Moving to the EU

[ConsultingTechArchitect]

If you're not an EU citizen, the visa process is not simple.
Do you know what all you need to do to get a self employed work visa?
Do you know how long it takes to get one?

Having been through the process in two other countries (Australia, Singapore), it's not that hard to show income, business plans, client contracts etc.

There is also a 'digital nomad' visa that will allow for remote workers to live and gain residency. When I last looked, the law to enable this was still in draft but looks like it will be passed.

You can also purchase a 1/2 million EURO property and be grated residency immediately.

You should instruct a lawyer rather than try to navigate immigration yourself.

[Bluenose]

If you're not an EU citizen, the visa process is not simple.

I very much doubt that in these changing times that Spain and Portugal are going to be hostile to criminal record clean, experienced, British IT Contractors with year-to-year revenue creation of 150k Euros and above.

Theres got to be someone on this board thats already jumped ship to either of these countries thats willing to post on their actual experiences.

[PCTNN]

You can also purchase a 1/2 million EURO property and be grated residency immediately.

So, the OP comes in and say they wouldn't mind spending 3-6 months abroad while working their UK contract.

Suggesting the purchase of a 500k house to get residency is quite extreme and I'd say irrelevant to this thread given the OP's original requirements.


Anyways, with so many people giving opinions on things they know very little about (what a surprise in this forum, right?), I agree with eek. This is probably going to be a no problem because as soon as you tell the agent that you are based/want to be based in EU, that's your CV binned. Agents/clients are against any type of friction, so even the remote chance of them having to do some research into the issue is a blocker.

[ConsultingTechArchitect]

So, the OP comes in and say they wouldn't mind spending 3-6 months abroad while working their UK contract.

Suggesting the purchase of a 500k house to get residency is quite extreme and I'd say irrelevant to this thread given the OP's original requirements.

You jumped on just one point (which I included for completeness sake)...

I paid a lawyer to research the best immigration options for myself and my family. Opinions below are mine and that of my immigration lawyer. I advise you pay a lawyer to look into this for you. Don't try to navigate immigration alone.


Here are the options:

• Self-employed visa - this allows you to work with your clients while living in Spain. This is renewed on a yearly basis and has a pathway to residency if required. There are various things you need to evidence for this visa and I'm not at all sure if it's worth it for just a few months.

• Non-lucrative visa. This visa requires proof of savings to show you can support yourself as you are not allowed to work. Are you allowed to work with foreign clients on this visa? Traditionally, the government has not had a problem with this as the law does not state that you cannot but recently people applying for this visa have had issues. To be fair, you could show cash savings to support your stay and continue to work for your UK clients without the Spanish knowing. It's not legally forbidden and they won't know.

• Digital Nomad visa - this visa has yet to be finalised and is currently passing through the legislative apparatus, ETA Spring 2022. This one is by far your best option as you don't have to provide much evidence outside of one client contract >3 months and a minimum income. This allows you to work for your foreign clients while living in Spain with a path to residency. No less than 80% income MUST come from your FOREIGN clients. You can only earn 20% of your income from domestic clients

• Buy a house > 500,000 EUR. You will get a residency visa without any work restrictions. As pointed out by another astute reader, this is only something you'd likely do if you were going to stay long term.

• Go as a tourist, they won't know you write C++ for a bank in London during work hours will they?....

Your best bet is the 'digital nomad' visa when it is available (should be soon!).

You need to check if your clients are happy with you being based in Spain. You could always not tell them and use a UK based proxy to access their accounts/infrastructure etc. The risk is on you with this but I've worked for extended periods of time (ski season) from France and haven't had any issues.

I had one agent tell me that I MUST be uk based, it was a project to build an order management system for a retailer. I have no idea why they think that MUST be done within the UK, they must think their order data is a state secret or something.

[lecyclist]

Thanks for taking the time to reply ConsultingTechArchitect

And welcome - ignore the trolls who make massive generalisations in their posts, and hammer you on small details.

[ContractorPL]

ConsultingTechArchitect this is all very valuable info, but you haven't touched on the taxation of your company income. Does it mean you think this is ok to run a UK Ltd and pay its corp tax in the UK? No issues with the seat of control/permanent establishment of it being abroad? (I mean the residency of your company, not yours)

[ConsultingTechArchitect]

ConsultingTechArchitect this is all very valuable info, but you haven't touched on the taxation of your company income. Does it mean you think this is ok to run a UK Ltd and pay its corp tax in the UK? No issues with the seat of control/permanent establishment of it being abroad? (I mean the residency of your company, not yours)

As I plan to move long term (in a few years), I will just take up domicile there and pay tax there unless my accountant suggests something else.

