Moving to Spain
 

A SIL is thinking of moving to Spain. She has been there many times and is thinking of living between Barcelona and Valencia on the coast. At first she will rent

She is retired, speaks some Spanish, knows many Spanish customs, and is well aware of the Schengen limitations. She understands in that area they might speak more Catalan than Castilian.

She does not want to move to Galicia because it can be too cold and rainy.
She does not want to move Andalucia or Badajoz because of the heat.

She does not want to move north of Barcelona as Girona is too hilly, Sitges too touristy, and Figueres too modern, She sounds like the three bears.

Has a non-EU person moved to Spain recently and recall the problems with bureaucratic restrictions or problems. She is aware she will have to pay for healthcare and present proof of pension and total money.

Thank you in advance for any advice.

Haven't moved to Spain recently, but apparently she would have up to 30 days to apply for a "Tarjeta de Residencia", a residence card, if she has all of the required paperwork ready. This would allow her to stay in Spain for up to 5 years. Although it might be quicker and easier to apply for political refugee status in the current climate.

Of course if she has a half-mil or so to invest she might qualifly for a EU passport in Portugal and not have to worry about a long term visa.

<i> Moving to Spain
Posted by: IMDonehere on Jan 30, 17 at 4:43pm</i>

While not directly related to Spain, there are some things in these essays which may help your SIL. http://www.enjoy-europe.com/moving-to-europe.htm and http://www.enjoy-europe.com/hte/chap...eInIreland.htm.

Thank you.

Her father was born in Spain, so she will investigate whether that status will afford her any special privileges.

I would think she is eligible for Spanish citizenship, given the fact that her father was born in Spain.

If it weren't for my family all living in Spokane or Seattle, I really would be out of here. I just hate the idea of being faced with Trump constantly for the next four years.

But then what to I know! I just basing this on the fact that I am eligible for Irish citizenship because my grandparents were born there.

Both my grandparents on one side were born in Czech Republic - anyone know if that grants me possible Czech and EU citizenship?

The Irish Citizenship rules under the Foreign Citizenship Act of 1959 are pretty much impossible to crack anymore. I got it in 1987 because I had this strange idea that I might want to move to Europe one day. Only a very few EU countries still offer it, and it's complicated. Contact your embassy.
Peg, if you didn't apply before 1999 I doubt you can still get it. They needed Americans to come back to Ireland then. They don't now. But worth calling them.

Your SIL must investigate taxes, taxes, taxe before making any move.

IMDonehere, I am following this with interest. Out of curiosity, in her several travels in Spain did your SIL ever tried renting in one location for 2-3 months at a time? (as to "pretend" you are a local and get a better feel for expat living in specific areas of potential interest)

If she is not yet sure of an exact location, this may be a way to shop around some promising surroundings. She can do this legally twice a year, keeping in mind the Schengen restrictions. Having to fly across the Atlantic each time is a bummer though.

My local Spanish embassy provides a checklist of requirements for long stay non lucrative Visa application, and related consular fees (over $800 per person in our case). This is in addition to other related fees for things like medical check, police background check, etc. I am presuming she is already fully aware of all this.

The other consideration would be of course taxation in Spain, if you spend more than 183 days in the country. You mention that she is retired, which perhaps means she owns real estate in her home country, investments and other nest egg vehicles. Be wary of wealth taxes in Spain, in particular, as they would normally apply to her worldwide assets.

On a more day-to-day basis, does a reciprocal drivers licence exchange agreement exist between Spain and her home? If not (likely the case), her current licence becomes invalid after 6 months in Spain and if she wants to drive she would need to re-take all exams over there (written and driving test) - btw it is not as trivial as it may sound and also absolutely needs to be done through a driving school ($$$).

I realize that I am not answering your query directly, but just thought I would chime in on related aspects on which she may or may not have awareness. I am very interested in what follows from here!

In any case, I think it is a great plan and really hope it all works out for her!

(PS You can probably tell I have been looking into this as well) :)

Thanks for all the suggestions and notes on what to be aware of.

In her life, I would say she spent an accumulative time of 9 months in Spain. The greatest amount in Galicia, where we still have family.

If she can get dual citizenship, that is one thing, but she does not want to renounce her US citizenship.

If she does not get some sort of permanent visa, she will not do it nor try to get around Schengen.

It has nothing to do with Trump as the situation with Rajoy and Spanish corruption presents its own problems.

Driving is not an issue.

