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Brexit: What to do if you haven’t got your Spain residency papers in order yet

Brits who failed to legally register in Spain before the original Brexit day of March 29th have reported difficulties getting their papers in order. Here’s what you need to know:

Published: 9 April 2019 17:56 CEST

Brexit: What to do if you haven’t got your Spain residency papers in order yet

Photo: ruskpp/Depositphotos

In the months and weeks leading up to March 29th – the original Brexit date – we urged readers to make sure that they had registered properly with the Spanish authorities to ensure that they could legally stay in the country in the case of a no-deal Brexit.

Well that date has been and gone but we are still no closer to knowing whether or not the UK will ratify a withdrawal agreement or crash out of the European Union with a no-deal Brexit. Or when that might happen.

But there are reasons to be calm in Spain. Last month, in a move that was hugely welcomed by Brits living in Spain, the Spanish government signed a Royal Decree to set out contingency plans covering a No-Deal Brexit that would “assure the continued rights of those British living in Spain”.

READ MORE:

The measures, which were formally announced on March 1st, included the guarantee that those Britons legally resident in Spain on March 29th would be offered new permanent residency papers

Yes, there will be some more bureaucracy to navigate as British residence in Spain will have to apply for a new foreigner identity card, sometime before December 31th 2020.

“The process will be nearly automatic,” for those who already have permanent residency, said the text.

In order to make sure that, whatever happens, Brits in Spain are in the best place to secure their rights, they need to ensure that they are indeed a legal resident.

British Embassy officials had emphasised that Brits living in Spain should ensure that they were properly registered before March 29th.

If you don't have either of the two documents above then you are NOT registered as a resident in Spain.

“Please make sure you are registered correctly and that means that you should have either an A4 size green piece of paper or a small credit card size piece of green paper,” explained Sarah-Jane Morris, the Consul General, at various outreach events held across Spain.

Spanish authorities estimated that more than 300,000 Brits are officially registered but suspect that there are tens of thousands more entitled to do so.

Registering is essential for anyone who has spent more than three months in Spain and involves making an appointment at your local foreigners office (Extranjeria) or if there isn't one then your local National Police station.

But because of the sudden rush to register before Brexit happened, appointments are scarce and some people have even been turned away and told it is no longer possible.

But don’t despair, the Spanish government guaranteed that those who have proof that they lived her before the UK leaves the EU will have their rights guaranteed.

Here’s what you need to do:

Securing a ‘cita previa' – private appointment – is notoriously difficult and can require dozens of attempts as they are only released a certain number of weeks in advance and there is currently quite a backlog.

You need to keep checking the online appointment system for new residency appointments on a weekly basis.

The British consulate in Malaga advises “to keep (print out) any documentation that you receive, even the rejection notification of no appointments available and keep these for proof that you have been trying to get an appointment, to start the residency application process just in case to show later on when you do eventually get an appointment.”

For the step by step guide in how to get residency READ MORE

Register on the padron:

If you haven’t done this yet, you should. And it’s fairly straightforward although you will need a “cita previa” at the town hall.

This provides proof that you were living in Spain. The certificate itself is only valid for three months at a time. But once you are registered you do not need to re-register every 3 months but you do need to return to the town hall every three months to request another copy of the certificate (currently it is free of charge) – useful if going forward you need to prove how long you have been living here.

All you need is proof that you live where you live – a utility bill will do.

Don’t Panic!

The British Embassy have put this reassuring message on their website:

“We know many of you are worried that you haven’t got your residency certificate yet and are unable to get an appointment, but the message is: don’t panic! Even if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, the Spanish Government has given a 21-month grace period when you will be legally resident, whether you have your document or not.

More information:

FCO website 'Living in Spain' HERE and their Facebook page HERE:

Spanish government dedicated Brexit information page HERE

List of provincial Extranjerias – foreigner offices – HERE

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INTERVIEW: 'A lot of people think Brexit is done, but it's not for Brits in Europe'

In the early days of 2021, after the United Kingdom had left the EU and completed the final stage of Brexit, many British citizens returned to their home countries in Europe only to face a grilling at the border.

Though the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) technically guaranteed their right to live and work in the countries they’d settled in before Brexit, there was widespread confusion about these fundamental rights and many were treated like new arrivals.

Over time, the chaos at the airports subsided as border officials and airlines were given clearer guidance on the treatment of Brits. But three years later, a number of Brits who live on the continent still face problems when it comes to proving their post-Brexit rights.

This was the reason campaign group British in Europe decided to set up their new EU-funded ICE project. Starting this year in March, it aims to build valuable connections between UK citizens abroad and mentor the next generation of civil rights advocates around the continent. The acronym stands for ‘Inform, Empower, Connect’ and the project’s organisers describe it as “the first project of its kind”.

“It’s a completely innovative project – especially the fact that it’s across so many countries,” Jane Golding, chair of British in Europe and one of the project’s founders, told The Local.

Bringing together groups from 11 EU member states, the project aims to train up volunteers to understand both the Withdrawal Agreement and EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, as well as learning skills like advocacy and communication, using real-life civil rights cases that are referred to British in Europe.

