moving at the start of 2014 (hopefully)

HI all

we are looking at moving to costa del sol in the first part of next year, inland from malaga, we have frinds over here and have been over a number of times, enjoyed the village and surrounding. We have found a property to buy and are in the process of selling our house in wales. I will be retireing at the end of this year, at the ripe old age of 53 so not classed as a pensioner, my partner has not worked due to an injury when in work and now claims DLA

We have a few questions some we think we know the answers to some, but confirmation would be great 

Thinking about the timings of starting processes in the build up to the move how long things take (we understand this can vary greatly) what order they need to be done in

hopefully the house will be purchased this year on that note:-

besides the legal, finacial, ownership, checks (buy solicitor) how easy is it to get a full structual survey and costings involved?

we know that damp proofing is not a big thing in spain, but to make life a little easier for us in out older years can this be fitted retrospectively, again if so does anyone know companies/costngs?

opening a bank account if all goes to plan this will need to be opened before we move out due to the house purchase, what process is required

do we need NIE numbers before we can do anything, and how is the process working out now malaga province

pardon- sigining on would we need to do this if buying as we will not be liviing ther till 2014

Proof of income has anyone any knowledge of how this is now working out. ie what amount is required how to prove this, I will be getting a pension local goverment pension, taxed in the uk

medical - as my partner is receiving DLA and will be transfering that with her, is she then covered medically and be able to access the full health care system in spain, also as her partner am I also covered as a family member/finacial supporter/carer. but once I reach retirement age (65??) in spain I will be covered in my own right

if not what now is the status of the european health card, is it still the case that if you are a resident then the card is no longer valid?

driving licence - is it still the case of it needs to be renewed when it expires or are you being made to change to a spanish licence, is there any more news on the new style european licence?

we also intend to bring our dog over, she is a 7 year old jack russell has been spayed and chiped, her jabs are up to date, apart from rabies and as yet has no passport, are there any restriction/requirements needed for her import

Sorry if this is long winded and all the above I am sure have been asked before, we are trying to find out if there are any updated details around

thanks in advance for any help anyone can give, we know there is lots to do and lots more reading to do as well and have no doubt that more questions will arise

craig & wendy

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First I would recommend getting accurate information from the Horse's mouth ie,

the DWP as you may not receive all of the DLA out here, and they will inform you as to what you are eligible for.

The HMRC to get correct tax information , as you will be paying  your taxes out here ( but not, as you say, on your crown pension)

Make sure you have sufficient savings to tide you over for at least a year

Do not, if you wish to work,expect to find a job easily.

All other information  NIE , bank accounts etc can be found on these forums, plus such sites as Anglo Info, UK in Spain; just fill in search on EOS, or google what you want and  take your choice.

Info on motoring-read Motoring in Spain, by Brian Deller, read Costa Blanca News  online- go to Graham Shelton's column-Mediterranean motoring;you can also email him with queries. The amount of info o EOS is very varied, and much is based on personal experiences not fact. you will suffer from information overload!

 Ensure that you can afford private health care,( many will not cover existing conditions, or if they do, cover will be very expensive) because if anything happens to your partner, your cover will cease.

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(1)Take a tip from me rent before you buy.

(2) Don't buy off plan.

(3)If you are buying a ready built house make sure you have the esctura and the fin de obra and make sure no embargoes or debts are outstanding.

(4) Get a good lawyer  try not to use the one the estate agents recommend.

(5) Good luck .

 

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Yeah i would agree with campol on a lot of it.

get the information in writing from the DWP and double check.

double check offically that you can actually get medical treatment here and get it in writing for what its worth.

well done on making the move though.
 

 

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hi all

thanks for your reply's we do intend to contact DWP re  DLA payments and HMRC ref pension payments and proof, neither of us intend to work in spain, the property is an established villa, and a private sale, so we deffo need a good lawyer to check all the papers and legality of the property  we have old work friends living in the same village who know more about who to trust and who is anygood at thier job, so that helps a lot, we getting there slowly still loads to read and keep reading bits each day, but with my head most  falls out the other side.........

ahh well onward and upward to the finish line

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Very best of luck with it all :-). I'm only a bit ahead of you, I completed on my purchase last July so still very much a newbie. Though I have reasonable Spanish which helps a lot!

