Want to move to Girona

Welcome,

You will need a Digital Nomad Visa.

https://www.euronews.com/travel/2023/01/30/always-wanted-to-move-to-spain-a-new-digital-nomad-visa-could-let-you-stay-for-5-years

Hope that helps

@SimCityAT Hello, wow very helpful - thank you so much!

Do I need to go to the UK Spanish embassy to get this sorted before we enter Spain, or can we do this from Spain?

Thank you

@SimCityAT Hello, wow very helpful - thank you so much!
Do I need to go to the UK Spanish embassy to get this sorted before we enter Spain, or can we do this from Spain?
Thank you
-@elliemaegreen

You can apply for Spain's digital nomad visa directly through a consulate or embassy in your home country. Alternatively, you can enter Spain on a tourist visa and apply within the first three months.

So it's your choice, as you can enter Spain for up to 3 months anyway.

Personally, I would do it all from the UK at the consulate, less stressful and easier to get documents etc.....

@elliemaegreen

Welcome to the Expat.com forum and good luck with your move to Spain!

Great advice, as always, from @SimCityAT. As the DNV is very new, I add the following link by an immigration attorney

https://balcellsgroup.com/digital-nomad-visa/

Most visas require you to apply at the Spanish Embassy in your own country, the DNV is one of the few that allows us non-EU types to also apply in Spain, after arriving on a tourist visa (or a passport that allows visa-free entry). I would personally prefer to do it in Spain as I can do useful stuff there like find a place to live, buy health insurance, open a bank account, and get registered on the Padron. In your case, you probably need 2 separate DNVs and you might prefer to make sure both get approved before packing your bags. As @SimCityAT says, it's your call.

For finding a place to live, I suggest grabbing something short-term for a few weeks using Booking or Airbnb (both dot com). Almost everywhere you go will have local agents who should be able to show you some suitable apartments for longer-term rentals. Idealista (also dot com) is a big online agent, so they have listings (to rent and buy) all over Spain. You could probably use this to find something you like, or it's great just as a bit of research so you can see what kind of properties are available for your budget in particular areas.

As an aside, how did you figure out that Dog wants to move to Girona? In my (limited) experience, dogs are much fonder of Alicante, Barcelona, Marbella (for upscale Crufts-type dogs), or Madrid (always lots more dogs in the capital). :-)

Thank you everyone for your help - I am currently going through the process of the DNV. On another note about the dog, I know what I need to get from the vet in the UK but how do I sign up for a vet in Girona once we get there and what does the process look like? I am also wanting to learn a little of the language, any recommendations?

Thanks

@gwynj

Hello, If i were to get the DNV in Girona, how do I go about this? Will I need a translator and what Visa do I need to come to Girona for 90 days?

Thanks

    @gwynj
Hello, If i were to get the DNV in Girona, how do I go about this? Will I need a translator and what Visa do I need to come to Girona for 90 days?
Thanks
   

    -@elliemaegreen

You dont need a visa if you are a UK citizen and staying up to 90 days.

@SimCityAT Thank you. I am wanting to stay for 10 months but thinking of getting the DNV in Girona. What is the best way to optain this?

@elliemaegreen

As @SimCityAT has confirmed, you don't need a visa to visit Spain (up to 90 days in 180 days) thanks to your Brit passport.

If you're still in the UK, and working there, I'd suggest it might be good to apply in the UK (Spanish Embassy in London).

This is their page:

https://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consulados/londres/en/ServiciosConsulares/Paginas/Consular/Digital-Nomad-Visa.aspx

You can definitely go to Spain first, and apply in Girona, but it might be nicer to have a bit of certainty (i.e. already have the DNV) rather than uproot your life (and your dogs) on the off-chance. All the requirements are listed in the above page and the Balcells link I provided in an earlier post.

You should note that the above requirements include a NIE (your Spanish tax number) and your criminal record check (ACRO).

