Residence permit battle

By Jason Moore THE useless certificate (ie our residence piece of paper) does have its uses and while it has often been said that those who work here no longer need a residence permit, if you want to carry out any sort of transaction you do need to have some sort of proof that you are a resident. That I am afraid is the truth. It is obvious that Bulletin readers (and thank you for all your letters and keep them coming!) are not best pleased. It is not a very acceptable state of affairs. Ever since the switch from valid residence card to useless certificate I have mentioned the nightmare scenario of this new system to anyone who would listen. So far, I am afraid to say, my efforts have been in vain but I am not going to give-up. One person made the valid point that it was fellow Brits who were responsible for the piece of paper. I am not to sure if these people were British but they were non Spanish and objected to the fact that the Spanish government were asking them to carry a separate identification card which broke European Union law on the free movement of people. Brussels supported them and Spain was forced to change their legislation. It is the European Union which is to blame but I am sure that the Spanish authorities could have made a better job of administrating the system. If only the useless certificate had a photograph (which I am sure that Brussels would not object to) it would become a lot more useful. My only other suggestion (which would be totally unacceptable to many) would be if our passports also carried our NIF number. As I say it is just a suggestion!