Residency info

[Miro]

Sounds like you have a slightly complicated case, Don! Not least of which must be having a boat so far inland?!
I read something somewhere about people who split their time between 3 countries (or more) never spending more than the requsite 183 days in any one of them, therefore not legally resident anywhere.
I wonder who'll sort out all these issues for Lewis Hamilton when he moves to Switzerland?

[Don]

Boat not inland Miro although Sevilla is THE only inland port of Spain with docks and more than one marina for yachts. We are only an hour's drive from choice of coastal places.

[Miro]

Silly me. Didn't someone famous once set sail from Sevilla to discover the New World? Columbus, de Gama, Pizarro, Magellan...? Probably all of them. History's not my thing I'm afraid.

[Don]

Loads of debate as to whether Christopher Columbus was Spanish Portuguese or whatever and whether he set sail from Cadiz or Sevilla. One fact is widely recognised though .... the man who actually shouted "Land ho! " was not Captain Columbus but was the bloke on watch in the crows nest who was ..... Rodriguez de Triana. So he "discovered" America in the strictest sense.

I hope you know where Triana is.

[Miro]

Or was it Leif Ericsson? But now we're getting too far off topic.....

[Superplonk]

Steering things back to the useless residency document, I suggest a (not entirely legal) temporary solution. If it is the case that the only time I would need to prove residency is when stopped by traffic police then I intend to flash my tarjeta sanitaria. In conjunction with my passport, would this not prove both identity and residency?
Clearly my failure to obtain the certificate is illegal, but EVERYONE in Spain is on the fiddle to some extent. As far as I know the aforementioned is my one and only piece of non-compliance. When, as a previous poster predicted, the current system implodes under its absurdity and I can pick up my pointless certificate from my local post office at midday without queuing, I will happily rejoin the law abiding.
Am I missing something?

[El Cid]

Am I missing something?

You obviously have already got a health card but starting from scratch you will need the residency certificate to get a health card.

Catch 22.

Sid

[laclotte]

I read something somewhere about people who split their time between 3 countries (or more) never spending more than the requsite 183 days in any one of them, therefore not legally resident anywhere.

Correct - the term is known as a 'fiscal nomad'. However it is not automatically 183 days .... certain countries have a 90 day requirement. Check it all out fully as there is/can be a 'problem' regarding private medical insurance if you chose to go down this road.

[tjtops]

Neither have I Kenny.......ells bells. Or is it scaremongering by mischief makers just to stir us all up a bit more???

[Miro]

Ah yes, the Fiscal Nomad. What a romantic notion - roaming around freely, paying taxes to no one! Interesting question about the private medical insurance. I wouldn't have thought (if you pay enough) they would care where you are resident (or not)? I must ask my yachting friends. They literally reside nowhere, since they live aboard boats that rarely stay put in one country for long. They are paid into off-shore bank accounts so pay no taxes. There are drawbacks, of course, but aren't there always?

[laclotte]

Normally you have to take out (long term) private insurance in the country of your domicile.............fiscal nomad....no domicile
I don't find it at all a romantic notion.....I just think of the hassle packing up the suitcases...yet again and again.....every 90 days or so!
I guess your yachting friends are somewhat younger than ourselves and that age group are usually less concerned regarding medical insurance.
Been there (years ago) ....done it

[Miro]

I think the likes of Lewis hamilton can probably afford more than one wardrobe, so doesn't actually need to pack up when he moves from one home to another!
I suppose if you stay with one boat for any length of time, you don't have to keep packing up. But none of them seem to. It's a very transient business - one of the downsides. Like you say, they tend to be mostly quite young, so the novelty hasn't yet worn off. Still, for the few that stick at it and make a career, get the qualifications etc and go on to be skippers or 1st mates on big luxury motor yachts, I suppose €5000 a month tax free and absolutley no living expenses has it's appeal
I think most boats have some sort of medical insurance coverage for their crew, so that's probably another field altogether.

