Renewing a Residencia

Hmm, from the sounds of it you're doing this all yourself without a lawyer?

Can you call up the office number on the forms and ask them directly? When you submit your papers can you pay at the office?

Hi, Another interesting page over at the www.mir.es is

http://www.mir.es/MIR/Directorio/Servicios_Perifericos/Cuerpo_Nacional_de_Policia/Oficinas_de_extranjeros/index.html

this has the phone number and opening hours and adresses of all the offices, i havent phoned as I?m very phone shy :red:

And the fee page is :-

http://www.mir.es/SGACAVT/extranje/Tasa_Extranjeros.html

this cant be paid at the office it has to be paid into a bank account ( hence a second visit ) the page isnt helpul enough by supplying that number so I?ll just have to do two trips. never mind.

Hope this has been helpful :)

Hi
You seem to be a couple of steps ahead of me on the renewal of residencias learning curve, so sorry I cant help directly. I decided to go it alone when I was told I would have to fork out 300 euros for the two of us by a paperwork agency. As we havent been shy about sorting out other Spanish documents (driving licence/ buying a car etc) ourselves, with our limited use of the language, we thought 'how much more difficult can it be'. I have filled out the first set of forms and taken them in.

I found your situation useful for when it comes to paying the fee. Do you have any other advice? ie what happens at the second stage when they call you back?

Good luck with everything

Hi Minaret
Welcome to sunny spain:)

I have to be honest and tell you that this is my 4th renewel of my residencia, I?ve been here for 20 years now (where does time go?) Its always the same hassle and quite a headache, but hard, no. You just have to make sure you get the papers together and then off to the office.
By the way you handed in your papers but did you have to make any payment for the handling? I think it is 6.57? and if you did where did you make this payment? Last time, I had to leave the office , go to the bank and pay the fee using the bank account number they had given me , then back to the office with the proof of payment slip...very frustrating and time consuming (thats my only complaint!!)
Once you have succsefully handed in your papers bang , bang goes the official stamp and your fingerprint is taken (this is usually the process, unless they?ve gone modern LOL) You DONT get called back, they tell you it takes about three months (or whatever they said to you) and you go back, get in the queue and wait for your turn, you hand over your reciet paper and they give you your card. To save you making a useless trip, you can check the status of your card at
http://www.map.es/servicios/servicios_on_line/extranjeria/estado_solicitudes
either type in your residency number or reciet number ( I havent tried it yet because I havent even started the process, so I cant check mine, just waiting for a rainy day and nothing better to do %-P )

As for using a "Gestor" been there and done it, it didnt save me any time, all they do is get the paper work for you which isnt difficult, you still have to go yourself because of the fingerprint,

Hope this is helpful to you
Regards TracyKim

Hola

In my experience the actual office where you are renewing residencia or say car tax NEVER takes any cash (I assume for security reasons) they give you a paper which you take to a bank and pay the money into the bank (they know what to do!) and they stamp your paper which is then a receipt and you can collect the new card as you will have proof of payment.

Always take EVERYTHING when you are on these ?missions? but from memory you need old card, padron plus photocopy, passport, new photos. Cost about 15 euros.

GOOD LUCK!

I have have a Residencia Permanente which I am just renewing. When I handed them all the documents and photo copies for the renewal they gave me 2 forms. One to fill in with my personal data and return to them with 2 photo copies. And the second form was for me to give to the bank to make the payment of 5.48 ?. The bank stamped the original copy which I have to hand in when I pick up my new card in about 2 months time. You can check to see when it is ready at www.map.es

I have removed my post as it was inserted into the wrong page.

Hi

sorry that I didnt respond to the posts, I had to return to the UK urgently.

Thank you for the information. It was very useful to use the link to view the status of my residencia (thank you very much for that, I was amazed when it worked, and happily it says 'favourable'. Now I am wondering what to do next. I didnt receive a document to take to my bank or any postal notification and am wondering if a mornings queing and waiting is on the agenda just to deal with that?