Nobody has commented on the driving licence. There are strong views on both sides of this, and people who will quote the letter of the law, explaining that Spanish police are wrong when they say you must change your licence. In practice, my personal view is that it's easier to change to a Spanish one, as I would find it easier to be driving in the UK on a visit, be stopped by the police, and explain in my moth tongue what the situation is, than be stopped in Spain witha UK licence and a recalcitrant police officer attemtoing to fine me. Having said that, ironically I genuinely lost my driving licence earlier this month and got a replacement, which is of course one of the new post-Jan-19th ones and is therefore (in theory) acceptable here in Spain! However when I stop going backwards and forwards, probably later this year, I still think I'll change to a Spanish one.

Have a great time with all the preparation and enjoy your big adventure :-)

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Wencra..

Hello...

Ive read your post ..yes def check all your entilements whether they apply in spain from the uk (taking in mind the sterling rate,)

and I agree with all the comments ...but I would like to add that because you are of working age that you don not sell your house in the UK but rent it , and when in spain you find a rental ..should you be happy after spending 2 years min in spain ..then sell the house in Wales if it make finacial sense ..

Be lucky !

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I completley 100% agree with the finding a rental first.

I would also state i think you are very foolish to be looking to buy before you have rented for a year or two in preferably different places up and down the costa del sol.
Yes i did say foolish.
Crazy could be another word to describe it.
A potential disaster could be another.

Tamaraessex makes some very valid points and she is a very sweet lady but has only been here a year so still is in the honeymoon period.

with  a decade under your belt like myself and some of the other grumpy complainers on here you see things very differently.

 

 

This message was last edited by Mungry on 01/03/2013.

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thanks all

the area we are looking at is an area we have visited a number of times over the years as we have friensds that have been living there over 8 years,so we have had a good feel of the area at differant times of the year.

we do intend to sell our house but are not cutting all ties as we also own a flat which our daughter will be living in so we have a base back here if ever needed. I will be getting a lump sum plus pension plus the sale of our house, so hopefully even after the purchase will have more than enough to survive for a good while, unless it all goes 'pear shaped' but hey that can happen in the uk, we have looked at costings here and in spain, and over all general day to day cost are less in spain, we know this varies and the exchange rate will affect our income from the uk, we are going into this after lots of long talks about this problem that problem, this outcome that outcome, and thought we can talk and talk till the cows come home, we have our eyes wide open and know what could go wrong but also know what could go right, so it will or won't work but if not it won't be for lack of trying onwards and upwards lol

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I totally agree with you Craig and Wendy. There are "doers" on here that have done it, with varying numbers of years under our belts, and there are "talkers" who are waiting for prices to fall further and Saturn to be aligned with the Post Office Tower before they ever do it.

For COMPLETE newbies yes I'd agree with those suggesting renting first. But I had 8 years of living part time in my ex's house further north, and had good Spanish before taking the plunge. Also, all the options were open to me - if I hadn't found the perfect house I would have rented while I continued looking. But when I walked into this one it instantly became home, so I'd have been made to wait for prices to fall further (and the exchange rate is now going in the wrong direction so I'd have lost out if I'd waited). Sometimes caution is right, and sometimes just doing it is right. Stick with what's right for you, and keep coming back here with any odd questions you have :-)

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Reading through your answers it appears that the only area that you need to check fully is the healthcare.

As you are both under retirement age then you may have to go down the route of applying for the new health insurance deal offered or being offered by the foreign office.  Haven't heard much about it lately and having reached retirement age it doesn't affect me so I haven't researched it fully.

Currently Spain is having problems with the cost of supplying medication to pensioners.  If you or your partner have to take regular medication then this could cause an extra expense.  It's still in the early stages but the new system is earnings related.  Only those pensioners with a low income are exempt or pay a minimal amount per year.

Having friends who live in the area should give helpful advice regarding yearly living expenses.  If you have enough income to cover this and the healthcare then give it a go.  You have a foothold in UK so if it doesn't work then you can return.

The only other plus item for renting rather than buying is what would happen if the worst case scenario should happen.  Have you researched the inheritance tax, this will be high for your age and marital status.  I believe the costs are reduced if you are a pensioner, married and have been resident in Spain for x amount of years.  This tax has to be paid before the property can be sold.  Joint bank accounts are also frozen when the death certificate is taken to bank.  This explains why the Spanish don't rush to legally register the death certificate. 

