Paperwork

Under the headline; Your 90 days are up, Europe tells holiday home Britons, the article states “Britons across Europe are slipping into a post-Brexit limbo as red tape confounds their efforts to establish residency under new rules.”

I think we have to put the situation into perspective and there are three different camps.

First, those who have been living in Spain with their paperwork in order, secondly those who have been living here and their paperwork was not in order and thirdly those who have recently moved to Spain after Brexit.

The first group will have no problems; you exchange your green residence certificate (which is still valid) for one of the new TIE cards and that is basically the end of the story.

The second category do face some concerns because Spain could reject their residence application and they may have to return to Britain.

The third category are basically in the same boat. What are the dangers at the moment? New residents will not get the travel discount until they have the words “Permanent Resident” stamped on their TIE cards.

There could also be some problems with employment (for new residents) because Britain now has third nation status.

There are plenty of rumours and counter rumours circulating at the moment; my advice is before planning anything get some professional advice and do not listen to gossip or uninformed comment.

Coming from a family of long-time expats I know the stresses that paperwork can cause in Spain.