Proving sources of income from the UK for Spanish residency applications.
The Immigration Office in Malaga has in some cases started requesting additional financial information from UK citizens applying for legal residence in Spain within the Withdrawal Agreement. More specifically, they are requesting information surrounding applicants income and social security contributions from the country of origin. The exact request is worded like this:
Documentación acreditativa, debidamente traducida y legalizada, sobre la situación laboral y en seguridad social del nacional de Reino Unido en su país de origen.
This request is for applicants to supply proof of social security contributions and to prove there ‘work’ or translated directly ‘labour’ situation in the UK.
This may seem strange, but to understand why they are asking this, you have to look at Spanish documentation.
When the immigraiton department request informtion the default to what exists in Spain, the demand for documents to prove situación Laboral y en Seguridad social is quite easy in Spain, all you have to do is get a copy of your vida laboral from the social security. But how do you prove this with documentation from the UK?
Here are a few ideas and what we have used with our clients
Supply most recent P60 and or P45
Your P60 is a document that states your earnings and summarises any deductions from your income, such as tax and National Insurance Contributions. If you receive income from anywhere, (private or state pension, employment, benefits etc) each source of income should supply you with a P60 every year. This document serves to prove social security contributions (national insurance for the UK) for the purposes of a residency application.
Your P45 can also help prove UK contributions so we can include it as well.
Personal Tax Account, HMRC
By setting up a personal tax account with the HMRC, you can find information on recent tax returns, the condition of your UK State Pension contributions, National Insurance contributions and more. Click on the link to go to the registration page.
Official statement of NI contributions from HMRC
Using your Government Gateway account, you can apply for a “statement of NI contributions” online. Click on this URL link:
These are just a few ideas, but in short, the Immigration authorities are looking for further proof of how you earn your money and current fiscal/income set up.
Remember all the documentation provided needs to be translated by an official translator of the state.