Fast track to new status
Spain prepares for hard Brexit
BRITISH expats legally registered as resident in Spain will have to apply for a new third-country national identity card after March 29, the scheduled date for Brexit.
The card – the ‘Tarjeta de Identification de Extranjeros’ or TIE – will be biometric and valid throughout Spain and for travel amongst the remaining European Union countries with a passport.
And Spain will allow a generous ‘period of grace’ in the event of a hard Brexit to allow British citizens to register as third-country nationals – the length of this transition period is not yet fixed and will also be dependent on the effective date the UK and EU part company.
The Spanish contingency plans being prepared for a ‘no deal’ were discussed as representatives of campaign group EuroCitizens met with civil servants from the foreign ministry, interior ministry and presidencia in Madrid earlier this month.
The group – part of the British in Europe alliance – reported back to other expat representatives that a law giving full details was expected to be in place in the event of a hard Brexit next month. There are 314,000 British people living in Spain including 77,000 pensioners.
However, the meeting heard of key points of the Spanish government’s plans; EuroCitizens president Michael Harris said: “The government aims to make our transition from EU citizens to third-country nationals as simple as possible, though everything will be conditional on reciprocity and the UK government’s treatment of Spanish citizens in the UK.”
Identification
After March 29, existing EU documents – the residence certificate or card issued to people as a ‘family member’ of the bloc – will continue to be valid until the end of a period of grace when expats will have to apply for the new third-country identification TIE.
Granting the new status will be 'practically automatic' for legally registered UK citizens and Spain has promised extra resources in areas with large British populations.
People not yet registered should immediately apply to become residents; those unable to apply or have yet to receive an appointment before March 29 will be told of a specific process to get the TIE during the period of grace – those unable to do so will have to apply directly for the identity; requirement will be ‘similar’ to a EU citizen and less demanding than the general residence process for all other third-country nationals.
And Brits arriving after Brexit will be processed in the same way as those from all other third-country nationals with requirements that are more demanding than for EU citizens.
The report also pointed out that if there is no agreement when the UK leaves the EU, British citizens who are not registered as residents – like other third-country nationals – will only be allowed to spend 90 days in Spain in any one six-month period and their exit and entry will be controlled at airports and port.
Expats with more than five years of legal residence will be able to get longterm residence (residencia de larga duración); those with less than five years can apply after completing the time as being resident in Spain.
Employment
And people working either employed or self-employed can continue to do so; those with professional qualifications registered before March 29 will also continue as before; British nationals working as a Spanish civil servant (funcionario) can continue in their employment.
Healthcare and social security coordination arrangements for British citizens in Spain and Spanish nationals in the UK will be subject to new bilateral agreements between the two countries.
The EuroCitizens report concludes: “One of the most difficult things to deal with for UK residents since the Brexit vote has been the lack of certainty about our futures.
“Now at least we know that, despite a Brexit cliff-edge, in Spain there will be a lengthy transition period and potentially simple administration procedures to enable us to bridge the sad transition from European citizens to third-country nationals.”
The group thanked the government officials for the meeting and who have engaged with representatives since Article 50, the process for leaving the EU, was triggered almost two years ago.