financial eligibilty for residencia

Hi My wife and I have an appointment at our local "nick" to apply for residencia. To qualify for the minimum income level I shall need to transfer another one of my pensions over here. I have an S1 but my wife is not of retirement age. Should I arrange for another pension to be paid directly to our spanish bank account by the annuity company I will incur charges. However if payments are made to our spanish bank from our uk bank via a currency exchange company the exchange rate affords us more Euros for our GBP. Would anyone know whether the spanish authorities insist on seeing a "pension" payment on bank accounts or just a monthly lump sum credit.

I would have thought that a statement of entitlement to the pension (from the paying authority) would provide the necessary proof of income. Of course there is always the chance that the official who deals with your case may think he/she has the right to demand more. I would try it as it stands.

Hi Nicbax,

Having just done this for myself, huband and 13 year old child, we only had to show 6 months of spanish bank statements showing our monthly transfer. They were not bothered where it came from (neither of us has a pension) only that we had money comming in every month. No minimum amount was mentioned. Our one transfer per month was fine to cover all three applications. We needed two copies of the statements, one for my application and one for my husbands. Not needed for our son.

BTW. What is the minimum?

We also needed copies of NIE, passport and our health cards (or proof of health care) I think that was all we needed. Of course a certified note of your inside leg measurement, from a well known tailor on Threadneedle Street never goes amiss!

Hope this helps.

Regards, Febe

Febe - I think the minumum amount varies from region to region.  

Can I ask - if you had to have 6 months bank statements in a Spanish bank they must be expecting you to open an account 3 months before moving to Spain (given that you have to apply for a residency cert. after 90 days) - is this correct or am I missing something?

 You do not have to have residency to open a Spanish bank account, just an NIE. You then certify as non-resident.

Juan

I know you CAN open a non-resident account - I'm just thinking of the practicalities of having your income paid into a Spanish account for 3 months while you are still living in the UK and (presumably) still have to pay bills etc. there.

 I am thinking out loud here, but I think the scenarios are different. We make regular monthly payment from the UK to pay bills to a non-resident account. I believe the requirement for financial means is a cash deposit of equivalent of 6000 Euros or proof of income. I assume that is you can show a non-resident account with regular payments inward, I suspect this will suffice. If one does not have a Spanish account already, one should show either proof of income (via Tax return whatever) or a deposit somewhere.

Juan

Should be noted that the 'income' requirement is not actually about 'income'. The legally specified requirement is 'sufficient resources'. This has been ruled to include:

1) Savings
2) Property assets
3) Any other assets (stocks, shares, etc.)
4) Money/resources held by third parties that you "have access to"
Overdraft/credit cards/loans available

Here is the boletin that lists the "resources" requirements for the issue of certificates for EU citizens.

http://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2012-9218

This contains useful and interesting information, which (for a change, actually does agree with the EU rules on this subject). Rough translation of a couple of relevant bits:

c) Persons not engaged in work in Spain must provide documentation of compliance with the following two conditions:

1. ª Medicare, public or private, contracted in Spain or another country, provided that provides coverage in Spain during their period of residence equivalent to that provided by the NHS.

Pensioners meet this condition if credited by the relevant certification that they are entitled to healthcare under the State for which they receive their pension.

On resources (this also agrees with what I said earlier on the matter). It is not just a question of 'income' but NET RESOURCES.

2. Second provision of sufficient resources for themselves and their family members, to avoid becoming a burden on the welfare of Spain during their period of residence.

Accreditation of possession of sufficient resources, either by regular income, including income from work or otherwise, or ownership of an estate, shall be by any mode of proof recognized in law, such as title deeds, certified checks , obtaining supporting documentation for capital income or credit cards, bringing in the latter case an updated bank certificate certifying the amount available as of that credit card.

Which means you are even OK if you have a Platinum Amex with enough 'headroom'! More seriously, ownership of a property also qualifies you as do bank deposits.


European Parliament and Council Communication clarifying rules:

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:52009DC0313:EN:NOT

2.3. Residence of EU citizens for more than three months

EU citizens have a right of residence in the host Member State if they are economically active there. Students and economically inactive EU citizens must have sufficient resources for themselves and their family members not to become a burden on the social assistance system of the host Member State during their period of residence and have comprehensive sickness insurance cover.

The list of documents to be presented with the application for residence is exhaustive. No additional documents can be requested.

2.3.1. Sufficient resources

The notion of ‘sufficient resources’ must be interpreted in the light of the objective of the Directive, which is to facilitate free movement, as long as the beneficiaries of the right of residence do not become an unreasonable burden on the social assistance system of the host Member State.

The first step to assess the existence of sufficient resources should be whether the EU citizen (and family members who derive their right of residence from him or her) would meet the national criteria to be granted the basic social assistance benefit .

EU citizens have sufficient resources where the level of their resources is higher than the threshold under which a minimum subsistence benefit is granted in the host Member State. Where this criterion is not applicable, the minimum social security pension should be taken into account.

Article 8(4) prohibits Member States from laying down a fixed amount to be regarded as "sufficient resources" , either directly or indirectly, below which the right of residence can be automatically refused. The authorities of the Member States must take into account the personal situation of the individual concerned. Resources from a third person must be accepted[26].

National authorities can, when necessary, undertake checks as to the existence of the resources, their lawfulness, amount and availability. The resources do not have to be periodic and can be in the form of accumulated capital. The evidence of sufficient resources cannot be limited[27]. (*)

In assessing whether an individual whose resources can no longer be regarded as sufficient and who was granted the minimum subsistence benefit is or has become an unreasonable burden , the authorities of the Member States must carry out a proportionality test. To this end, Member States may develop for example a points-based scheme as an indicator. Recital 16 of Directive 2004/38 provides three sets of criteria for this purpose:

(1) duration

- For how long is the benefit being granted?

- Outlook: is it likely that the EU citizen will get out of the safety net soon?

- How long has the residence lasted in the host Member State?

(2) personal situation

- What is the level of connection of the EU citizen and his/her family members with the society of the host Member State?

- Are there any considerations pertaining to age, state of health, family and economic situation that need to be taken into account?

(3) amount

- Total amount of aid granted?

- Does the EU citizen have a history of relying heavily on social assistance?

- Does the EU citizen have a history of contributing to the financing of social assistance in the host Member State?

As long as the beneficiaries of the right of residence do not become an unreasonable burden on the social assistance system of the host Member State, they cannot be expelled for this reason[28].

Only receipt of social assistance benefits can be considered relevant to determining whether the person concerned is a burden on the social assistance system.

(*)  Case C-424/98 Commission v Italy (para 37) - In essence, savings, investments etc.  have to be taken into account.

 

Hi Febe,

Thank you for replying to my PM so quickly. However whilst this site is telling me you have replied I can`t pull it up to read.

May I please impose upon you to post it upon this forum. thanks nic.

Hi Zib,

I´m not sure about that at all. We´ve lived here now for over 6 years, with a child in school. So it´s not as if we´ve been hiding. We´ve never been asked for Residencia. Just thought it was about time we got on with it. Plus our son needed his NIE for school. We did the 3 Residencias and 1 NIE on the same day.

Our bank account has been a resident account since we moved here. We had a non-res account for about 3 years befor that.

As has been said and is true, things differ depending where you are.

Regards, Febe.