Obtaining residencia

We applied for ours a couple of weeks ago through a Gestor. I got my approval last week but we are still waiting for my other half to come through. The Gestor did say the earliest appointment, for prints, she had recently booked was for 28th December. I suspect ours will be 2021

Check out

www.getlegalinspain.com

Very informative website menu and if needed they are very helpful as I have used them myself, although their prices have risen since I used them 3 months or more ago.

Good luck, stay safe and healthy.

Thank you I will check this out. Its really annoying when they ask for a document, you get it, send it, then they say its not good enough, they want a signature and stamp on it. 

I spoke to Uma at Get Legal In Spain yesterday - she said she's so busy, she's now having to decline first-time application requests, because she can't guarantee being able to complete the registration process in the time that's left before the end of the year 😳

Hi Trotter,

Yes, you are wrong.  The deadline of 30 June 2021 applies to EU member states that implemented a Constitutive residency system, such as France; it doesn't apply to countries such as Spain, that have implemented a Declaratory system.

As for Uma, she hasn't been "ferrying" people to Alicante for their initial applications, she's been doing them online.  She made my friends' EX-20 application this way and they received their approvals last week.  She's also done their EX-23 applications and their driving licences.  She's much more responsive than the original company that they approached, One Way Services, who haven't contacted them since their initial contact almost 6 months ago.  The original recommendation for Uma came from members of this forum: Cheryl, Peter and others, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Get Legal in Spain too. 

Kind regards,

Kim

Hi Robnew,

Your lawyer is correct, the Foreigners' offices are deluged with applications and it's taking much longer to receive approvals than it was a couple of months' ago.  I belong to British in Europe and it's clear from their Facebook page that there are many UK citizens, including many UK illegal immigrants already living here for a number of years, who even now are only just waking up to the implications of living in the EU post-Brexit.

I expect your lawyer has already told you this, but you don't have to wait to collect your TIE card before applying to make your driving licence exchange - this can be done with your approval confirmation.

Good luck!

Kind regards,

Kim

As I understand it, according to the UK Embassy in Madrid, you do not need to have a residency certificate or TIE, but you will need a NIE to apply for a licience change

Did ours through BABELIA, fantastic service, took 4 days from submission to acceptance, and no fee as funded by UK gov

Its the last paragraph that bothers me "If the permit is not verified by the UK authorities  as valid to carry out the exchange, replacement or renewal before January 1, 2021......" 

This surely means the initial application needs to be well before 31st December and possibly well before 24/25th December, because of the Christmas break, in order for the UK to do their bit and verify?

One other point, although you only need an NIE number to start the application you do need a TIE or a residency certificate to complete the process in 2021