One of my sisters and several nieces and nephews have got Irish passports (or citizenship) since 1999, and one sister got a passport before 1999. I started the process in the late 1980s (for myself and my daughters) but didn't complete it. I've been helping my daughter with it this past year. I haven't seen any difference in the process. Am I missing something?

My siblings and I are Irish citizens by birth, because my father was born in Ireland; we need only apply for a passport, submitting proof that we're citizens. The next generation has to apply for citizenship. In practice, the process isn't much different, just one more generation of birth and marriage certificates.

I already have two passports, so I have no incentive, other than sentimental, to get an Irish passport now.

By the way, if you're living in Europe, you're still faced with Trump. What he does affects the whole world, and our evening news is full of him.

I can't help with technicalities about valid papers, citizenship, etc, but if your sister is considering Catalonian Spain, there are whole swaths of the coastal area that are enclaves of UK expats or half-year visitors from the UK. A lot of these colonies are actually quite unattractive rows of condominium towers, and in some cases the local ratio of UK citizens to Spanish citizens means that some of the local flavor of Spain -- literally the local flavors -- is lost to cater to the demands of UK "snowbirds", with pubs and imported foods, that sort of thing.

On the one hand it could be a great blessing to have loads of English speakers at hand to help. Also, it might be the case that, following Brexit, a lot of property is available at reduced prices. Probably a little bit of digging around social media could come up message boards for UK folk living in Catalonia, talking about the best places.

I have never been able to tell how politically realistic it is for Catalonia to seperate from the rest of Spain, but if your sister doesn't know, she might want to learn about any possible downsides in that regard.

PalenQ, you don't qualify for Czech citizenship unless one of your parents had Czech(oslovak) citizenship.
It is easy enough to find out online who qualifies for any citizenship.

I just set in motion getting my Dutch passport today. Sometime between now and the end of April I'll be that rarest of things, a Dutch dual national.

We have discussed the Catalan separatist movement. In fact, we just spent some time with some Catalan friends and they do not think it will happen.

Additionally, I will venture a guess that Spain and Portugal will reach some sort of an accord with UK, so they will not disrupt the lives of Brit pensioners.

I think Spain and Portugal can only reach an accord if all of the EU reaches an accord with the UK. I think most of the EU would be happy to do so - provided the UK allows EU citizens to remain in the UK with the minimum of hassle. Given the amount of work involved in getting permanent residence status in The UK and the backlog of applications already let's hope they come up with a good solution. The UK has already threatened to deport EU citizens whose application were rejected on minor technicalities, despite a) those individuals being married to UK citizens and b) still living legally in the UK, which is still part of the EU.

I can understand you SIL not wanting to give up her US passport. Losing my UK passport put me off becoming Dutch for a long time, since the Netherlands does not normally allow dual citizenship. However since DH could become Dutch and retain is UK passport, due to his age, I now qualify for the same having been married to a Dutch citizen for more than 3 years.
I think although officially she is supposed to give up US citizenship if she becomes Spanish they don't bother too much about it in Spain due to the expense and difficulties involved in giving up US citizenship.
Is her father Spanish by blood or was he just born there - if the latter she may not qualify anyway. Not every country gives citizenship to those born in the country.

Maybe she should take herself off to Catalonia, in winter preferably and spend some time there, to get a feel of it off season and see if there is anywhere that really appeals.

I can second Frencharmoire's warnings about the coastline. Many years ago we bought a place on the coast not far south of Catalonia (North of Alicante) in a small fishing village, only to see it be completely swallowed up by solid walls of ugly German and British monster time-share flats. Our placid view disappeared, and we were left feeling we were living at the bottom of a well behind the Maginot Line.

Her intention is to rent for many reasons, not the least of which is to confirm she made the right choice to move to Spain and/or Catalunya. Thus any choice in a singular place to stay is temporary.

She had been to Barcelona on numerous occasions and to a number of the towns north but not to the south. I think she would prefer Girona if were not so hilly.

I got hung up on my father's birth certificate. Apparently the records for the year he was born were destroyed in a fire. There's a process you can go through to get a late registration of birth.

I did some of that. I got some school records and also his draft registration for WWI. Then I guess I lost my steam, I guess.

The other thing that holds me back is that I'd have to clean my closets and sell my house. That's pretty final.

Anyone familiar with any of the following towns?

Manresa, Terrassa. Sant Cugat, Sarria-Sant Gervant

Thanks