Time to get Spanish residency - Extra appointments available in Alicante

BRITISH expats were this week urged to take advantage of the delay in the UK leaving the European Union and apply for Spanish residency.

The delay to Brexit until January 31 has created a breathing space to complete the paperwork and the Spanish authorities have a dedicated team ready to process applications in Alicante.

Vice-Consul Sara Munsterhjelm said it was “really easy” to get an appointment and the Spanish government had extra staff in the immigration office ‘Oficina de Extranjeros’ in the city to process applications by British people.

“It is really important to make sure you get residency,” she told a meeting of the Association of Foreign Property Owners in Calpe on Tuesday.

She said an appointment could be booked online and information was available at the official website www.gov.uk/ living-in-spain; including a link to the Spanish immigration office website and its option for UK citizens.

“If we leave with a deal, we go into a transition period until the end of December 2020, nothing will change until December 31 at the earliest,” she said.

“If we leave with no deal, the Spanish authorities take a slightly different approach and you have to be living in Spain before January 31 and make sure you are registered on the town hall list, the padron, or have something else like a rental agreement.”

Miss Munsterhjelm said the Alicante office was offering extra appointments for residency applications in the city and have stopped offering appointments across the province.

“My advice for anyone who has not got residency is to go to Alicante. It is really easy to get an appointment if you are

British and they have hired extra staff to cope with Brexit.”

She said after Brexit, the Spanish would issue a plastic card with a photograph to replace the current EU citizen residency certificate. “Don’t worry, you will be informed how to do it.”

She said unlike the residency certificate, the card would be an official identity document. “Every cloud has a silver lining”.