Thank you again

Having recently taken time to deal with this personally after being advised by a solicitor of the cost for them to obtain a Residencia card for an EU national I went with a neighbour to the relevant office in Alicante and can repeat exactly what the person said to us in no uncertain terms as it dispells a popularly held misunderstanding especially amongst the British ex-pats.

"As an EU citizen you do not need to have a Residencia. Your NIE and the Padr?n is sufficient to comply with the law in Spain. Should you wish to work as an employee or to be self-employed, an NIE is required and a residencia is irrelevant and unnecessary." I confirmed my understanding of what he had said in Spanish (I do speak the language) with him and then with his colleague on another desk and the answer was the same. In extremely limited cases an organisation such as a bank may ask for a Residencia numberbut this is largely due to the inflexibility of some of them. The NIE and Padron more than suffice. Not my words but those of two different employees in the Oficina de Extranjer?a Alicante Spain.

My experience is that Solicitors have made money out of this particular issue with no justification in law for all EU citizens. It continues to be required I understand for NON-EU citizens.

For those who need a translation, on page two of the Residencia Application on-line, the conditions when you need a residencia are stated. i.e. if you are an EU citizen you have the right to stay without need for a residencia and this applies to working here too. The only issue I would say is that the treatment of those new members from the East can be slightly different to those from western EU countries.

I hope this help save someone time and money!

Hi

That was a very useful point. Resedencia`s are no longer essential and certain agencies are making money out of our fears of not having the correct documents. However I can think of several cases where having a Resedencia has been extremely useful:

If you buy or sell property then taxes are reduced.
Our local tourist sites are virtually free if you can produce the resedencia. This saves between 6-15 euros a trip.
I dont like carrying a passport around with me everywhere, the resedencia is useful if stopped by police when driving.
Ditto when asked for ID when using a credit card.
We also get cheaper ferry travel within the Canary's if we produce the resedencia.
When travelling within Spain we only use our resedencia in place of a passport for hotels etc.

Best wishes

Hi Minaret,

I can't comment on the Canary Islands but with your Padron you qualify for discount flights (about a third off) from the Balearic Islands IF your are registered in the islands. In this case they regularly ask you to renew your Padron to prevent abuse of this subsidy.

Regarding the Police, it is wisest to get a local licence at some stage if you live here as it is a change of address as in the UK. With other documents such as Insurance I have never been asked for a Residencia. I also carry a colour photo copy of my passport which has also been accepted.

Incidently, my helpful contact in the Foreigners Office in Alicante also did point out that the NIE number is your unique number for fiscal affairs and as such would superceed the Residencia for sales tax purposes. This was the case for me when I sold a house sometime ago too.

PS I was stopped by routine controls and I wasn't speeding! Honest!

When you are asked for your NIE you can show them your Residencia card which has your NIE number on it. In the case of a Spanish national they would ask for their NIF which is almost identical to the Residencia. Your Residencia card is extremely handy to have because it being so small you can always have it with you to identify yourself at the bank, Post Office, Police etc.. Also with that card you can travel throughout most EU countries without a passport ... although not to the UK.

Regardless of what the law may be, Spanish authority is used to everyone having a identity card on them, and so if you intend to live here permanently without having a Residence card, and do not wish to be held up at some stage, than you had better always carry your passport with you to officially identify yourself. Telling some police official somewhere that you were told in Alicante that you did not need one will not carry much weight if he thinks otherwise.

Getting a Residencia is not difficult and very inexpensive if you do it yourself .... it only takes time.

Hi Richard,

Please read point A of the Residencia application form (on line). It is clearly there in black and white and this was what the Government office of Alicante was referring to. That is the law and that is what the Police work to. Having had the benefit of being told it from the horses mouth so to speak rather than a.n.other paperwork company (i.e. Gestoria), an Estate Agent (as happens) or an ill-informed solicitor in my particular case (I am giving that person the benefit of the doubt) amounts to far more than "being told it in Alicante". It merely appears that amongst the British ex-pats they have been conditioned to have one when legally not required in certain cases as highlighted by the online application to which I am and was referring.