“The ultimate goal is to amplify the messages across the wider group,” said Golding. “You start with the volunteers, they go back to their groups, then the people that we train, they go back and train people. Then they pass on that knowledge to the wider groups, on their Facebook accounts and through social media, and hopefully it all snowballs, not just in their countries but across the EU.”

‘Far-reaching repercussions’

So many years after Brexit, it’s hard to believe that there’s still a need for a project like ICE that empowers Brits to protect their rights. Indeed, the future of groups like British in Europe and regional groups like British in Germany and Spain-based group EuroCitizens felt uncertain just a year or two ago.

But Golding says there are still serious issues cropping up for Brits in several countries around Europe – they just have a different quality to the problems that arose at the start.

“In some ways it’s needed even more because as we predicted right at the beginning, at the first stage of implementation, you’ve got the more routine cases,” she explained.

“What we’re seeing now is not as many cases, but when the cases come up, they’re complex. They can have such far-reaching repercussions on people’s lives. And of course, memories start to fade. A lot of people think Brexit is already done, but it’s not.”

Volunteers in British in Europe ICE project

The volunteers of the British in Europe ICE project pose for a photo at the kick-off meeting in Brussels on May 21st, 2024. Photo courtesy of British In Europe

Though the rights set out in the Withdrawal Agreement apply across the continent, different countries have taken different approaches to implementing them.

That means that while in Germany, for example, UK citizens simply had to declare that they lived in the country, people in neighbouring Denmark had to apply for their rights.

This led to a notorious situation in Denmark in which as many as 2,000 Brits were threatened with deportation after not applying in time or completing the right application process. According to Golding, this had a lot to do with the fact that people who arrived in 2020 weren’t given the same information as other UK migrants who arrived before.

In Sweden, meanwhile, the situation is still difficult for many Brits who lived there prior to Brexit.

“There have been issues with an anomalously high numbers of refusals compared to other countries, and they seem to be taking a very strict approach on late applications,” Golding explained.

Portugal has been another difficult case. Although the country opted for a declaratory system where Brits could simply exchange old residence documents for a new ID card after Brexit, reports suggest that the authorities have taken years to issue these cards, leaving many of the some 34,000 Brits in the country in limbo.

“While people are still waiting to have their status confirmed and have their card in their hand, it’s difficult to access a whole range of services, like health services, or applying for jobs or dealing with the authorities, or even going to the bank,” Golding said. “All of these problems just affect people’s lives.”

A French border guard checks a passport at the border

A French border guard checks a passport at the border. Photo by DENIS CHARLET / AFP

There are also concerns about the EU’s new exit and entry system (EES), due to come into force in October, which is based on biometric documentation.

“We still do not have clear data on how many people in declaratory countries like Germany, where it wasn’t compulsory to apply for the card, don’t actually have a card,” Golding said. “How is that going to play out if it’s a document-based digitalised system?”

A lack of support

In the immediate aftermath of Brexit, funding from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) was still available to support NGOs in Europe helping Brits with their migration and civil rights issues. But that temporary funding soon expired, leaving groups like British in Europe largely on their own.

“The whole point is people’s lives change at very different paces,” Golding said. “And now this project is really going to start to pick up some of those cases and report on those issues, which is really crucial and exciting for the precedent that it sets, and it’s very clearly necessary still, because people don’t just sort their lives in the 18 months that the FCDO chose to supply that funding.”

This feeling of being left alone and increasingly isolated from the UK is one that many Brits in Europe have felt in the aftermath of Brexit. But the upcoming UK election on July 4th could be a game-changer.

This time, following a change in the law, Brits who have lived abroad for more than 15 years will be able to vote for the first time.

Polling station in the UK

A polling station in the UK. Photo by Elliott Stallion on Unsplash

When it comes to the election, the message from British in Europe is clear: “Make your voice count now, make your vote count, make sure you use it,” Golding said.

With the June 18th registration deadline fast approaching, BiE is advising UK citizens abroad to apply for a proxy vote as soon as possible, rather than relying on a postal vote from abroad. Since the 15-year rule was abolished on January 16th, more than 100,000 British citizens have registered to vote, according to official statistics. It is unclear how many were registered before the change in the law.

With an estimated 4.7 million Brits currently living abroad – 1.3 million of whom are in the EU – this could have a significant impact on the electoral landscape, Golding says. But most significantly, the change is creating a feeling of connection and belonging that wasn’t there before.

Nurturing this sense of belonging is one of the main goals of ICE.

With these bridges being built, British in Europe hopes to create a network of support that spans across borders.

“Now we’ve met. We’re going to meet,” said Golding. “We know we’re going to meet again in Berlin in October and then we’ll meet again in the new year in 2025 as well. It means a huge amount because even British in Europe, our steering team, we’ve only met physically three times.”

This opens up the possibility of people sharing their knowledge from country to country, Golding explained.

“There is crossover and the reassurance of having that EU wide view and knowing that you’re not alone and knowing that in this country, we managed to get this solution,” she said. “And then you can go back and say to the authorities in your country, well, in that country they did that – all of that helps. It’s really good.”

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