NIE info is here:

https://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consulados/londres/en/ServiciosConsulares/Paginas/Consular/NIE.aspx

ACRO info is here:

https://www.acro.police.uk/s/

@elliemaegreen

I think the DNV in Spain is via the UGE (Unidad Grand Empresas), but I'm really not sure.

This is their page, and I guess the "International Teleworkers" option covers the DNV. It looks like the application is online, rather than at an office... but you need a secure digital signature type thinggie (from an office in Girona) in order to access it.

https://www.inclusion.gob.es/en/web/unidadgrandesempresas/autorizaciones-y-requisitos

Also, just as a note, if you can rustle up 30k euros in savings, then it might be easier to get yourself an NLV (No Lucrativa Visa) instead. (This must be done in London prior to moving to Spain.)

@gwynj Thank you - that is really helpful!

I have started looking into this now. Can someone recommend a health care for me to look into, I see I need to prove that I have Health insurance cover as part of the application for my DNV. Or has anyone got any experience with filling out an Application form for the DNV?

Thank you

@gwynj Hello again,

That was going to be my next question, is there another type of Visa we could look into??

@elliemaegreen

I suspect the most plausible options are the DNV and the NLV. But the NLV will only be an option if you have 30k euros in savings you can show. (The NLV accepts proof of income too, but only from passive income such as rents and pensions. Income from employment or self-employment doesn't count. Whereas, of course, it does for the DNV).

The London Embassy page clearly states the NIE as a prerequisite for a DNV application (and probably NLV too). This takes a few weeks to get, so I suggest this one is a good thing to get out of the way.

The same page also says they want an A1 form. The application is online. This is confirming that you will keep paying your UK NI while you are in Spain. It also says they might give you an S1 (to show healthcare entitlement in Spain). Spain will accept an S1 (but not an EHIC/GHIC) so this is also something to do right now, as if they give you both an A1 and an S1 then you won't need to buy an expensive private health insurance. So fingers crossed. :-)

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-a-certificate-or-document-if-self-employed-in-the-eu-eea-or-switzerland-ca3837

If they give you only the A1 (but no S1), then you'll need a private health insurance policy.

If you're in Spain this is easy to do at any insurance broker. From the UK, might be trickier: all the companies are online, but often they expect a Spanish phone and Spanish bank account as part of their application process. But worth a try. We have a policy with ASISA they are good and among the cheaper ones.

You can also buy an international health insurance (not a travel insurance) from BUPA, AXA, IMG, and many more (as long as it has zero copay). This you could easily do online while in the UK... but I'm guessing this will need a certified Spanish translation (if they don't have the option of getting your certificate/policy in Spanish instead of English). I did this by sending the documents by email to a registered Spanish translator in Spain... and they did the translation and certification and sent the finished doc back to me by courier. It's a pain in the proverbial (and not cheap) so better is a Spanish policy, or an international policy which provides English/Spanish documents.

@gwynj Thank you.

I have another question. I have booked my appointment for the NIE in Jan and I am wondering if my partner also needs this? The plan is for me to obtain the DNV and he comes onto my Visa as a Unmarried Partner - does he also need a NIE and how does this work?

@elliemaegreen

I'm not expert enough to answer these questions, unfortunately.

I'm baffled why the embassy doesn't give the NIE out with the visa. I think some do (or maybe some do, with some visas). You should probably try to double-check if there are 2 steps or just 1. But if the embassy is an easy trip for you, then no big deal to go for your NIE separately. Equally, nice to get 2 NIEs, if you can.

Unmarried partners is a really tricky one. I doubt the embassy will accept unmarried partners, but you should check the latest info. I guess it doesn't hurt to try, but I suspect for an embassy "spouse" means spouse. If you get both of you on the same visa, great. Otherwise, it will have to be a second step of family reunification, or a separate visa app for him. (EU directives recognize unmarried partners, but this only affects family reunification for legal residents, and visa rules are entirely set by the country.)

Bureaucracy, eh? :-)