Moving to Spain pending the Brexit!

Hi,

We're thinking about moving to Spain after a few years of really thinking about it. We're a bit worried, however, about the Brexit and the issues that it will cause our freedom of movement. Does anyone have an idea of what will happen to us expats if England leaves the EU? Will Spain turf us out? Our concerns our that we move out to Spain and in a few years time we have to leave.

Thank you all in advance!

R

Of course no one can say for sure what will happen, I for one think in no way will the UK leave, to few BIG boys in the game want us in... As opposed to the millions of small boys that want us out.

In life the minority tend to win over the majority.

And as we all know people have moved to other countries to live with no problems before all this EU business was about, apart from perhaps more paper work to live it shouldn't make any difference..Much.

What a load of rubbish you a talking about ,will the Spanish kick the British out if we are not members of the EU the British have been buying properties in Spain

before the Spanish were members of the E U and the Spanish loved the ever growing number of gullible.  British people that are only to willing to be riped off and wiil continue to welcome us when we leave the EU as we will have more money to spend on ourselves when we stop supporting the P.I.G.S of the EU.

Spain could't afford to turf out the none EU expats, who would they be able to rip off if they did? Where, IMHO, they will eventually come unstuck is when folk begin to realise that there are places in the sun, other than Spain. Reading posts on this forum it appears that expats spend much of their waking hours protecting their backs against never ending bureaucracy.

I am old enough to have lived in Spain long before the country was a member of the EU. British people were just as welcome then by the ordinary people as they will be if Britain exits. That is not really the issue.

If Britain exits the EU then the British in Spain will all be effectively aliens. All treaties that exist now will be void. So no right of residence. No access to health care, especially for pensioners, no reciprocal tax treaties and a weaker currency. Brits will be required to register as aliens in the same way as other none Europeans do now. Spanish people will not be able to take up residnce in the UK so easily.

Will it make much difference? Apart from healthcare for older people probably not. It didn’t matter much years ago, most people I knew then lived under the radar. Mind you the ‘radar’ was not as effective as it is now. 

The true answer to this is really that nobody knows. No one has lived in a Spain where Spain has been a member of the EU and the UK has not. It will really depend on the diktats of Brussels which services are or are not provided. Dual agreements on taxation, health and other things exist between Spain and countries not in the EU as they do between UK and other non-EU countries. If UK pulls out of the EU, there will be a period of two years in which agreements can be thrashed out before UK actually leaves. It won't be a case of voting for out on Thursday and leaving the EU on Friday.

The current arrangement on pensions, for example. UK gives annual increases to pensioners living in the EU and other countries that have an agreement with UK on paying increases to their pensioners. USA, for example, does increase their pensions annually to someone living in UK so we do the same to British pensioners living in the USA. Australia does not pay these increases to Australians living in UK so we don't increase pensions for British living in Australia (otherwise we'd end up paying pensions to British living in Australia and to the Australians living in Britain). Now, if Spain (or any other EU country) does not give increases to their pensioners living in UK then it would seem unlikely UK would give British pensioners in Spain the annual increase. This is just one thing that would need to be sorted in the two years grace period.

Dual taxation would probably continue as it does with many other countries. If not, you could perhaps petition the UK government to stop paying government pensions where tax is automatically stopped in UK but that's another matter.

Not sure on healthcare as UK currently pays Spain to treat its citizens under a EU agreement so this would have to be sorted out with Brussels first (I would suggest) and then Spain which will remain part of the EU.

I am sure the current system of signing on the register of EU citizens would stop (I don't know how this would affect those currently on it) and full resident status would have to be applied for as it is for non-EU citizens at the moment. This may be automatic for those currently registered but, again, would have to be sorted out in the two years.

Those who say this or that will definitely happen or not happen seem to have access to higher levels of policy making politiical bodies than the rest of us have. It's all down to guesswork at the moment and nobody will really know the answer until it happens.

The SNP look like gaining many Scottish Labour seats, they want independence from the UK and to be an EU member in their own right. They could end up being very powerful in Westminster and would not vote for a UK exit from the EU under any circumstances. The only party in 100% agreement on leaving the EU is UKIP, and a lot of voters in Lib Dem wards are ex Tory supporters, and are beginning to realise that a vote for UKIP could allow Labour in by the back door. The UKIP candidate in Nick Clegg's Hallam constituancy is a 21 year old student, if that isn't a token gesture I don't know what is.

The UK wants control of it's currency and legal system, it has the former but not the latter, a Tory government with a working majority might just tell the European Court of Justice to take a running jump, and the UK is very unlikely to get thrown out of the EU for that. 

If UK pull out of EU what will happen to UK expats in Spain in unknown.

One  thing for sure a lot of bi laterall agreements such as health care and tax will remain as these have been agreed between UK and Spain independant of EU membership like with Switzerland or other non EU countries who are part of  EEA.

rickiytiin

If you are concerned look at the rules for UK citizens moving to Switzerland or any other non EU country that is part of EEA

It's best to ask for a lawyer,

Its hard to determine what will happen, hhhhmmmm

you can also go to spain and find out personally. :)