I haven't delved too deeply into the tax rules yet but what I do know is, you only become a 'resident for tax purposes' after spending more then 6 months in Spain unless you can prove you are still a tax resident in another country that has a bilateral agreement. This would suggest to me, you don't have to pay tax if you're there, and working remotely, for just a few months.

If you're going as a non-lucrative, or a tourist, and hiding the fact you're working, you don't need to think about this at all. As long as your income is from OUTSIDE of spain, this should be fine.

EDIT: Looking at the advice from my lawyer, she is saying that you have to reside in spain for more than 6 months before you pay tax. If you are there for less than 6 months you don't have to pay tax on any FOREIGN income. This implies that you would only pay tax on income from Spanish clients.

It can't be repeated enough: get a lawyer/accountant to advise on this.

[BlasterBates]

As I plan to move long term (in a few years), I will just take up domicile there and pay tax there unless my accountant suggests something else.

I haven't delved too deeply into the tax rules yet but what I do know is, you only become a 'resident for tax purposes' after spending more then 6 months in Spain unless you can prove you are still a tax resident in another country that has a bilateral agreement. This would suggest to me, you don't have to pay tax if you're there, and working remotely, for just a few months.

If you're going as a non-lucrative, or a tourist, and hiding the fact you're working, you don't need to think about this at all. As long as your income is from OUTSIDE of spain, this should be fine.

EDIT: Looking at the advice from my lawyer, she is saying that you have to reside in spain for more than 6 months before you pay tax. If you are there for less than 6 months you don't have to pay tax on any FOREIGN income. This implies that you would only pay tax on income from Spanish clients.

It can't be repeated enough: get a lawyer/accountant to advise on this.

If you're working in Spain remotely and you're a permanent employee then it does appear you don't pay tax, however if you're self-employed then I would not make that assumption:

https://www.europeantax.blog/post/10...ring-and-after

If you're in Spain the safe solution is to register there as self-employed and tax yourself in Spain. The British worker had to go through a rather painful court case to get it ruled in his favour. I would assume the tax authorities would go after you if you're living and registered in Spain and you pay little tax. It would be unnecessary stress.

[BlasterBates]

You need to be careful of the definition of "foreign income". If you're self employed in Spain and you have a UK customer, that doesn't necessarily mean it's foreign income. If you commute to the UK then it is foreign income, if you work in Spain, self-employed and you're deemed to have a permanent establishment then it may well be deemed to be Spanish income.

[ConsultingTechArchitect]

You need to be careful of the definition of "foreign income". If you're self employed in Spain and you have a UK customer, that doesn't necessarily mean it's foreign income. If you commute to the UK then it is foreign income, if you work in Spain, self-employed and you're deemed to have a permanent establishment then it may well be deemed to be Spanish income.

In the context of the ops post I assume the following:

1. He in spain for less than 6 months
2. He works with non-spanish clients
3. He is a LTD company director in the UK
4. He's in Spain on a visa that does not allow work
5. He can prove he has funds to support himself for the duration of his stay in Spain without having to rely on income

In this instance, I would expect no tax to be paid in spain.

If he gets a self-employed visa in Spain but only has foreign clients, that's a different story and in this case, this applies:

a person may be resident for tax purposes in two different countries. This could be the case, for instance, of expatriates working in Spain who are resident in both Spain and their home country. A person who is resident in another country may qualify for a relief or exemption of Spanish tax under DTTs between the home country and Spain.

Otherwise, this applies

Individuals are resident in Spain for tax purposes if they meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Spend more than 183 days in Spain during a calendar year. In determining the period of stay, temporary absences are included in the count, except when the tax residence in another country can be proven.

He would still be a tax resident in the UK.

There are 10 different ways you can cut this and it all depends on exactly what you are doing. I could easily go to spain, work for 4 months and legally pay **** all tax.

My advice is to wait for the new digital nomad visa then talk to an accountant about keeping your tax residency in the
UK otherwise just go now as a tourist - the Spaniards aren't going to kick down the door of your AirBnB to catch you writing code for a client in London are they?