Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2022 4:33pm
Hi Katie,
Yes, sadly, Brexit has wrecked the dreams of many people hoping to retire to Spain. However, if people have a property to sell in the UK and are able to ring-fence €68,000 from the proceeds, it´s potentially still possible.
Just to clarify, the financial requirement for a NLV isn't £68,000 per year - it´s around €34,000 (approx. £28,200) for the first visa, which lasts 1 year. You then have to renew your residency, which lasts 2 years, so the €68,000 is for 2 years (i.e. €34,000/£28,200 per year). Then you have to apply for a further residency renewal, which also lasts 2 years and, again, you have to prove €68,000 for that period. Then you'll have been resident in Spain for 5 years, after which you can apply for your permanent TIE (residency) card, which lasts 10 years, and you no longer need to prove these income levels.
To give you an outline of the process, you make the initial application for the NLV at a Spanish Consulate in the UK - either London or Manchester, depending on your location, or Edinburgh if you live in Scotland. If granted, you need to move to Spain within 3 months and 15 days, and apply for your TIE residency card at a Foreigners´ office within 1 month of arriving in Spain. Some members, who've already done this, have suggested that it's possible to agree the date on which you want the visa to commence.
Unfortunately, as your husband isn't yet drawing State retirement pension, you will also both need private health insurance to support your visa applications. Just to give you an idea, my husband and I, aged 63 and 61, with no pre-existing conditions, have mid-range cover and no excess (known in Spain as "co-payments"), and we pay €1,780 per year. As you're both quite a bit younger, you'd probably be able to get similar cover for around an annual total of €1,400. If this is something you would want to go ahead with, it would be worth asking the forum for insurance recommendations.
Kind regards,
Kim