Brexit news Spain | BMI Brokers

After Brexit, a lot of people who were already living in Spain or planning to live here started to worry about their residency conditions. Is it still possible to get Spanish residency after Brexit? How is the process?

In this post that we have written from BMI Spain, we will tell you the step by step of the process so you can obtain your Spanish residency after Brexit without a problem.

Also, in BMI Spain we work to offer you the best services so you can travel or live safely thanks to our insurance programs like the home insurance in Spain and the health insurance in Spain that we have for you. If you want to know more about these services, you can see all the details on our website.

We also highly recommend you to visit our blog where you can read more posts with interesting information that hopefully you will find helpful. Don´t miss all the news we post for you here!

Are you ready to discover how to get Spanish residency after Brexit and all the possibilities that the UK citizens have now to do it? Keep reading to find all the answers!

Background: Brexit and the Withdrawal Agreement

Brexit is the name of the process related to the United Kingdom exiting the European Union. This fact involves the implementation of new laws, and specially, negotiations and treatments between the European Union countries and the United Kingdom.

The exit agreement has been ratified by both the UK and the EU and it changes some conditions for the British people who want to live in Spain: from January 2021 onwards, they are regarded as non-EU citizens also for any kind of immigration procedure in Spain.

However, there is still the possibility of obtaining the residency card easily as a EU citizen if you meet certain requirements to do it.

Once we have explained what Brexit is, it is important to say that there are two different situations for British citizens living in Spain: people who were legally resident in Spain before January 1st of 2021 and those who were not yet or didn’t start the process.

People who were legally resident before January 1st 2021

If you were legally resident in the country before that date, you will be able to stay in Spain and you must ensure you are correctly registered as a resident.

If you registered as a resident before July 6 of 2020, you will have a green A4 certificate or credit card-sized piece of paper that is still a valid document and proves your rights under the Withdrawal Agreement instead of the TIE.

You can exchange your paper EU residence document for the new TIE but you are not required to.

However, the Spanish government recommends obtaining the TIE (Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero), which is a biometric card that is more durable and simplifies administrative processes and border crossings. The TIE also exempts you from European Travel Information and Authorisation Systems (ETIAS) and visa requirements.

People who were not legally resident before January 1st 2021

In case that you were already in Spain during 2020 and you can prove it, you can obtain your residence in Spain after Brexit easily by following the usual EU route thanks to the Withdrawal Agreement.

In that case you only need to prepare the documentation and submit it online or in person.

The documents that you can submit in person or online to get your Spanish residency after Brexit as if you were still a European Union citizen are:

Application form
Valid passport and copy of it.
A document that proves your entry into Spain in the last 3 months like, for example, a copy of your flight ticket.
Certificate of registration (empadronamiento).
A contract or a current bank account with sufficient balance to demonstrate sufficient economic means.

In case you start the process from 0 in 2021, you will have to do the non-EU usual path, which means applying for a regular permit in the same way an American or Canadian citizen, for example, would do.

The process in that case is harder and it takes longer, so there are certain residence permits that make everything much faster and you may find interesting to consider:

Non-lucrative visa: This kind of visa only requires the possession of sufficient economic means and a private health insurance.
The investor’s visa: This visa is perfect for you if you want to make an investment in real estate to obtain residency.
The student visa: This visa allows you to modify your situation afterwards to a work permit so it is an easy and common way to enter the country, especially for young people.

Steps to get Spanish residency in Spain after Brexit

If you want to get the TIE card in Spain after Brexit you need to follow the next steps:

Step 1: Submit your application for Spanish Residency to the immigration office in the country where you live.
Step 2: When your application is approved, you can book and attend an appointment at a police station in your province or territory. You will need to show all the required documents and paperwork to ask for your TIE card.
Step 3: Once your TIE card is ready, you can collect it.

Live in Spain safely with BMI Spain

We hope you have answered all of your questions while reading this post about getting Spanish residency after Brexit.

Remember that if you want to protect yourself and the people you love, you can count on us and benefit from our insurance plans: car insurance, life insurance, business insurance… and much more!

Should I organise my Spanish residency before the 29 march 2019?

The 29th March 2019 is fast approaching and yet things are still not clear regarding Brexit and the status of UK residents in Spain. The UK Government and the EU have a draft deal in place called the Withdrawal Agreement. If the UK leaves the EU with an agreed deal then this agreement will come into effect. Should the UK leave the EU without an agreement then the Withdrawal agreement is null and void.

What is the Withdrawal Agreement?

The Withdrawal Agreement is designed to protect the rights of UK nationals living in Europe and those rights of EU nationals living in the UK after the UK leaves the EU. An implementation phase would run from the 29 March 2019 until 31 December 2020. During that period free movement of people and goods would continue.

UK nationals would continue to enjoy broadly the same access to healthcare, pensions and other benefits as they do now.

What if the UK and the EU cannot agree?

In the case where the UK leaves the EU without an agreement then of course the withdrawal agreement does not come into affect. What happens to UK nationals in the EU and Spain in particular in our case? The short answer is no one really knows. One hopes that despite the usual rhetoric and posturing to a certain type of voter by national governments,

common sense will prevail. However, no one can say exactly how this will pan out.

Should I organise my Spanish residency now?

If you have lived in Spain for more than three months then you should already have applied for residency in Spain. If not now might be a good time to do it, if your intention is to stay.

Should the withdrawal agreement not come into affect then the 29 March 2019 may become a significant date. This is speculation but if you have your house in order prior to the UK leaving is it not reasonable to assume that you might be in a stronger position to stay in Spain than if you haven’t?

If you would like to discuss Spanish Residency and the health insurance that could be obligatory as part of the application then please get in touch.

Can I get Spanish residency after Brexit? How to do it step by step