Last week, following a visit to the National Police office in Torrevieja, the Oficina de Documentación, The Leader sat down with Gitte Lund Thomsen, the Councillor for International Residents, to discuss the importance of both the padrón, and residencia.
We discussed the padrón last week, and if you missed it, you can find it on the website, theleader.info, and this week we are looking at residencia.
Quite simply, you must become a resident if you plan to live in Spain. Since Brexit, the rules for UK citizens travelling to the EU changed and are now considerably more restrictive. Becoming a resident removes many of these post-Brexit barriers, but only if you live, or plan to live in Spain.
There is a specific process for applying for residencia, a process which is different for those who were already in the country, but a process which must be followed in order to qualify. The administration of the residencia process is handled by a specific department of the National Police.
Although both the UK and Spanish Governments already offer advice on how to apply for residencia, you will most likely find it easier to appoint an expert to handle your application with you.
You are likely to have heard of the TIE, Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero, which is an identity card issued to foreign residents in Spain. This is a requirement now for living in Spain.
Many existing residents will have a paper based residencia certificate, and although this is technically still valid, you should really consider swapping it for a TIE, as there is an ever-increasing number of places and administrations who no longer accept the paper document. The good news is that this is one of the simplest processes.
The bad news is that although this process used to be carried out by the National Police office in Torrevieja, this is no longer the case, and you will have to go to either Alicante or Elche.
One process which is still carried out by the National Police in Torrevieja is the termination of residency status. So, if you now plan to leave Spain and return to the UK, you can attend the Police office in Torrevieja to have your residencia withdrawn. You can also do this without an appointment, although you may have to wait to be seen, as the office is often very busy.
Another function which can be carried out at the National Police office, again without an appointment, is to check your residency status. So, if you have any doubts, you can visit them, although you will need a translator if you don’t speak Spanish.
The Oficina De Documentación De Españoles Y Extranjeros is located on calle Arquitecto Larramendi in Torrevieja. There is a noticeboard outside, which has lists of documents and procedures required for a number of functions they carry out.
Gitte would like to remind us that her department exists for the benefit of international residents, and if you need help or advice, you can contact them.
The International Residents Department in Torrevieja can attend to residents in English, as well as French, German, Scandinavian, Russian, Bulgarian, and, of course, Spanish. You can email them direct, at pangea@torrevieja.eu, and you can make an appointment to visit them in person via the website, torrevieja.es, where you should look for the Residentes Internacionales Oficina Pangea, and you can visit them in La Mata town hall, or the office in La Siesta, calle Paganini, again, by appointment.
