Rejected Residency - what to do next?

@pickey82 Try sebastián at Torrevieja Translators https://torreviejatranslators.com/

@pickey82

I'm mystified by this! Not being funny, but are you sure you have a "good solicitor"?!

You're not giving us much to go on... can you clarify exactly what the problem was/is? Has your mum filed multiple appeals against the original rejection? Or filed multiple modified applications?

As you know, the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement granted residence rights to all Brits living in an EU country prior to the deadline (end 2020, I think). If they've been there 10 years, this should have been a no-brainer. Unless, perhaps you had no proof of living there? Or the application wasn't really rejected, you just had to re-submit because something was missing (e.g. health insurance policy)?

Even if you don't file under Brexit, your dad has been approved, so he's now a Spanish resident. Which means he can file for "family reunification". This is very straightforward, I did it for my partner. The official guidance for this is here:

https://www.inclusion.gob.es/web/migraciones/reagrupacion-familiar-traer-a-sus-familiares-

I don't think it should be a problem for your mum to be a resident, so don't get discouraged. But until she has her residence permit, she has do the 90 days in 180. But family reunification is quite quick (we did it in a week or so), and you could do it when she next enters Spain. But you have to read the requirements and make sure you have all the necessary paperwork.

They rejected me for some nit-picky issue, but they told me what was wrong. So I fixed the problem, and made a new appointment. And it was fine.

The "different province" comment is a bit strange, I don't think that helps. You have to apply in the province that you live in! And you have to go to an appointment in person at your local immigration office (there's an online cita previa system).

Good luck!

@pickey82

What reason do they give for refusing her?

she didn’t have health insurance on 31 Dec 2020, but it started literally the day after on 1st Jan 2021

@gwynj thank you that is really helpful I will look into it.

@pickey82

Wow, even by the standards of immigration bureaucrats that's definitely some extreme "nit pickery"! :-) But I doubt you can "appeal" the decision because, in fact, on the day she applied, her health insurance wasn't in force. But my guess is that they expected her to simply book a new immigration appointment and submit the application again (and now the insurance would be in force). Did that happen? If so, what was the result? (They said she'd missed the Brexit deadline, maybe?) Or, if not, why not?

My concern is that it's now more than 2 years later... what's been going on all this time?! I would have thought a cita previa for 2 weeks after the first rejection would have been possible, and the 2nd application would have been successful. I'm really baffled by what your "good solicitor" has been up to for the last 2 years!

Possibly Brexit permit is still possible, even after the deadline (according to the Withdrawal Agreement). Possibly you can appeal the rejection. But I'm not sure it's the best route. The key point is one of them WAS successful, and has a Spanish residence permit. Therefore (unless I'm missing something), they can now do family reunification for their spouse. This option is much easier than the other options. And there's very little practical downside to having a residence permit as a "family member of x" rather than a residence permit in your own right.

Separately, as they had been in Spain so long, in theory they would have qualified for permanent residence (normally 5 years is required). What does your dad have? An initial 5 years residence permit? Or a permanent residence permit? Does he have a little certificate or does he have his official plastic TIE card? Until what date is it valid to? Is it an Article 50 card? I'm curious what card he has.

Also... this is more controversial... as the rule (for non-resident Brits) is 90 in 180 days. But if you're applying for residence (or appealing a rejection) you might get away with overstaying. Especially as both your parents clearly (according to your info) qualified for residence under the Withdrawal Agreement. Obviously if she were to overstay, she should not travel (outside of Spain) and just keep trying for her residence permit. In particular, my understanding is that a few EU countries have expelled/deported some Brits who didn't get their Brexit residence permit in time... but that Spain has not.

That’s all really really good info thank you. My dad has the 5 year residency permit.. my mum has just said it was the family reunification that was just rejected 3 weeks ago. She’s in England now but flying back this afternoon.. she’s also worried they won’t let her back in the country.. should she be worried?

This is the email she has just received ESTE EMAIL SE CORRESPONDE CON UN AVISO DE UNA NOTIFICACIÓN ELECTRÓNICALe informamos que dispone de una nueva notificación electrónica como Destinatario procedente del organismo Oficina de Extranjeria en Granada, con DIR3 EA0040215 y perteneciente a Ministerio de Política Territorial, con los siguientes datos:Destinatario: HEATHER JEAN LUCIA PICKERING con NIF/NIE con NIF/NIE ****0429*Identificador: 281674764229e196b5f2Organismo Emisor: Oficina de Extranjeria en Granada, con DIR3 EA0040215 y perteneciente a Ministerio de Política TerritorialConcepto: not_180020220013247_11450392_2064730Vínculo: DestinatarioInformación Adicional: not_180020220013247_11450392_2064730En caso de que no accediera a su contenido antes de las 23:59:59 del día 07/04/23 en horario peninsular, se considerará que el acto de notificación ha sido efectuado, aunque con resultado de rechazo, pudiéndose continuar el procedimiento administrativo correspondiente.Puede acceder a esta notificación en la Dirección Electrónica Habilitada Única (DEHú) del Punto de Acceso General, disponible en: https://dehu.redsara.esDe acuerdo con lo previsto en los artículos 41 y 43 de la Ley 39/2015, de 1 de octubre, del Procedimiento Administrativo Común de las Administraciones Públicas, la aceptación de la notificación, el rechazo expreso de la notificación o bien la presunción de rechazo por no haber accedido a la notificación durante el periodo de puesta a disposición, dará por efectuado el trámite de notificación y se continuará el procedimiento.Usted puede recibir esta notificación por distintas vías electrónicas o incluso en papel por vía postal. Si usted accediera al contenido de esta notificación por más de una de estas vías, sepa que los efectos jurídicos, si los hubiera, siempre empiezan a contar desde la fecha en que se produzca su primer acceso.Gobierno de España

That’s all really really good info thank you. My dad has the 5 year residency permit.. my mum has just said it was the family reunification that was just rejected 3 weeks ago. She’s in England now but flying back this afternoon.. she’s also worried they won’t let her back in the country.. should she be worried?
-@pickey82

She shouldn't be worried as long as she keeps within the 90 day rule.

@SimCityAT

the only thing with that is she has been staying with me for the 90 days but I no longer have the room so she would have nowhere to stay, plus that would mean leaving my dad in Spain whilst she was here 😢

@SimCityAT
the only thing with that is she has been staying with me for the 90 days but I no longer have the room so she would have nowhere to stay, plus that would mean leaving my dad in Spain whilst she was here 😢
-@pickey82

If you are on Facebook, this group might be able to help you

https://www.facebook.com/EuroCitizensSpain

Website: https://eurocitizens2020.blogspot.com

I will see if I can get a contact Email address for you.

@pickey82

This is simply a notification message. But you need to look at the actual response! :-)

As you've experienced, immigration can be very picky. There is a published list of requirements for each type of visa/residence permit. If you don't tick all the boxes just so, then you get rejected.

The irony is that your parents perhaps didn't even need health insurance! Were they pensioners at the time of application? In which case, they're entitled to an S1 form from the UK, and this entitles them to free public healthcare anywhere in the EU (including Spain).

@pickey82

You have to go to dehu.redara.es to get the message.

But it's secured, so that's why the solicitor couldn't read it. It's even possible that she's been approved, rather than rejected again. Or perhaps they're asking for more documents.

So you need to get some authentication... or figure out how to get it by paper, rather than electronic.

In order to use DEHú it is not necessary to register , simply any citizen and/or company can access using the following electronic means of authentication:

Digital certificate or electronic DNI;

Cl@ve PIN;

Permanent Cl@ve;

European identifiers based on the eIDAS node.