[El Cid]

. They literally reside nowhere, since they live aboard boats that rarely stay put in one country for long. They are paid into off-shore bank accounts so pay no taxes. There are drawbacks, of course, but aren't there always?

I once tried to be a Fiscal Nomad. I spent 6 years cruising around the Med and other places and never was in any country long enough to qualify as tax resident.

However my income from pensions etc was generated in the UK and there was no way to get it paid tax free. The Revenue just said, until you can prove you are paying the tax somewhere else you will have tax deducted in the UK.

If your income is generated somewhere else you might stand a chance but it's pretty difficult.

Sid

[Don]

OK, so one personal thing .... I am not a fiscal nomad.
Yes I spend time on the boat in international waters at times but this does not affect my tax situation one iota. I pay all my taxes, avoiding nothing. It is noteworthy that at least in UK residency law, the day of departure and arrival does not count as resident. There was a time when I regularly flew Spain to UK on a Friday and back on the Sunday. If this was every week then I dont count Friday or Sunday, I am in UK 1 day a week (saturday) and in Spain 4 days. I know this challenges normal maths but in those days I existed as far as tax law goes for only 5 days out of 7. Now I dont fly anything like as often, well not this year, but to answer the thing about driving licenses there is some bad news having checked this out over past days. Spain was taken to court and hence now cannot demand or even issue Tarjeta de Residencia to EU citizens and they cannot demand you change your EU driving license to a Spanish one ..... BUT they went back to court AND ......

They can and do require that you must register with NIE if you stay for more than 3 months continuously in Spain. This is not residencia which is established by a presence in Spain for 183 days or more in each year.

Now we have the driving license. Whilst you are not obliged to exchange a UK driving license for a Spanish one under any circumstances, If you are normally resident in Spain (some room for interpretation here) you are required to comply with the same terms that a Spanish driver would have to do. That means for those of us 45 yrs and more we need to prove our medical fitness to drive as if we held a Spanish license. The medical test is very simple and quick - eyesight and hearing - takes 20 or 30 minutes max and no appointment necessary. But it is required every 5 years and at an older age more frequently.

Thats what I understand so far. Thanks to Miro, El Cid and others for telling me I am about right or way off. Now I have to decide what I do about it and each to their own.

The biggest threat lies in driving on a 99% correct license and you have a major insurance claim when some smart Alec (apologies Alec) spots your license is not Spanish legal.

Now .........

[Miro]

That's about it in a nutshell Don.
Just like to point out for those under 45, that you also have to comply with Spanish terms of having a driving licence, which means a medical every 10 years. Dons description of the medical sounds about right - it's a bit of a joke really, but not much different to that required to get an HGV licence in the UK (or whatever it's called these days). Strangely, I found no reference to the medical requirements on the dgt website. Anyone?
As for insurance - whether it's health, motor, marine, household - I don't think there's an insurance company anywhere in the world that won't happily sell you a policy for whatever cover you ask for. BUT, when it comes to a claim of any sort, they will get Alec (sorry!) to dig and dig until he finds some obscure reason why they don't have to pay out.
And with the twits in Brussels making our lives more and more complicated by spinning more & more yards (whoops, I mean metres) of red tape, Alecs job is just getting easier.

[spanish_lad]

Am I missing something?

You obviously have already got a health card but starting from scratch you will need the residency certificate to get a health card.

Catch 22.

Sid

i know 4, maybe 5 people who have a tarjeta sanitaria who are not resident. they have nie numbers, thats it.

[El Cid]

i know 4, maybe 5 people who have a tarjeta sanitaria who are not resident. they have nie numbers, thats it.

As far as I know, if you are non resident, you cannot have full health cover in Spain. The only way, apart from working and paying social security, is with either form E106 or E121 which are only issued to people who have come to Spain permanently.

How did they get their cards and are you sure they are full entitlement cards, not some form of temporary card issued when a non resident wants ongoing treatment under the EHIC emergency system.

Sid