So as someone else pointed out on here, a number of classes of Residencia application are available and to that end the one-size fits all approach is none other than wrong and given some of the fees charged to get a Residencia by some organisations a fairly expensive mistake too.

I was not questioning the information given you. But as someone who has lived 43 years in Spain I was only trying to point out that if someone intends to live here permanently than it can be very useful to have a Residencia card .... whether he or she legally needs one or not has nothing to do with it. It does not matter what type of Residencia card you have, because like the Spanish NIF, it is a identity card which shows your NIE number. Something which your passport, which is a foreign document, does not.

British people are not used to identity cards, but every Spaniard carries one and uses it all the time everywhere, because it is a recognized legal document everywhere. To give an example you can open a bank account with it, which you cannot do with a photo copy of your passport. And so it is very handy to always have this small credit sized legal document with you, because the whole Spanish system recognizes it and runs on it. Anyone who does not have one falls into another category, which sometimes may mean a delay because the person does not know how to handle it, or they may ask you to come back with your original passport or proof of your NIE.

The coastal tourist areas are also quite different from the rest of Spain and in many small pueblos they have probably never even met anyone who does not have a identity card, and a much folded bit of paper showing a photo of a passport is not quite the same.

And for those living near Portugal and France who have a card they can drive there any time without bothering about their passport. I myself do not even have a passport.

Another thing worth remembering is that in Spain as in most Latin countries the law is not 100% black and white like in Britain. There is usually a grey area which leaves it open to different interpretations to suit different people at different times. I have seen this time and time again. Remember Spaniards are individualists! I myself like this flexibility, which has been very useful at times!

Whether to have or not to have a residencia card is a personal matter and a bit like taking out insurance. Some will not bother, others will but never need it, and the rest will be glad they had it.

Hi Ricardo,

I think largely we are in agreement on this matter in that it is not necessary to own a Residencia card in a variety of cases. Up to now I have never needed one and this includes occassions when I lived some distance from the coast in what many would call 'real Spain'. Of course it is personal choice whether one carries a card or not and I fully agree. Where my original point came in and it is one that I believe I have clearly made now, is that it is not a case in which "Foreigner in Spain = must obtain Residencia card". In regard to this ,I also believe we are in agreement and it represents a departure from the 'accepted truth' held by many in the British Expat community atleast. Here, as I pointed out, many have fallen foul of a lack of Spanish and less than accurate Legal Advice.


Regards

Hi again

There has been some very useful information in the last couple of posts. I think it does depend upon personal preferences and in some cases the place where you find yourself living. In Lanzarote, where I have been living we could not get away with photocopies of documents to prove our identity. .. so it is a case of either carrying a passport (which is not always useful ) or producing the resedencia. The latter only proving expensive if you have to pay some agency or other to do the work for you. Thank you so much for the enlightening information in different parts of Spain.


:coolsmile:

Hi Everyone,

Good thread...Just one point on minarets statement that having a residencia card can reduce your capital gains tax on the sale of your property....Beware...Just having a residencia card is not enough, to avoid having the 5% capital gains tax retention you must also now provide a "certificado de residencia fiscal" from hacienda , which basically proves you have been paying your taxes as a resident for the required period of time...and are therefore considered by hacienda to be fiscally resident.

People who apply for a residencia card just prior to the sale of their property (hoping to avoid the capital gains) will not get a certificate of fiscal residence from hacienda, and will have to pay the capital gains.

Dun Marching

Dear All

I have been truly fascinated (and slighlty scared) by the amount of information that you all know with regards to Residencias and NIE's. As a lady who's family is just about to upsticks and embark on a life in the Spanish sunshine, all this information is greatly received. I would, however, like to ask you learned lot one thing... Do I need to get Residencias and NIE's for all the family, kids included? I have just printed out NIE forms for myself and my husband, but if our two kids need one I'll have to print out a couple more. We are flying over to finalise arrangements in January. Can we do our queuing up then when we don't have the kids with us, or do we have to wait until we are in proper residence and can I get our NIE numbers from the Spanish Consulate in Manchester before we come over in January???? All these questions... it's a minefield isn't it?!

