Spanish Govt to Grant Special Residence Permits to Britons Planning to Remain in Spain After Brexit

Posted date: 22 Jul 2021

Less than six months ahead of the day when the United Kingdom officially ceases to be an EU Member, and Britons are no longer EU citizens, the Spanish government has signed an instruction on the procedures that should be followed for the issuance of residence permits to Britons wishing to continue living in Spain upon Brexit.

The signing of the document has been announced by Spanish Prime Minister’s office, through a press release of July 4. According to this press release, the Instruction has been signed by the Ministry of the Interior, through the Secretary of State for Security, together with the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations, through the Secretary of State for Migrations.

The document determines the procedure to be followed for the issuance of the residence document provided for in article 18.4 of the Withdrawal Agreement of the United Kingdom from the European Union. Currently, Spain has the highest number of British nationals residing in its territory among the EU Member States. Data collected throughout last year shows that on December 31, 2019, there were as many as 359,471 UK nationals registered as residents in Spain.

Due to these statistics, the government has decided to register all those planning to remain in Spain beyond December 31, 2020, starting from July 6 through the new procedure that will distinguish between those who already own a registration certificate or family card of an EU citizenship holder, from those who were not in possession of them for various reasons.

The Instruction document points out that all relatives of UK nationals who benefit from an Agreement and who come from a third country, are beneficiaries of agreement too, and therefore may apply for this document. In addition, it also notes that the latter category may request the issuance of a residence document that explicitly points out their status as a beneficiary of the Withdrawal Agreement.

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GSP Admin