Cutting It A Bit Too Fine For My Liking !

I am not one who ‘generally’ tends to allow myself to worry about things that I have no control or influence over, you my reader’s will probably have got sick of hearing me quote that particular statement within these rambles over and over again. However, when you have moved your whole life from your natural ‘home’ country to live a new life in a ‘foreign’ country, one in which you have to keep applying to renew your residency Visa every few year’s in order to permit you to continue to do so, then that philosophy can, at times, go flying out of the window 😲.

After gaining our initial Visa and Residency Permit three year’s previously, we then had to go through our first renewal just a short twelve months later. It is actually a two part process, first you have to apply to the Immigration Authorities to approve the renewal of your Visa, for without this approval you cannot apply to renew your actual ‘Residency Permits’ (TIE) and, if that Visa approval is not forthcoming then, when it expires, you have 90 days in which to leave the country 😲 Unless of course you are an ‘Illegal Migrant’ who have been living, and/or working, in the country for a number of year’s under the radar, and then you just have to sit and wait for an Amnesty period to be announced 🤷‍♂️ Why pay thousands of pounds using the ‘Legal’ route these days, I am seriously beginning to wonder because, it appears that you are more likely to experience more and more rules and procedures for being a law abiding citizen 🤷‍♂️

Our first renewal period, in June 2024, was a bit of an anxious time, but only because it was the first time that we had gone through it, and so we were unsure of the actual processes and procedures, or the timelines involved, although we were using the services of our Spanish Solicitor’s and, as it happened, the anxieties that we had, at that particular time, proved to be unnecessary, as the two separate processes went seamlessly and were completed without any issues, all within a short four week time frame.

So here we are, two year’s later, and it is time to go through what would be the last ‘Tempory Residency’ renewal process, for after this one, in June 2028, we would have completed our mandatory five-year ‘Temporary Residency’ period and could then apply for our ‘Permanent Residency’. Although that word ‘Permanent’ is a bit misleading, because in respect of Spanish “Foreign Residents’ Visa’s, the so called ‘Permanent’ one’s still currently have to be renewed after every 5 year period 🤷‍♂️ Although, there are mutterings amongst the grapevine, that these 5 year renewals could be extended to every 10 years 🤞However, the grapevine is often not an Official medium for accurate information.

Now you can only apply sixty days in advance of the Visa expiry date to renew them, so, on the 15th April we commenced the process of applying to renew both our Visa’s, and Residency Permits (TIE Cards), but this time we actually felt quite relaxed about it, and you know what happens when you do that, yes, the ‘Dark Forces’ have their beady eyes on you 🙄 As I am sure you would expect by now, of course ‘yes’, me and my OCD Buddy were already prepared, we had all of the documentary evidence ready, the stuff that was officially required and which our Solicitor’s had confirmed to us that we needed. They then confirmed that our Visa renewal applications had been submitted digitally by them and so, all we had to do was sit and wait for the approval confirmation, before we could then proceed to Stage two. They also assured us that we would not be caught up in the delays currently being experienced by the recent introduction of the Spanish Governments ‘Migrant Regularisation Programme’, the one that was currently in operation between the 1st April and 30th June. This was an Amnesty period directed towards those who had been living, and/or working, ‘Illegally’ in Spain and it was estimated that there could be in the region of half a million undocumented ‘Illegal Immigrants’ 😲 However, for ourselves who didn’t fit into that category, as we had paid thousands of pounds taking the ‘Legal’ Residency route, so all we had to do was wait until our ‘routine’ Visa renewal applications were confirmed. On receiving that confirmation, our Solicitor’s would then move to Stage two of the process, this would involve them securing appointments for us to attend ‘in person’ at our local Guardia Civil Immigration Dept, in Estepona to submit our applications for the renewal of our physical Residency Permits (TIE Cards). Our current Residency Visas were due to expire on 13th June, so we had commenced the process in good time on 15th April.

We started to get a little nervous when, just three weeks before our Visas were due to expire, we received notification that the Immigration Dept were now demanding evidence that we had in fact been living in Spain over the last year 😲 This had not been part of the previous Visa renewal process, so we had not prepared for it and now, with the clock ticking and time rapidly running out, we had to ask how they wanted us to prove that 🤷‍♂️ Those communications ate into another two days of our rapidly dwindling time frame. They wanted ‘Official’ Bank Statements from both our Spanish and UK Banks, and that wasn’t as straightforward as you may imagine. For the Spanish Bank Statements, no of course we couldn’t just go on-line and print off statements ourselves, that would be far too easy, no, they had to be done at the bank and each page, front and back, had to contain their official stamp, so we had to make an appointment to be able to do this, and of course, there were no appointments available for three days 😲 However, the Immigration people were happy to accept copies of our UK Bank Statements ‘without’ official stamps 🤷‍♂️ provided they were on official bank headed paper. Have I ever mentioned previously in these rambles about how frustrating Spanish Bureaucracy can be ?