Any help regarding these matters will be much appreciated.

Loopyloula

Woo! Woo! I have just had the letter from the Dpt of Foriegners with a form to take to Banco Caja to pay the 6.57 euros. Another stage done. Next we have to queue in the office again (to have our fingerprints done I assume). Is that it do you think? I cant believe it was all so easy! Really the only taxing thing, has being the long wait in the queue and not quite knowing what was going to happen. How can these paperwork agencies justify their charges?

Thinking of the last post, I assume children dont need Resedencias ? As I dont have dependent children I cant really comment.

That's a critical point Dun Marching! Thank you for reminding us to look at our financial affairs.

Off to get my fingerprints done!

;-P

Procedures for the renewal of the Spanish residency id card (Tarjeta de residencia)

Documents needed

REQUEST APPLICATION
In duplicate fully filled in and signed
The application form is available in Internet under the name of:
Autorizaci?n de residencia y autorizaci?n de trabajo y residencia (EX-01) The WEB address is: http://extranjeros.mtas.es/

VALID PASSPORT, not expired
And copy of all its pages

RESIDENCY PERMIT (Tarjeta de residencia), not expired
And two copies

CERTIFICADO DE EMPADRONAMIENTO
And copy, needed only if you have moved or changed address

TWO COLOUR PASSPORT SIZE PHOTOGRAPHS
3,5 CM wide x 4 CM high, Computer printed photos are not admitted

HOW TO SUBMIT THE APPLICATION AND THE OTHER DOCUMENTS
Request an appointment (date and time) at: 91 322 85 70 or FAX 91 322 85 29
If you do not have access to Internet: the application, the FAX form and the list of documents needed are available at the: Brigada Provincial de Extranjer?a y Documentaci?n
(Metro Aluche) Avenida de los Poblados (the old Carabanchel jail), be prepared for long lines and waiting periods

All the documentation should be presented on the day and time of the appointment at:
Calle Luisa Fernanda 18 (Metro Ventura Rodr?guez)

Once the documents have been submitted at the above address, the wait period for the letter specifying the day to deliver the rest of the documents, the photos plus the fingerprinting process (greasy ink) will take approximately a month or more.

You will be told to wait 40 days to pick up your new residency card.

On the appointed date you should go to Carabanchel with you valid passport and the old residency card. If for some reason you do not have the old card you must present a copy of the police report indicating the loss of the card. The old card or the police report are mandatory to obtain the new residency card.

I strongly advise you to begging the renewal process about 130 days prior to the expiration date on your current residency card. The reason for this is to set an overlap between the expiration of the old card and the issuance of the new one.

This overlap will afford you mobility in and out of the country without having to endure the long lines and wait periods at the Gerenal Pardi?as police commissary to obtain a re-entry permit document every time you leave the country.

Jorge that is fantastic information, thank you. I'm sure lots of people on this forum will benefit from that advice.

Jorge
Thanks very much for all that info... I am totally prepared now for what is in store. You didn't mention though, if I need to do this for the children....

Best Regards

Loopylou

Hi

Under EEC rules Residencias are not now required. The Spanish govenment has agreed to comply. You only need your copy of the padron as proof of residency now.

Alan

More info www.ukgovabusesexpats.co.uk

Dear Nudger

Sorry to be blonde (I am by the way) but what is a Padron.....?

Loopyloula

Padron? Refering to the slip of paper you receive when you empadronarse, read: register at your local council.

Anything that refers to the EU as the EEC is lacking in credibility from the outset. It's only about 15 years behind the times.

However, I thought this was all resolved now given the earlier debate? Either way, the Spanish govenments web site (the link is shown above on a previous post) shows that the residence requirements depend on your status here eg retired, self-employed , communitario or ex-communitario. So to me the 'abuses' website's claim is a bit false victory when it claims abolishment of the residencia in Spain. It just ain't true!

