Has anyone any information regarding the new rules regarding residence for EU nationals. A new law came into force at the beginning of March which indicates that persons from EU countries can only reside in Spain for 3 months without this card. After this time, it will be necessary to obtain a residence card and proof of income will be required also. Any further information please.

What? I think it must be a misunderstanding. EU citizens are free to travel, study and work in any EU country without special permits.

Antonio, it does sound weird, but it is a Royal Decree 178/2003 made on 14/02/2003 . Trying to find out how it will effect us if we want to move there now. There is also a suggestion that we will need to prove our income as well.

Hi, I have now found out the details, it would appear that EU Nationals DO NOT require this card now, it is only for NON EU persons. Now I can move to my beloved Spain with no worries. Yahoo!!!!!

Sue-
Would you mind posting the information or links you used to find the proper information out?

I think it will be extremely helpful to those looking to go to Spain without the proper documents in explaining what they'll need or what could happen if they don't have the proper paperwork.

Hi, Espe3

I found all the information on
www.ukinspain.com
although this is aimed at those in the EU it has some really useful links.

Very good link, Sue, but it still leaves people like me (ancianos jubilados) missing out on many of the benefits that would be available if we were Spain residents: tarjeta dorada for example, that allows reduced rate travel on Renfe and city bus and Metro lines. I don't know how many people in my category visit this forum but Private Bus Lines usually give me a 'senior' discount if I ask for it.

Thanks for posting the link. It does tell us that retired EU Citizens are in a different category from others.

Thank you Sue, your information is going to be a lot of help to other people I'm sure

Eddie- anyone whose not a EU national or Spanish citizen is going to have different rules! :o Unfortunately it also means MORE paperwork! :p

Hi Sue,

I've actually just got this myself and the one thing that did occur to me about your original question is that if it were the case, it would be completely unworkable because it took just over six months to process my application !

My only advice therefore is be patient, and I think that's sound advice for a lot of things here.

I just went through this myself, last week. The local 'hacienda' (tax dept.) was not aware of the implications and practical application of the new rules - but they thought that maybe they had heard something about it at some time.

Anyway... so we popped over to the local foreign police dept. and checked with the people there - who gave us a preprinted form with the citation of the new law --- to give to the *other* government department. Apparently this happens so often that they've prepared materials in advance. I also got the person's name and phone nummber so that the tax dept could phone to clarify if they wanted to (they did).

What it came down to was that I, an EU passport holder, did not require a residence permit or work permit.

The nice people at the police advised me to go to some office in Madrid and get the residence card anyway (not a permit but a card) to have something convienient to show to people or institutions that are used to everyone having one. Thess are issued the same day as you apply and it's really not supposed to be that much of a hassle. When I'm back in Madrid I'll look up the specific info and post it here.

By the way, irrespective of all that, you will still need a NIE (a Number to Identify foreigners) for tax and social security purposes.

Grant