We were in, and out, of our Spanish Bank within five minutes of our appointment and fortunately, the local branch of our Spanish Solicitor’s is in our local town, so we hot-footed it to their offices and handed them the documents, which they scanned and sent to the Immigration Department. Then all we could do was sit and wait, and wait, and wait and sweat it out as each day passed, with our Visa expiry date growing ever closer. So when I say in the future, “Do not worry about things that you are unable to Influence or Control”, bear in mind that there may be some exceptions to that philosophy, especially if the results of those ‘thing’s’ could have a major impact on your personal lives 😲 We had, through no fault of our own I hasten to add, given those evil ‘Dark Forces’ another opportunity to strike at us once again.

With less than one week left on our Visas, finally we received the ‘digital confirmation’ that our Visas Renewals had at last been approved 😮‍💨 That was, ‘Cutting It A Bit Too Fine For My Liking’. It should have been more of a joyous occasion than it actually was, so let me just describe it as a great relief (Massive Understatement). Unfortunately that news came on a Saturday morning, so we will have to wait until Monday to prompt our Solicitor’s to attempt to secure us our appointments to submit our TIE Card renewals. However, this is where the delays could really kick in, for the local Immigration Offices that are dealing with the ‘Routine’ Residency Card Renewal Applications, are one and the same as those also processing the ‘Migrant Regularisation Programme’ initial Residency Card issues, and they have not been provided with extra manpower to process this massive extra workload, so you do not have to be overly intelligent person to realise that of course there were going to be inevitable delays, unless of course, miracles of miracles, our Solicitor’s manage to just happen to time it right with their request, and get us a relatively quick appointment confirmation, and ‘Pigs may fly’ is the immediate thought that springs to mind. Obviously, for practical everyday reasons, we would like to be in possession of our updated TIE Cards, as they also serve as our Spanish Identity Cards, but in reality, provided we did not need to travel outside of the Spanish Mainland, or needed an Official Service, they are not quite as important as the Visa’s, for it is the Visa’s that provide us with the proof that we are actually ‘Legal Residents’ for another two year’s. So now it is just another waiting game, but with a slightly little less stress and anxiety 😮‍💨

It raised another couple of questions in my mind about this ‘Migrant Regularisation Programme’ ? So let’s say you were one of those living here illegally, and potentially earning an undocumented income, or just living on UK Pensions (State and Private) and you decided to take this Amnesty opportunity and register as a Resident. Would the Spanish Authorities then come after you for ‘Tax Evasion’ 🤔 Even Brits, just living here on their UK Government State Pensions, as many do, although they possibly will not have been paying tax in the UK, if that were their only income, as it is under the Personal Tax Threshold, but under the ‘No Double Tax’ Agreement, as we ourselves discovered, the UK State Pension is, by agreement with the UK, taxed here in Spain and not in the UK and ‘With Ignorance Of The Law’ being no excuse, well that could be a very interesting point couldn’t it 🤔

The other question I ask myself is, in respect of the Financial Requirements for obtaining residency, under those requirements, we, legally have to prove that we have the annual income specified to obtain residency here, which is currently €36,000 per annum, for a couple. So, does that apply to those who register under this ‘Migrant Regularisation Programme’ ? Or perhaps it is once again a case of one rule for some, and another rule for other’s. It could be that it isn’t just the UK that has two tier standards, or are these questions that, as a legal but foreign resident, I shouldn’t be asking out aloud 😲

We now have no immediate plans to depart Spain, by choice or otherwise 🙄 Looking at some of the issues with doing so, it is probably a good job that we don’t plan on holidaying elsewhere within Europe at this moment in time either.

So, this ramble is really just an update on our Residency status, as I had mentioned it in a previous recent ramble, before there then being silence on the subject, and now you know why 🤷‍♂️ The next renewal for our ‘Permanet Residency’ status should also be interesting, well at least for you my reader’s, for on that one we need to prove that we have not been out of Spain for more than the permitted 10 month period during that first 5 year period, and then of course, any other surprise requirement that the Authorities decide to throw into the mix 😲

Just as a footnote, yes living here for the majority of the time is a truly wonderful privilege, and one that we both enjoy very much. However, there are frequent formal processes that have to be conducted and complied with, and they can, occasionally, create frustration and a degree of anxiousness. So I hope that through these rambles, documenting our ongoing lifestyle here, can also provide an insight into some of the other ‘things’ that have to taken into consideration, not just about enjoying the heat and the sunshine, the beautiful Spanish scenery, the laying on beautiful beaches and swimming in azure coloured seas, or people watching whilst enjoying a ‘Cafe con Leche’ or perhaps even the occasional Anti-Covid Vaccine 🤭 Although, the reality is that, all of those above things that I have just mentioned, make the Bureaucratic aspects pale into insignificance.

Until my next ramble……………….

Hasta Luego mi Amigos, La Vida Es Buena (Well it is now 😂)