I have written in a earlier post that if you intend to live here permanently than it is best to have a identity card like every Spaniard has because the system is set up for it, and often requires proof in the form of that card. For instance I rent several apartments and carry insurance to cover me for non-payment of rent, legal fees and damages. However I only get cover if I submit a photo copy of the tenant's identity card. A copy of your padr?n is not sufficient.

> Hi again

There has been some very useful information in the last couple of posts. I think it does depend upon personal preferences and in some cases the place where you find yourself living. In Lanzarote, where I have been living we could not get away with photocopies of documents to prove our identity. .. so it is a case of either carrying a passport (which is not always useful ) or producing the resedencia. The latter only proving expensive if you have to pay some agency or other to do the work for you. Thank you so much for the enlightening information in different parts of Spain.


:coolsmile:


I looked at the form recently which appears to have changed slightly and now it seems that it is impossible to apply as an autonomo. To that end, the original point I made still stands that the recidencia is VERY MUCH dependent on circmstances. This is well known by the Police everywhere (they certainly are not a bunch of country bumpkins with no knowledge of the outside world as some have made out on this thread) and in my experience only the lack of Spanish on the part of (too) many foreigners (especially the Brits amongst us) causes this confusion as it should not even be a point of debate.

When you have completed everything necessary, you will go and do your fingerprint for the Residencia at the Police Station. Here you will be given a paper, which you take to the Bank, and it tell you to pay approximately 6.80 Euros. (I can't remember the exact amount). You have to pay this before you collect your Residencia Card , because you take the stamped payment form with you to collect the Residencia Card.

For other Residencia information look on:

www.extranjeros.mtas.es

This lists the various Forms.

www.extranjeros.mtas.es/en/general/ex16.pdf

This is the Residencia Application Form. This is where you start. Fill it in, print it and make 3 copies. You need 3 copies of your Passport, 3 copies of your Padron and 3 Photos. Take this to the Gobierno in Alicante (or your nearest Gobierno). Here they will give you a paper certifying that you are applying for your REsidncia and this is valid. Eventuallym, you will receive a letter telling you to go to the Extranjeros Police Station in Alicante (near the Football grounds) - or your Local Extranjeros Police Station. This is when you do your Fingerprint and they will give you the paper telling you to pay the money to the bank before collecting your Residencia. You collect your Residencia from the Elche Police Station - or your other local Police Station.

I hope this is of help.

Regards

Spanish-Eyes

Hi! I am thinking of renewing my residence card. I have had one since I arrived in 1989. I've never had any problems renewing my residence cards especially when I got married about 10 years ago and all I needed was my "Libro de Familia". I have read that I don't need to renew it and that all I need is my "empadronamiento" (hope I've spelt it correctly!). I have printed off a "Solicitud de Certificado de Registro como Residente Comunitario" because that is what I thought you needed. Could someone clear up this doubt for me? Thanks in advance!

You need the application form, available from the web site www.mtas.es, a padron, and your old card - they now only issue the new certificate.

You will also need to pay 6.70 using a form 790 at a bank before 11.30 in some cases (not available online because it is carbonated multi part) available from the office who issues your certificate (ie Comiseria de Policia - you can search Google maps) The price is the same as the Spanish are charged for their DNI cards - so no whinging!!

Kiss your cherished card good bye!

in case anyone finds this thread and reads the info, the fee now (January 2009) is 20 euros and you pay it before doing the fingerprints... i was told to bring form 790 in when doing the 'huellas'... does anybody know how long the queue is in Carabanchel. i've looked on the Internet and found everything from 2 hours to 10 hours!!! i guess it depends on your luck.

plus, i would repeat that starting the process early is a good idea. i sent in the fax to get the appointment at calle luisa fernanda two months before my permit was to expire, and that was way too late... they called me about one week before my permit was to expire and gave me the appointment for a month after (still within the permitted time, but better to do it sooner!)... in all, having started the process two months before expiration, i should have my new permit approximately six months after its expiration... spain is a complete disaster when it comes to this topic, and just be prepared to be treated like dirt at every step along the way.