Jason MoorePalma08/12/2016 00:00
TW
1

I sincerely hope that the British and Spanish governments are going to be clear about the status of British citizens in Spain post-Brexit in the New Year. It would appear that we will no longer need the ill-fated "useless green certificate" which shows that British citizens are registered and living legally on the island. I suspect that post-Brexit we will see a return of the old-style residence permits which are issued to citizens of non-European Union countries at the moment. In some ways this is good news because as we all know the "green certificate" is not an identification document but the old-style residencia card is.

Also, there is the issue of work permits. Post-Brexit, will British citizens living in Spain need a work permit? At the moment citizens from non-European Union countries need one, so it will be interesting to see if British citizens also fall into this bracket. At the moment there is plenty of concern on these two issues. I suspect that in the end a recipricol agreement will be signed under which "existing" British citizens will be able to continue as normal. So-called "new arrivals" may need different paperwork. However, looking at the Brexit situation in Britain at the moment it may be months, if not years, until the whole situation becomes clearer. Until that stage it might be an idea if the British government gave British citizens some guidance. It would be rather nice to know how they see our position post-Brexit.