Immigrating to Spain as an Australian citizen & Limited Company Owner

Hello,

I am an Australian citizen who has lived in the UK for several years on a residence card with my partner (who is an EU citizen but not Spanish). I have a limited company incorporated here in the UK and all my work is done online so I don't need to be in any particular place to work, and I intend to continue this in Spain.

For various personal and professional reasons my partner will initially be unable to move to Spain with me, but will join me in a year or two. I wanted to find out what process I need to follow to make the move to Spain as an Australian citizen who intends to live off the proceeds from a limited company incorporated here in the UK.

I am aware it will be a lot easier to move together, but unfortunately my partner cannot go earlier and I cannot go later, so this is not an option at this stage. If useful, my residence card has just under 2 years left until expiry.

Thanks,

V.

You can only move to Spain under EU law if you are moving with or joining your EEA citizen partner in Spain. If your partner remains in the UK and you plan to move to Spain on your own, you will have to do so under domestic Spanish legislation and meet their requirements.

Furthermore, were you to move to Spain with your partner, your right to reside in Spain will remain entirely dependent on your EEA citizen partner exercising treaty rights in Spain. That will mean that your partner cannot have an absence of more than six months outside Spain, otherwise your right to reside in Spain will cease.

Also, are you married to your partner or is it a "durable partnership"? If it is the latter, even if you were to move to Spain with your EEA citizen partner, as I understand it, Spain may not automatically accept the durable partnership, but may reevaluate it before issuing you the relevant Residence Card under EU law.

Thanks for your reply secret.simon. I am happy to move under Spanish domestic law, but am confused by a few things. For example I found one source that states:

"Self-employed individuals must produce evidence that they meet the same professional conditions required of Spanish nationals and that they have applied for authorisation to carry out their professional activity"

I am not sure what this refers to and how I go about doing this. My work isn't strictly "technical" and doesn't require any special licenses or qualifications to operate.

Would welcome guidance on this.

Thanks.