Certificate of non Residence

Does anyone know what paperwork or proof of non residence you need to take to the town hall to get the Certificate of Non Residence to take to the bank following the new legislation?

Hello, all you need to do is go to the Police Station and apply for one as their records will show if you have ever registered as a resident or not. You

Hello, all you need to do is go to the Police Station and apply for one as their records will show if you have ever registered as a resident or not. You will

Hello, all you need to do is go to the Police Station and apply for one as their records will show if you have ever registered as a resident or not. You will need

Hello, all you need to do is go to the Police Station and apply for one as their records will show if you have ever registered as a resident or not. You will need to

Hello, all you need to do is go to the Police Station and apply for one as their records will show if you have ever registered as a resident or not. You will need to take

I meant to say before I clicked that you have to take your passport.

Ah someone who's been there and done it!

Whereabouts do you live Antony1?

Which police station did you go to, local to your area or to the one in your district.

We are all interested as it effects a lot of people who as non-residents will have to try and sort this out the next time they are over.

Many thanks Anthony1

I live in Marbella and it is ver easy here

a few questions on this certificate of non-residence

i) does each person who is living in the property have to go to police station in person? or can one person go and bring the passport of the other?

ii) is there a time limit for getting certiicate of non residency?

iii) does it have to be done every year?

iv) what happens if it isnt done? will the banks freeze accounts or will they simply withold tax on any interest?

v) does anyone know if this breaches EU legislation--why do i have to prove "non residency"-if im resident in another EU member state surely that is sufficient?

many thanks
kerry

There is a another thread about this in the Spanish Banks chat boards, the next to last one in the list.

This is my understanding of the situation so far.

We first started to hear about this in July when someone who lives in Andalucia told us that their bank had been frozen, they had a mortgage with the same Bank but were unable to pay the mortgage or the bills until they got the Certificate of Non Residence.

Then recently we started to hear about people in Costa Del Sol who again had their accounts frozen.

As of yet we don't know anything about the Costa Blanca and if you read the other thread you will find that people have been contacting their banks who are saying that the bi annual Certificate of Non Residence is still being dealt with by the banks and not to worry.

1, as they are freezing the accounts all holders named on accounts would have to get a certificate.

2, you have a set time to provide proof (passport) I think it's 30 days.

3, don't know

4, Bank accounts will be frozen and bills will not be paid.

5,  My opinion is that this is the most stupid thing that has ever been brought in,  Your bank has an address that they write to and most people access their accounts via the interenet.  There you will have proof that you are using a foreign ISP.
The old system of renewing the certificate every other year worked fine.  You can see from the transactions on the accounts who is definately living in Spain and who is not.  For most people they will have to make a special trip to show their passports at police station to show that they do not live in Spain

Most of the new laws they bring in are logical but this one I don't see how it's going to work.

I'm still waiting for someone to come back onto this forum to explain exactly what they had to do to get the certificate especially if they live in the Costa Blanca area.  IE where did they have to go, Iike most others I only go over for a short period so I really need precise details.

Do we have to go to a specific police station, there have been reports that you have to go to the main police station in Elche or Orhihuela depending on what district you live in.




This message was last edited by semijubilada on 8/26/2008.

Living on the Costa Blanca, I have had my certificate of non-residency sent to me by my bank as usual.  I did not have to go the police station, the county hall or anywhere else.  Apparently only those who have applied for residency (and either taken it up or withdrawn the application) have to prove they are still non-residents. 

I contacted my bank (Solbank) and tthey said that as I signed paperwork every two years no other action was necessary.  

I'm not sure if I'm breathing a sigh of relief or not - might have HAD to fit in an extra holiday!!

Somehow, I can't see the police with being happy at the prospect of having to cope with more paperwork than is absolutely necessary. 

About a month ago I was contacted by my bank, Santander to let me know that I had 30 days to send them the Certificate of Non Residence or they would block my account. I called my lawyer, Felipe who sort it out for me. I had to pay 150 euros but this was cheaper than the flight. This is his number: 0034952765000.

Hope this helps.

Marianne

could anyone please help me with some info on what documents I will need in order to prove that I am a non resident to my bank? 

also does this have to e done in Spain or can it be done in the uk? 

If I do have to take a trip to spain to sort this out I dont want to be told I have not got any info that they require, so if anyone has a list of required documentationthat would be fantastic.

Regards

Non

Marianne - Could you please let us know what area your property is.  I've noticed that areas which appear to be effected by this are Costa Del Sol and Andalucia. 

I'm trying to find out if there is any common occurence to this request for production of Certificate, so could you tell us how long you have held a non-resident account and who you bank with?  Have you ever signed a declaration at your Bank?


non587 - Your post appeared when I started to reply so perhaps you could provide the same details.

Hopefully then we will be able to see what's going on and find a solution to this problem.

I've had a property in Costa Blanca since 2003 and I've been completing a form every 2 years at my Bank.  I used to bank with Solbank and last year around the time of completing another declaration I changed my banking  to Halifax.  They have assured their customers that the normal bi annual declaration is all that's required.

When you open an account one of the many papers you sign will be a declaration of non residence, some banks require you to complete another declaration each year whilst others are bi annual.  That seems the norm on Costa Blanca, still waiting to hear what happens in other areas.

Our apartment is in Andalucia and our Barclays account is in Cartagena. We opened the account in the UK via the foreigners department which included filling in a non- residnce form of sorts. So far our account is still active, my solicitor can/ won't tell me anything about this so I am watching .

