CHANGES TO THE RESIDENCIA SYSTEM


Much has been written, discussed and speculated on recently with regard to the BOE law passed on 22 February in respect of the above.  From 1 March 2003, changes to the Residencia system have been introduced, but contrary to the widely held belief that Residencia cards would become unecessary for all European citizens, the authorities have only taken one step towards their removal.

The information we have received from the Comiserias in Denia and Alicante is at the present time, Residencia applications are being processed as before with regard to applicants living on a private income or UK pension.  The only groups affected by the latest changes are as follows:

1)Individuals legally working (i.e. paying taxes) in Spain, either on a contract or self employed basis, or such individuals who have subsequently retired

2)Spouses, partners and offspring of 1)

3)Students 


For the above three categories, the requirement to have a Residencia has now been scrapped. (please refer to important note below regarding Notarys' requirements).

If confirmation of residency is required, a Certificate may be requested from the Comiseria offices.  The following documents should be presented: a) Passport & 1 copy;  b) 1 passport photo;  c) a signed Declaration, confirming the applicant falls into one of the above categories and is therefore exempt from holding a Residencia card; d) a completed and signed application form.  At the present time, the Comiserias are using the existing Residencia application forms for d), although the format of these are expected to change in the future.  If you are a spouse of a working person, you must also present your Wedding Certificate, and for offspring the Birth Certificate of each child will be required.  Partners will need to apply for a Certificado de Convivencia, obtained from the Policia Local, to show that they are living together.

As a tax payer, people in category 1) should automatically receive a medical card when their work contract has been processed, or when they request a card with their self employment papers.  For those in category 2), it is probable this Certificate will be necessary when applying at the Social Security office in Denia for a medical card.  However, as uncertainty and ambiguity still exists in respect of the whole Residencia situation, I recommend everyone who is now exempt from making a Residencia application request the above Certificate.

Please note: we have received advice from the Notary Office that they will not accept the above Certificate as proof that an individual is a Resident, and therefore subject to different rules in respect of Capital Gains Tax payments.  There are three courses of action you can take if you think this may affect you; a) you can apply for a Residencia card anyway (bearing in mind that these are still taking about a year to be processed) as the Comiseria cannot refuse to process a card, even if it may no longer be necessary; b) you can apply to the Comiseria in Denia for a Certificado de Residencia; c) you can apply to the Hacienda at Denia for a Certificado de Residencia Fiscal.  Any of the above three items will be sufficient to confirm your Resident status to the Notary.

All new laws are subject to interpretation, and this is no exception.  It is therefore quite possible that at a future date a further modification will take place.  I sympathise with the Comiseria offices, who are trying to implement the new system with what seems to be scant guidance or information from their superiors.  It is inevitable therefore that there will be confusion and grey areas.  For example, the Trafico office in Alicante have received no guidelines as to how this will affect the presentation/changing of driving licences, etc. I would at this stage advise all individuals to present their UK licences at Trafico for changing/stamping until further notice, including those now exempt from holding a Residencia card.

I suspect that there may be a future geographical change to the system, as there is a persistent rumour that the local Comiserias will once again  take over all aspects of processing the Residencia applications.  However, I stress that this is at the moment only a rumour: at the time of writing it is still necessary to attend Alicante for signing and fingerprinting the cards.

An interesting point was recently made to me in relation to the Residencia card.  British people travelling throughout Europe are, unlike their European counterparts, at something of a disadvantage, as we have no identity card to produce and have to resort to the risky practice of carrying passports around.  Holders of Spanish Residencia cards, however, find this document suffices throughout Europe as proof of identity.  With their removal, and unless the British system introduces identity cards, it is back to the passports.  As they say, every cloud has a silver lining.

I shall keep you updated as best I can as these points are clarified, but suspect that things will remain much as outlined above until the next step forward towards the full removal of the Residencia card  is taken.

On a final note, would all Residencia holders note that the Income Tax Declaration starts from th beginning of May, and runs until 21st June.  You should therefore be collecting together your P60s, Bank Certificates etc to make a Renta (Declaration) for the year 2002.  Government pensions are exempt from Spanish tax, but all other earnings, income or monies received worldwide are declarable and taxable.  Non resident individuals have until 31st December 2003 to pay the Patrimonio (Wealth) and Renta (Own Use Income) Tax for 2002, which is calculated on a percentage of the escritura declared value and rateable value respectively.