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BREXIT, RESIDENCY, PASSPORTS AND HEALTHCARE

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After the momentous decision of the Supreme Court yesterday the UK Parliament will sit again from 11.30am this morning, Wednesday. The laws passed before Boris decided to close down Parliament are now on the statute book, including the law which compels the UK Government to negotiate a Brexit deal.
However, in the fast moving world of political maneuvers many people, especially those resident in the EU, are still feeling nervous.
This invaluable site, Gov.UK Living in Spain published this, the latest, comprehensive information for UK residents in Spain. Admittedly, this was published before yesterday´s decision. Nexonr will keep you informed of any changes.

Brexit: what you should do:
Register as a resident in Spain
Register for healthcare as a resident in Spain
Check your passport is valid for travel
Exchange your UK driving licence for a Spanish one
Stay up to date on Brexit
Sign up for alerts to this guidance
Follow the British Embassy in Spain on Facebook and Twitter

Visas and residency
You must register as a Spanish resident if you want to stay in Spain for more than 3 months.
You will get a green A4 certificate or credit card-sized piece of paper from Extranjeria or the police.Residency after Brexit
If the UK leaves the EU with a deal, any UK national arriving in Spain before the end of the implementation period will be able to register as resident in Spain under the current rules, and will have their right to residence in Spain protected for as long as they remain living here.
If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, any UK national residing in Spain before the date the UK leaves will be considered legally resident for a period of 21 months, irrespective of whether they currently hold a residency document.
In some parts of Spain, UK nationals are currently unable to register as a resident as appointments are not available. If you don’t yet have a residence certificate, the residency advice on the Moncloa website is to make sure you have proof you were living here before Brexit (such as padrón registration or a rental contract), and to keep checking the online appointment system for new appointments.
After Brexit, in any scenario, you will need to change your registration document for a new card.
UK nationals arriving in Spain after Brexit will have to meet the requirements of the general immigration regime.
If you are planning to move to Spain, check the entry requirements.

Passports and travel
You can apply for or renew your British passport from Spain.

Minors travelling from Spain
From 1 September 2019, Spanish minors and foreign minors resident in Spain under the age of 18 years old may need written authorisation by a parent or legal guardian if a minor is travelling unaccompanied, with a third party or other circumstances. This is in addition to a valid travel document.

British consulates do not provide travel authorisation documents. If a certified authorisation is required, you will need to seek the services of a public notary or other competent authority in Spain. Parents and legal guardians of Spanish minors are also able to obtain a certified authorisation form at a national police station, or at the Guardia Civil.

Passports and travel after Brexit

After Brexit, the rules on travel will change. Check your passport is valid for travel before you book your trip. You’ll need to renew your passport before travelling if you do not have enough time left on your passport.
If there is a deal, nothing will change until the end of 2020. In this time you can continue to travel freely in the Schengen area with your UK passport. What happens after 2020 will form the next part of negotiations.

If there’s no deal, you must have at least 6 months left on an adult or child passport to travel to most countries in Europe (not including Ireland). If you renewed your current passport before the previous one expired, extra months may have been added to its expiry date. Any extra months on your passport over 10 years may not count towards the 6 months needed.

If there’s no deal, UK nationals will not need visas for short stays elsewhere in the EU. You will be able to stay up to 90 days in another EU, EEA or EFTA country, within a 180-day period. You must retain evidence of travel (such as train and plane tickets), in case these are requested by national authorities. If you hold a residence permit from an EU, EEA or EFTA country, you will be able to transit through other EU, EEA or EFTA countries to reach your country of residence.

Healthcare

You must register for healthcare as a resident in Spain.

Read the NHS guidance on who can access healthcare in Spain and how to register.
If you live in Spain and receive an exportable UK pension, contribution-based Employment Support Allowance (ESA) or another exportable benefit, you may currently be entitled to state healthcare paid for by the UK. You will need to apply for a certificate of entitlement known as an S1 certificate.

