Spain: Residence and work permits for UK’s national members in the case of a “no-deal” Brexit

The current situation is that the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) are still negotiating a Withdrawal Agreement. Although the date initially planned for the UK’s withdrawal was March 29, 2019, on April 10, 2019 the EU leaders agreed to an extension until the October 31, 2019.

In the case of a “no-deal” scenario, the UK will cease to be a member of the EU and will be considered as a third country. Therefore, the Spanish Government has approved on March 25, 2019 a Resolution (published on March 26th) developing the instructions to follow in the case that the UK leaves the EU without an agreement.

The aforementioned Instructions establish that the UK nationals residing in Spain are obliged to request an authorization of temporary residence and work. Those applications must be submitted in a maximum period of 21 months from the withdrawal date. Therefore, until they obtain the necessary documents, their residence will continue to be legal for a period of 21 months.

Before the Withdrawal date, it is important that the UK national members could obtain the Temporary Certificate of Registration as EU citizens or the Permanent Certificate of Registration.

After the Withdrawal date, the UK national members will be required to apply for an authorization of temporary residence and work. The types of authorization will vary depending on whether the UK’s nationals have a temporary certificate of registration as EU citizens or not. Once the authorization has been granted, it is required to ask for a Foreigner Identity Card “Tarjeta de identidad del extranjero” (TIE).

In addition, there is another possibility for those UK nationals who have been residing for at least 5 years in Spain, who will be able to apply for a long-term TIE.