HEALTHPLAN MAGAZINE

How much do you need to show as proof of income or savings in order to obtain Spanish residencia?

It’s a question that many people have pondered when navigating the residency process here in Spain.

It seems that web forums are full of differing information, which has lead to much confusion not to mention frustration among the thousands of British nationals aiming to become full-time residents here before 2021.

Thankfully, the British Embassy in Spain has come to our rescue and clarified the situation somewhat via this post on their Facebook page.

According to the British Embassy, under EU and Spanish law, there is no set amount that you must have in savings. Instead, immigration officials dealing with your residency application will look at a set of indicators to work out whether you are eligible or not.

The main indicators that they use are:-

IPREM (Indicador Público de Rentas de Efectos Múltiples) Visit http://www.iprem.com.es for further information.

Also, the Annual Income Index which is used for accessing social benefits here in Spain and the minimum state pension from the Seguridad Social. Further details can be found here http://www.seg-social.es/wps/portal/wss/internet/Pensionistas/Revalorizacion/30434?changeLanguage=es

It’s not uncommon for UK nationals to be asked to demonstrate different levels of income depending on which region they are looking to reside in. Worryingly, it may even be at the discretion of the official you deal with as to whether you make the cut!!

“Ultimately, it’s at the discretion of the Spanish official to take into consideration your personal circumstances and determine whether or not you have sufficient means to not become a burden on the state, so you may find it helpful to take along other evidence of assets when you go to your appointment.”

According to the British Embassy, the authorities in Spain prefer to see a regular income rather than a lump sum. This gives them the assurance that you will not be a drain on the state. You may even be asked to show three to six months of bank statements as proof.

The British Embassy says, “Often the authorities prefer to see regular income rather than a lump sum in the bank and, in some regions, they ask to see bank statements showing three to six months’ income in a Spanish bank account.“

The IPREM and Seguridad Social pages above should give you a good idea of the level of income you will need to demonstrate.

The IPREM page suggests that €537,84 per month for each individual should be enough, but that figure could well be higher and depend on your individual circumstances.

The Seguridad Social page suggests that a minimum of around €800 per month should be enough.

According to the Seguridad Social page and looking at comments from other British nationals on the British Embassy page, some have been asked to prove a pension income of €12,000 per annum for a couple and around €9,000 per annum for an individual.

If you want to find out a more precise figure, the British Embassy recommends that you contact your local extranjeria foreigners department to find out.

It has also been suggested via the comments that one of the quickest ways of getting residencia and bypassing any problems on income requirements is to register as self-employed autonomo.

This would make sense as you would have to automatically pay around €275.00 per month (€50 for the first 12 months) social security payments, which covers healthcare and pension benefits. Further info on becoming self-employed in Spain can be found here.

It is not known what the figures will be from January 2021, however, it is assumed that the amounts will most likely remain the same.

To find out more about the residency process, please see our residencia in Spain page. 

Image Credit: martaposemuckel from Pixabay