. The S1 form is sufficient as long as it has a starting date before 31st December 2020.
- Are you able to prove that you have sufficient economic means or that you are/have been included as employed or self-emplyed in the Spanish Social Security System since before 31st December 2020?
- Are you able to provide additional official documentation to the Immigration Office proving that you have been living in Spain regularly and continuously since before 31st December 2020? For instance:
- Property deeds or renting contract since before 31/12/2020.
- Utility bills since before 31/12/2020.
- Enrollement on periodic and frequent regular activities since before 31/12/2020.
- Proof of periodic visits to the doctor since before 31/12/2020.
- Bank statements showing frequent and regular economic transactions at Spanish shops and businesses since before 31/12/2020.
- etc.
If you consider that this is your case, please take a look at our tutorial on how to submit an application for residency online, and make sure to submit to the Immigration Office all the official documents proving that you met the residency criteria before the end of the Transition Period and that you continued living in Spain afterward.
Please check the list of documents we advise you to submit to the Immigration Office.
As a dependent family member of another UK national who is already a resident:
- Are you a first-degree dependent relative of a UK national who is covered by the Withdrawal Agreement such as:
- Minor child?
- Spouse or registered civil partner with whome you got married/registered before the end of the Transition Period?
- Officially dependent adult child?
- Officially dependent parent?
- Are you able to provide an official birth certificate or updated marriage certificate to prove your family relationship with the UK national who falls under the Withdrawal Agreement?
Please bear in mind that the option of ‘dependent family-members normally works for minor children and spouses. Adult children and parents may need to prove economic dependency before their arrival to Spain, in addition to other proof that the Immigration Office may request.
Please check the list of documents we advise you to submit to the Immigration Office.
If none of the above is your case, then you may wish to explore the possibility of applying for residency under the ‘Immigration General Regime’, which applies to non-EU citizens, including UK nationals and their family members not covered by the Withdrawal Agreement. Please see our article on applying for residency under the General Regime.
GOOD LUCK!
