Hi everyone. havent ever posted a new topic in a forum before, but here goes. After spending all afternoon filtering through some very interesting topics and posts, I´ve been unable to find the answer to my question, which is this........
Can anybody tell me what the fee for the renewal of my residencia is but most of all WHERE does one pay it, I know it has to be paid into a bank account prior to handing over all the neccesary documents (they wont accept cash, or at least they didnt in previous years) I have all my papers including certificado de empadronamiento, If there is any one out there who has the official list of documents, does it mention the payment?
Thank you in advance
p.s Keep on posting its a great site and helping many
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.
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?
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 )
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,
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.
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 http://www.map.es
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?
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 Padrón 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 Extranjería 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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