Residencia - some advice, please!

[gattaca66]

I know the subject has had lot of airing in recent posts, and I'm not seeking to go over old ground. However, I'd greatly appreciate some advice from anyone who has recently obtained residencia under the latest, current rules, or who knows how it actually works right now!

We have bought a property on the island, and we are living here for the foreseeable future. We have NIEs which shortly expire, and we have our empadronamiento. We are both under retirement age, but each have private pension income. I've read up on residencia requirements, we have the required level of income and can satisfy the health insurance caveats. The biggest question I have, though, is how do we prove our income? I've had advice that we should have our pensions paid into our spanish bank accounts. However, that would cost us over â,¬100 a month because the bank rate of exchange is so much worse than via Transferwise....serious money under the circumstances!

The easiest course of action is to do nothing, of course, and it's tempting, but we really do want to 'do things properly', we don't want to spend our retirement in the sun waiting to get caught out. As I say, any experience-based advice would be very much appreciated, thanks

[Deso]

I would have thought that UK bank statements would suffice as proof of income, they do for a mortgage application.

If you become 'resident' you will also become a Spanish tax resident which opens up a whole new can of worms. Their personal allowances are not as much as they are in the UK and, I believe, all your assets would come into the Spanish capital gains and inheritance tax rules should anything happen to either/both of you.

You need to take advice from a professional tax advisor on this.

[gattaca66]

Thanks for your comments, deso. Yes, common sense  would suggest that uk bank statements would suffice, but it's also been suggested to us that  only a  confirmation from a spanish bank is acceptable, hence  my wondering what anyone had recently experienced.

Been reading up on tax and inheritance, and we will certainly be taking professional advice on that, but want to get the residencia sorted out first.

[Deso]

Interesting piece here,   http://www.spanishpropertyinsight.com/tax-and-pensions/spanish-tax-residence/

Depending on your circumstances, just being there for over 183 days in a year can make you a Spanish tax resident, even if you don't have residencia.   

[SheilaW]

If you're here permanently you WILL be tax resident, like it or not, residencia or not!

You don't have to prove you have regular income, and no, money in the UK wouldn't be at all interesting to them - they need to know it's here where you'll need to spend it if you want to get buried/cremated at a moment's notice (or whatever the reason is). But you just have to show them a letter from a Spanish bank stating that you have at least a certain amount each in the bank - it was 5,000 euros each when we did it, though we didn't show the letter in the end for reasons which don't apply to you. So if you can manage to have that much over here then they should give you your green card.

[jamjar]

Interesting information about needing to have 5,000 euros each in a spanish bank, so can anyone advise what is the cheapest way to transfer that amount of cash or more from the UK to a spanish bank?

[gattaca66]

Many thanks for that bit of info, Sheila, if that's enough to meet he requirements that makes life a lot easier! We're up to date on the tax residency business, and although the personal allowances are not quite as generous as the UK, the double taxation agreement will mean, we hope, that we just pay a modest (ish) extra sum to the Spanish tax people, having paid UK tax at source.

Re transferring money, Gizmo17, we've used a few companies but the best by far is Transferwise, in our experience. Good rates, an easy to follow process, and personal custome service, a live person on the end of the phone, if you need help!

[decho]

Many thanks for that bit of info, Sheila, if that's enough to meet he requirements that makes life a lot easier! We're up to date on the tax residency business, and although the personal allowances are not quite as generous as the UK, the double taxation agreement will mean, we hope, that we just pay a modest (ish) extra sum to the Spanish tax people, having paid UK tax at source.

Re transferring money, Gizmo17, we've used a few companies but the best by far is Transferwise, in our experience. Good rates, an easy to follow process, and personal custome service, a live person on the end of the phone, if you need help!

+1 for Transferwise - always use them, very good rates and easy to use.

[lionfish]

Another +1 for Transferwise for one off transfers, although I use Moneycorp for a regular monthly transfer to satisfy the Sabadell requirements - the rate is not as good as with Transferwise, but they do take the money from our UK account by D/D, convert it to Euros and transfer the Euros to Sabadell with no extra fees and charges involved (their staff do also speak with an English accent!!).

[gattaca66]

Another +1 for Transferwise for one off transfers, although I use Moneycorp for a regular monthly transfer to satisfy the Sabadell requirements - the rate is not as good as with Transferwise, but they do take the money from our UK account by D/D, convert it to Euros and transfer the Euros to Sabadell with no extra fees and charges involved (their staff do also speak with an English accent!!).

Could you clarify re the Sabadell requirements, please? We also bank with Sabadell, but so far have just transferred money ad hoc from our UK accounts via Transferwise. Just wondering what these requirements are, and are they something we need to look at- thanks!

[lionfish]

Sorry, the "requirements" only apply to the type of account we have chosen, not to all Sabadell accounts! By paying in a minimum of 700â,¬ each month we get %age refunds on certain purchases e.g. direct debits for utilities, fuel purchased from Repsol and maybe one or two other things as well - not too sure, but since, averaged over the year, we easily spend 700â,¬ p.m. it works out well for us.

[SheilaW]

By paying in a minimum of 700â,¬ each month we get %age refunds on certain purchases e.g. direct debits for utilities, fuel purchased from Repsol and maybe one or two other things as well - not too sure, but since, averaged over the year, we easily spend 700â,¬ p.m. it works out well for us.

I've just discovered that with that account we also get free withdrawals from certain cash machines - the ones with something like Servisred (??) displayed - if we withdraw a minimum of â,¬60. I shall be making full use of that one in future as it doubles the number of free withdrawal points in Corralejo (from 1 to 2!) and I do so hate paying to get my hands on my own dosh!

But it's an account that's only open to those with the magic "open sesame" green card.

[lionfish]

Sheila,
Yes, limited free access to your own money is a pain. We're in Caleta and as far as I know we can only get free cash withdrawals in Atlantico, not in Caleta "town".
Your other comment regarding the green card is not true - we are not residents, but do have the account!

[SheilaW]

Your other comment regarding the green card is not true - we are not residents, but do have the account!

That's interesting! We were told that the two things that happened to our account were both on account of getting it: 1) free banking (no regular fees taken); 2) access to this type of account. Well, that's Fuerteventura all over - never the same story from 2 people; never the same story twice from the same person.

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

I've just discovered that with that account we also get free withdrawals from certain cash machines - the ones with something like Servisred (??) displayed - if we withdraw a minimum of â,¬60. I shall be making full use of that one in future as it doubles the number of free withdrawal points in Corralejo (from 1 to 2!) and I do so hate paying to get my hands on my own dosh!

My count of Servired cash machine locations in Corralejo is 5 now I think - I know where they are but not the names of the banks. (Don't rely on getting money from a machine the day before a holiday/fiesta - we got caught out last year with all the machines empty!)

Found a Cashpoint in the basement carpark in Rotundas the other day - it looked like one of the 'general' ones you find in UK motorway service stations - no charge for my withdrawal, very useful.