If you are entitled to an S1, you are also entitled to apply for a UK-issued EHIC. If you are not an S1 holder, but are registered for public healthcare in Spain in another way and are travelling outside of Spain, you must apply for a Tarjeta Sanitaria Europea (TSE – a Spanish-issued EHIC) online (in Spanish), or go to your nearest social security office (Insitituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social).
You must also buy comprehensive travel insurance to cover anything not covered by your TSE, EHIC or for travel to countries outside the EU.
If you are resident in Spain, you must not use a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) from the UK to access healthcare in Spain.
When you travel from Spain for a temporary stay in another European Economic Area (EEA) country or Switzerland, you can use an EHIC to access state-provided healthcare in the country. During that short stay:

If you are a student, read the NHS guidance on healthcare and studying abroad.

You can also find an English-speaking doctor in Spain.

Healthcare after Brexit
If there is a deal and you are resident in Spain, your current rights on access to healthcare in Spain will remain the same as long as you remain a resident in Spain.

If there’s no deal, the UK and Spain have each taken steps to ensure that people living in each country can continue to access healthcare as they do now until at least 31 December 2020. This means that if you are currently living in Spain and the UK currently pays for your healthcare, for example you are an S1 form holder, your healthcare access will remain the same after 31 October 2019 until at least December 2020.

UK-issued European Health Insurance Care (EHIC) holders in Spain, such as tourists, students and some workers, will also be able to continue to access healthcare in the same way until at least 31 December 2020.
If you are an S1 holder your UK-issued EHIC may not be valid for travel to other European member states. In either case, you must ensure you have comprehensive travel insurance.

Read the NHS guidance on healthcare for UK nationals in Spain and how it may change after Brexit.

Read the Spanish government’s guidance on access to healthcare and Brexit.

Working in Spain

If you are registered as a resident in Spain, you have the right to work in Spain. Read our guidance on working in another EU country.
To apply for a job, you may need to provide a:
UK criminal records certificate
Spanish criminal records certificate (Certificado de Antecedentes Penales)
Certificate from the Spanish sex offenders registry (Certificado de Delitos de Naturaleza Sexual) to work with children
Record of your employment history in Spain from Seguridad Social (a Vida Laboral certificate).

Working in Spain after Brexit
Whether or not there is a deal, if you are already registered as a resident, your right to work will not change after Brexit.

Read the guidance on providing services after Brexit if you’re planning to start a business, provide a service, or do a job in a regulated profession after Brexit.

Money and tax
The UK has a double taxation agreement with Spain to make sure that people do not pay tax on the same income in both countries. You can ask the relevant tax authority about double taxation relief.

As a Spanish resident, you must declare your global income to the Spanish authorities, no matter which country it came from. If you are not a resident, you will only pay tax on income that came from Spain.

Declaration of overseas assets

You may need to file an annual declaration of overseas assets called a Modelo 720. There are severe penalties if you do not file, or give incorrect or incomplete information.

National Insurance

Find out if you can pay National Insurance while abroad in order to protect your State Pension and entitlement to other benefits and allowances.
If you are employed or self-employed in the EU and you have a UK-issued A1/E101 form, you will remain subject to UK legislation until the end date on the form.

If the end date on your form is after 31 October 2019, you should contact the relevant EU, EEA or Swiss authority to confirm whether you need to start paying social security contributions in that country after 31 October, as well as UK National Insurance contributions.

Money and tax after Brexit

The double taxation agreement with Spain will not change. Send your questions about double taxation to the relevant tax authority.
If there’s no deal, it may become more expensive to use your bank card in Spain. Read our guidance on using a bank card, insurance or other financial services if there’s no Brexit deal.

Pensions
You will need to tell the UK government offices that deal with your benefits, pension and tax if you are moving or retiring abroad.

If you retire in Spain, you can claim:
your UK State Pension or new UK State Pension
your Spanish and UK State Pension from the Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social if you worked in Spain
pensions from working in other EU countries

Life Certificates for UK State Pensions
If you get a life certificate from the UK Pension Service, you need to respond as soon as possible. Your payments may be suspended if you don’t.

