So you decided to move to live in Alicante. Great! But don’t buy your one-way plane ticket just yet.

Things you can do as a non-resident

Even if you aren’t a resident, you can generally come to Spain for 90 days at a time without any issues. If you are an EU citizen in theory the same rules apply although no one checks.

NIE number

Anyone with a reason can apply for a Spanish NIE number (tax number essentially). You can get one if you are here as a tourist, and you’ll need it if you are buying a house. It doesn’t do you any good for immigration or give you any rights. It can be hard to get an appointment to get one, if you really need one many real estate agents know someone that can arrange it for 100-200 euros or so.

Buying a house or flat

If you have a NIE number and your passport, you can buy property in Spain. It is unlikely you will get a loan to do so unless you are a resident. Warning: if you are a non-resident and own real estate in Spain, you will have to pay “imputed” non-resident income tax on it, in addition to the property tax, garbage tax and community fees (average annual taxes are about 0.5 - 1% of the value of the property).

Opening a bank account

You can open a bank account in Spain with just your passport. It will be a “non-resident” account, so the address has to be outside of Spain.

Tax planning

You probably want to figure out what your tax situation before your move. Things to keep in mind:

  • You are generally considered a tax resident if you spend more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year. Being tax resident means that you:

    • Pay taxes on your world income
    • Pay wealth tax on your world assets

  • There some special cases:

    • The Beckham Tax is a special 24% flat tax on Spanish income up to 600.000 euros. You pay 24% on your Spanish income for and don’t need to declare your world income or assets. It’s good for six years and also applies to your spouse and children. You need to apply for within 6 months of entering Spain.

    • Using the tax treaty tie-breaker: even if you spend more than 183 days in Spain, if you maintain a residence in your home country, in some cases you can use the tie-breaker clause to choose to only be tax-resident in your home country instead of Spain.

    • Don’t tell anyone. People do this and it seems to work until it doesn’t and then you are in deep shit. People get sick, die, get divorced, get audited, etc.

Getting a residency permit for EU citizens

Many people think just because you are an EU citizen you can just come over without doing any paperwork. Although no one will deport you, it is to your advantage to register especially if you get sick or want a pension.

For a residency permit as a European citizen you need:

  • Filled out EX-18 form “Solicitud de inscripcion en el registro central de Extranjeros Residencia ciudadano de la UE”

  • Pay the 12 euro fee via Tasa790_012 (policia.gob.es) which you fill out and then take to the bank to pay. Do this before your appointment.

  • Proof that you will not be a financial burden. It depends on how you are planning on coming in:
    • Workers: your job contract
    • Students: your school registration
    • Retiree: open a bank account in Spain and deposit 10167 euros + 3388.2 euros per additional family member. The bank will give you a certificate of the balance.

  • Medical insurance: This is the tricky one and somewhat silly. The reason it is silly is that once you are a legal resident you are entitled to free medical coverage through the public system. It is tricky because depending on who you get checking your documentation, your coverage needs to be “equivalent” to the Spanish public system. Ideally this is either public coverage in an EU country or a Spanish private plan that is designed for the purpose.

    • Get form S1 (formerly E 106, E 109 and E 121) from your home country that you can use to prove coverage. Get it before you leave. In this case you don’t need private insurance .
    • When you apply for the insurance, remember that the point is to get the piece of paper you can present to immigration, not necessarily to be able to use the insurance.
    • If you are over 70, your options are very few. For example, Adeslas Senior will cover you, but they have a co-pay so it could get rejected as not being “equivalent”. Also, if there’s a waiting period for some procedures you won’t be able to apply till the waiting period is over. DKV might cover you as well, but only if you are very healthy, or at least appear so on paper.
    • Some insurance companies will throw in a “free” physical at the beginning. I’d avoid it generally since it is just a way for them to catch you if you didn’t mention any preexisting conditions so they can deny you coverage later.
  • Getting an appointment is not easy. Go to the “extranjeria citas previa” web site and look at “Tramites Policia Nacional” and select “POLICIA-CERTIFICADE DE REGISTRO DE CIUDADANO DE LA U.E.”. Most likely it will say “no hay citas disponibles” in which case you try again later. Eventually one will pop up. Have hope.

Non-EU citizens

Although you can travel to Spain on a tourist visa and stay up to 90 days, you cannot apply for a residency visa from Spain as a tourist. You need to contact your local Spanish embassy/consulate and do the paperwork for there. As part of the process you will most likely need to get a medical certificate, criminal records check among other things. These documents need to be within certain timeframes, so contact the consulate first to get the process started and figure out what you need to get.

You also need private medical coverage if your government doesn’t provide you coverage outside your home country.