Mark

"...does anyone know if this breaches EU legislation--why do i have to prove "non residency"-if im resident in another EU member state surely that is sufficient?"

On the contrary, it is EU legislation that is causing this confusion. I's all to do with the EU tax and savings directive. Really boring details of it here. The thing that I don't understand, is why different countries within the EUcan choose how to interpret all the stupid legislation dreamt up over expensive dinners in Brussels. As a resident in Spain, all I have to do for my UK bank accounts is sign a declaration sent to me by the bank, once, and then let them know when and if my status changes. Having said that, that was then, maybe for new emigrants there are more requirements in ordert o register your UK accounts as "non-resident" status.

Hello everybody

I have been keeping an eye on this and similar threads as I am, like many others, a property owner in Spain. My property is in Alicante province. It seems that confusion reigns in regard to this new law.
First question is it a new law?  When I opened my account with CAM in November 1997 I had to complete a non resident declaration form. I have been to my Bank this morning and they are telling me that they will send me a further form to complete in November 2009 and every two years thereafter.  I have another account with Barclays and when I telephoned the branch ( San Pedro) I was told similar information.

My bank statements are marked 'non-resident' and like others it appears non-sensical that if the Bank knows you are bona fida non resident, why are the police involved.

It seems to me that the type of person the police are after are those who have lived in Spain for years ( in point of law, longer than 3 months) and appear to be resident, but fund their life ( mortgage, utilities etc) by transferring funds from their own country, thus avoiding any tax issues in Spain.  My guess is the police want those people to declare themselves non-resident or adopt residence, but no longer to live under neither of these options. Those who do actually live in Spain but keep their NHS options open and any other benefits the UK brings, would actually have to lie to the police and if discovered as having done so or find themselves under investigation, might find their Spanish assets frozen.

This is my take, but I still don't know whether this is a new law in addition to the documentation my Bank already seems to be taking care of.

Any comments welcome

I think you've probably just summed it up in a nutshell.

It may however be the case that some genuine non-residents who were encouraged to sign on the padrón, have come under scrutiny, and as a result the normal bank declaration is not considered adequate and the police are insisting on more pointless paperwork.

I've been told it's to catch all the people who are working illegaly and not paying tax.  Quite a few nationalities do this not only British and we are all being caught up in the search.

It appears that if you regularly sign a declaration you should be OK.  On another thread about this someone listed an item taken from a Sunday newspaper it had a list at the end which gives a list of Extraneros? (foreigners) office.  I've found one where I live so will check with them on my next visit that I am on a list plus also checking with my Bank first.

You may be right about the Padron Robert, but as I said previously no one who has come on here to state that they had to go to the police station to sign a declaration, have clarified whether they were also on the Padron.

I have spoken to two people, one on here and the other an aquaintance of a friend, who both appeared to have missed signing the declaration on or around the two year anniversary date.  Haven't heard of anyone on the Costa Blanca who has been effected by this but that doesn't mean that we should be complacent.

Why does being on the Padron effect your non-resident status? When we opened our first bank account 4 yrs ago we declare our non-resident status and have signed the correct waiver every 2 years since (just done it again). When we signed the Escritura for our plot last February we signed on the Padron as we were led to believe that this is what you do if you own property in an Ayuntamiento. When our build is finished next  January we will start to move over and we would expect to seek a Certificate of Residence next October. Things have changed in the interim with the introduction of the new CoR but I do not see that we are in beach of any rules or LAW.

No, I don't think you are breaking any laws, but we are trying to establish on this (and another) thread why some non-residents have been affected by bank accounts being frozen. It may be simply because they have failed to sign the required declaration every two years, but it does sound like some have been affected even when they have fulfilled this requirement.
As I understand it, the Padrón is similar to the UK's census or electoral roll, so if you are not yet resident in Spain, perhaps you should not really be on the Padrón. Some town halls encourage foreigners, whether resident or not, to sign on, because the more people registered, the more funding the town gets from the regional govt. (which means more luxury cars for the mayor etc.)
It's possible (but by no means certain) that the police are using the Padrón as a way to try to locate people who are living here but not registered as residents.

In Ayamonte there is a separate roll of voters, you sign on the Padron downstairs and then take that upstairs to register to vote. Neither cost money although you can get a scroll for the padron signed by the Mayor for €1.35 (petrol for his merc?) So we are on the Padron but have not registered to vote.

The population of a town determines not only the central government grant but also how many councillors a town may have. Ayamonte at under 20,000 is just seven I think if it goes over 20k you have more but I don't know the breakdown. Perhaps Maria could guide us?

When I registered at Casares for my Padron I was asked did I want to vote. I replied yes and paid 1.20E and was given the paper 3 days later.

I said the padrón was similar to the electoral roll, but yes, you have to register separately to vote. I don't think it has a direct equivalent in the UK. The point is, should a non-resident be on the padrón? I don't know the answer to this, but there has been a suggestion that being on the padrón may have been taken to indicate to the police that you are therefore living here, i.e. resident. Maria can probably tell us the official line on this, but that won't necessarily tell us how individual town halls, or local police, interpret it.

FOR THOSE OF YOU LIVING OF THE COSTA BLANCO WHO NEEED THE CERTIFICATE OF NON RESIDENCE CAN CONTACT ME ON LORENAS_SPAIN@HOTMAIL.COM I SUBMIT ALL PAPER WORK.