I found the books by David Searl, buying a property in Spain and you and the law in Spain very helpful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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hi all

ok this might be a tad long winded, but brought a few frowns and smirks to my face goota love spanish bureaucracy

but firstly the questions. what information proof do I need when settling perminantly in andalusia spain,

proof of income - from dwp my pension is a goverment one so taxed in the uk, can anyone tell me the form needed to what proof to ask for when I ring them monday

hrmc - what form/proof would I need to ask them concerning my taxes

proof of savings will be getting a lump sum put into my uk bank, will a current bank statement be enough for that

medical will be checking also with dwp referance my wife's dla benefit and what medical cover if any she will be getting I believe its the S2 for her and S1 for me

I have my non resident cert and my NIE valid for 3 months, have opened a non res bank account, and will sort out my wife's NIE and residents cert (and changing mine) does anybody know if they become perminant certs once residents, adding her to bank account and changing it to residents, both of us to sign on padron register with dr/medical centre

anything else? thanks

well we have purchased our new home and mmmmmm what a wonderful jurney that was, a quick description of our process

we have friends living in the village we have bought in, mollina andalusia, and that has certainly helped relieve the stress levels

ok with a recomendation from them the solicitor was contacted and with this started the email tennis, luckily his english is gret both written and verbal, massive help that was, this started in august after another visit to the village and another viewing of the property, finished decorating our house in september and placed on the market, first buyer messed around and delayed things, so back to one of the previous offers and back on track, email tennis still ongoing bless him. house sold moved out on 29th november, moved into flat we own with a not so happy daughter who had been living there on her own for a few months, ah well not for log lol

booked flights to malaga sorted out bed cheers gwyn & maria, email tennis getting frantic now that the sale monies had arrived into my bank account, flying sunday 8th dec completeing on the wednesday in front of notary, then email from solicitor asking if I knew it was a bank holiday on the monday, AH no I didn't, first spanner as was going to renew NIE, open bank account and sort non resident cert all sorted and ready for wednesday, the monies having been transfered to the solicitor before I flew, but now all up in the air as monday was a bank holiday, suppose it was my fault for not double checking, but hey who has a bank holiday on the 9th od december, well besides spain

so now its tuesday, have first face to face meet with the solicitor at 10 at the house to sign the contract,so up to the bank, right I need non resident cert to open account, so with letter from bank went to meet at the house come 10.45 still no sign but have to get to antequera police station and sort out cert before they close, so left owner at house and said to get solicitor to ring when he gets there, flew over to police station, handed in the letter got form, off to bank, pay fee, back to office to be told pick it up tommorrw, solicitor rang so off we go again

met him at house go through the contract, all seems ok, no outstanding depts or charges all searches came back fine property matched land registry information, so all good except for 1 little problem, as my NIE cert had 'run out' the notary office did not know if they could accept it, mmmmm he was waiting for a call, mention non res cert and he said as long as my NIE number is on it then all is good, this seemed a newish thing and no one new how this 3 month cert works, deep joy

ok back to the police station pick up cert, and no NIE number on it grrrr spoke to solicitor and he had still not got hold of notary office to check, so back to village and into the bank, besides one terminal loosing internet connection (just happened to be the one my account was being opened on) got the account open 10am
call from solicitor notarty will not take out of date cert as they are not sure if when you renew it wiether you get a new NIE number or not, double grrrrrr, solicitor says no problem he will meet me at police station at 11.30 go in sort out NIE then off to meet notarty at 12

at 12.10 when solicitor turned up at the police station and some more stress for me while waiting, walked into office to find that both of the staff who deal with NIE had gone for breakfast, so no one there, after a puzzled looked at solicitor he said 'ah well we just wait then' mmmm now 12.20

going through my paperwork he spots the form for the non res cert which is stamped and also has my NIE number on it(strange that the acctual cert does not). great he says that will do so off to the notary, I will meet you there he shouts heeding for his car, so within 10 mins I am outside the office 12.40 starting to worry about being so late for the notary, at 1 he is still not there ok panicking again and so is the owner who is also waiting outside, so a phone call and 15 mins later he turns up, ah he says there is a problem with the money, because it is over 50,000 euros it needs 2 to sign the bank draft, and only 1 is working today the other is on a course, so he went to another branch after being told they could do it, yep you guessed turns out they can't, so will have to do a transfer with the owner mmmmmm deepus joyus