Pensions after Brexit
The UK government will continue to pay a State Pension to those eligible in the EU after Brexit. Your UK State Pension will be uprated in April 2020, 2021 and 2022 if you live in the EU, EEA or Switzerland.
If there is a deal and you work and pay social security contributions in Spain, you will still be able to add your UK social security contributions towards your Spanish pension. This will happen even if you claim your pension after the end of the implementation period.
If there’s no deal, the Spanish government has proposed that they will take into account periods of work in the UK before Brexit when calculating your Spanish pension. We will update this guidance when there is a formal agreement on this.

Read our guidance on pensions if there’s no deal.

Benefits
You may still be able to claim some UK benefits like child and disability benefits if you live in Spain.

Many income-related benefits such as pension credit and housing benefit cannot be paid to you if you’re abroad for more than 4 weeks.

Spanish benefits
You may be entitled to Spanish benefits. To find out if you are entitled to Spanish benefits and how to claim, you can:

You can request proof of the time you’ve worked in the UK from HMRC if you are asked for this.

Benefits after Brexit
If there is a deal and you work and pay social security contributions in Spain, your UK social security contributions will be taken into account when applying for Spanish contributions-based benefits. This will happen even if you claim contributions-based benefits after the end of the implementation period.

If there’s no deal, the Spanish government has proposed continuing to take into account any periods of work in the UK before Brexit, when working out your entitlement to Spanish contributions-based benefits. We will update this guidance when there is a formal agreement on this.

Read the guidance on benefits and pensions if there’s no deal.

Driving in Spain
If you are resident in Spain, exchange your UK licence for a Spanish one. You can still use your Spanish licence in the UK for short visits or exchange it for a UK licence without taking a test if you return to live in the UK.
If you hold an old UK licence that doesn’t have a 10-year validity period, you must renew or exchange it for a Spanish licence once you’ve been a resident in Spain for 2 years.

If you are in Spain and your UK driving licence is lost, stolen or expires, you will not be able to renew it with the UK Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). You will need to apply to the DVLA for a ‘certificate of entitlement’ in Spanish to be able to apply for a Spanish driving licence.

Driving after Brexit
If there is a deal, driving licence rules will stay the same during the implementation period.

If there’s no deal, the Spanish government has said you will have 9 months from the day the UK leaves the EU to exchange your UK licence for a Spanish one. Your UK licence will be recognised in this 9 month period.

Voting
You can vote and stand in local elections. To do so, you must:

  • register on the municipal register where you live (padrón municipal)
  • formally declare your intention to vote and register on the local electoral roll
  • confirm your padrón status every 2 to 5 years to remain registered and be able to vote

You can go to your local town hall and check your padrón status and the municipal electoral roll at any time.

Whilst the UK remains in the EU, we will participate in the European Parliament elections. As a UK national living in Spain, you can choose to vote in your home country or in your country of residence. If you have spent less than 15 years out of the UK, you can vote for UK candidates. If you are already registered to vote in Spain, you can vote here for the Spanish candidates for the European Parliament. However you cannot vote in both countries.
You cannot vote in general or regional elections in Spain.
You may be able to vote in some UK elections.

Voting after Brexit
UK nationals will no longer be able to vote in European elections after Brexit.
UK nationals will still be able to vote and stand as candidates in local elections in Spain.

Pets

You will still be able to travel to and from the UK with a cat, dog or ferret after Brexit, but the rules will change. Read guidance on pet travel to Europe.
While the UK is still an EU member state, you’ll be able to travel with your pet to the EU under the current pet travel rules using your current EU pet passport. If you’re travelling with your pet for the first time you must visit your vet to obtain a pet passport.

Read guidance on returning your cat, dog or ferret to the UK.

For moving pet horses and other equines read the guidance on export horses and ponies: special rules.

Emergencies

You can dial the European emergency number on 112 or:

  • 091 for police
  • 061 for health emergencies
  • 080 for firefighters
  • 092 for local police

If you’re the victim of crime, have been arrested, or are affected by a crisis abroad, contact your nearest British embassy or consulate.

This information is provided as a guide only. Definitive information should be obtained from the Spanish authorities. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is not liable for any inaccuracies in this information.


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