A summary of it has been released to the public, on which we
are basing the following information, which we think you may find useful. In
case new and relevant information is contained in the published law, we will
send an update to this Newsletter.
Please note that measures approved are temporary and unilateral,
which means that they will no longer be valid once the relevant period
established has ended or if a bilateral agreement is reached between Spain and
UK, or if a broader agreement is reached between the European Union and UK.
Another important requirement for those measures to apply is
that United Kingdom provides similar treatment to Spanish Nationals living in
the UK.
The measures that will affect circa 300.000 registered UK
citizens living in Spain will be:
RESIDENCE PERMITS
British citizens residing in Spain before the date of
withdrawal from the United Kingdom (March 29th, 2019) will fall in the general
immigration regime after Brexit.
• All
registered British residents in Spain will be considered legal residents after
Brexit. In order to obtain permanent residency, prior periods of residence in
Spain will be taken into account in accordance with the EU citizens' regime.
• In order
to facilitate the documentation of all British citizens in Spain, the
certificates of registration and family cards of citizenship of the Union will
remain valid until the issuance of new documents under the general regime of
foreigners.
This means that the current green residence cards or
residence A4 papers that you hold will remain temporarily valid until the end
of year 2020. After January 2021, UK citizens will be expected to exchange
their EU resident cards for a Non-EU residence cards.
For those British citizens that do already hold a permanent
residence card, the exchange process will be virtually automatic. We strongly
advise British citizens living in Spain, who do not hold a residence card yet,
to register as resident before Brexit at the Foreigner’s Police Station before
March 29th.
DRIVING IN SPAIN
Spain has granted a 9 month period following Brexit to
exchange UK driving licences for Spanish driving licences. If you are a UK
licence holder living in Spain from that date, in the event that there is no EU
Exit deal, and no bilateral agreement, you may have to pass a Spanish driving
test to be able to carry on driving in Spain.
Residents in Spain should consider exchanging your UK
driving licence for a Spanish driving licence as soon as possible. Increased
demand may lead to longer processing times and delays to exchanging driving
licences.
HEALTH ASSISTANCE
Spain will continue rendering health assistance to UK
citizens who have either an EHIC card, or that have transferred their UK health
rights into Spain in the same way as before Brexit - at least during April and
May 2019.
After June 2019, rendering of health services to UK citizens
will depend on:
• UK
guaranteeing that Spanish citizens also receive health assistance in the UK,
which will be paid by the Spanish Government.
• UK
reimbursing Spain for the cost of medical treatment of UK citizens receiving
health assistance in Spain.