so into notary office hands in the paperwork and goies to the bank with the owner, so sat that having a thumb twiddle, and a comment from my friend being it won't be long only takes about 10 mins..... HA we left the office at 2.45 shocked stunned but happy, the notary went through everything in fine detail, in spanish and english, but left as the owner of our new home, now just got to wait for all the details to change on the registry, the water and electric meters

so at this moment we are sat after moving from a 3 bed house into a 2 bed flat, surronded by boxes and tripping over each other, we have sorted out some storage and for the removal of our stuff to spain, just  have to finalise the exact date, we have booked our ferry trip as driving over with our dog, should be fun lol

so by feburary the evening of 18th we should be walking into our new home ready to start our new life....... bring on the fun lol

sorry if that was long winded but thought considering some of the horror stories on here that it went quite well

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well done !... stressfull process in any country ...

Financially speaking ...I think you have sold in the uk and bought in Spain at the right time

feliz navidad !

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Glad you are almost there.  Soon be Feb 18th.

I am about 8 month to a years behind you.  We are planning to move to Frigiliana, Nerja in September. Out to Frgig this coming June to have a final fact finding visit and who knows, maybe a property that suits will be found, if not, then renting from September whilst we look to find what we want.

Most interested in your last year, read with much interest the varied questions and also actual situation as it occured in December with the "buying".

We got our NIEs last September and opened bank accounts also at that time.  Interested in the short 3 month term of the NIE. So will need to renew that, although I beleive residencia will be the better way to go, rsther than renewing our NIE.  any thoughts on that anyone ?

Best wishes for the 18th Feb.

 

 

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Your NIE is similar to your National Insurance number in the UK.  I believe this stands for National Identity so I'd be surprised if it's only valid for 3 months.  You need this unique number if you want to work in Spain, buy a property or a car.  I have to quote this number when I pay my non-resident tax, I've also been asked for this number for my utility bills and when having work done on the house.

I always thought the padron was only valid for 3 months from date of issue but maybe things have changed since I bought a house 10 years ago.

 

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The NIE is the fiscal I D number for foreigners.  Once issued it is valid forever.

If one lives in Spain (within the generally accepted meaning of ‘lives’) unless they are non EU nationals, then they must register on the EU Foreign Citizens’ Register. That certificate will bear the same number as the NIE (if you already have one) and lasts forever.  If a non EU citizen they must apply for Residencia, which is usually valid for 5 years and then 10 years.  One must also sign on the Padron at your local town hall if you are resident. If you ask for a certificate to prove you are so registered, that cert  is valid for 3 months, .  In most towns, a resident must renew the Padron registration every 5 years. But local rules may vary.

 

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The rules and format of the NIE changed last year. It no longer shows the address and the certificate is only valid for 3 months even though the actual number you are issued stays with you for life. If you complete your property purchase within the 3 month validity of the NIE certificate then there is no need to update it.  If it is outside the 3 month date it needs to be renewed or it might not be accepted at the notary.

At the end of the 3 months you have to declare yourself either resident or non-resident. If so-called resident then you will get a green card showing your address and NIE number and states that you have registered as living in Spain as an EU citizen. If you declare non-res, you will get a Certificado de non residencia. There is no requirement to update the NIE certificate as these replace it. The non resident certificate has to be updated every 3 years now instead of the previous 2.  There is no need to update the green so-called residency card unless your address changes.

Apparently it's all so the banks can prove your status.

And. yes, things do change in Spain.

 

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I have heard/read about something similar regarding a non-resident certificate if you owned a car at your holiday home.  I have a bank account here in Spain and pay x amount every two years for the bank to apply for a certificate.  I believe it's dealt with by the local police.

Does this mean that I should apply for this certificate, take it to my bank for them to take a copy and keep it with my other car documents to show police/gardia civil/traffico office should I be stopped?

This all get very confusing, last year when this was first broached it was also claimed that non-res cert only lasted 3 month, then I heard that if had to be applied for at Alicante and it lasted 5 years.

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