Well it’s hard to believe, but I’ve been in Spain nearly ten months now. My original non-lucrative residency is valid until August 30th, 2019, but the rules stipulate that a person can start the renewal process up to 60 days in advance, which means I can start the renewal process on July 1, 2019.
The renewal process is significantly less involved than the first application – you don’t need any criminal record checks for example, and the fees are basically administrative in nature. So I’m mostly looking at this as a formality. Compared to the original visa though (which was only valid for one year) this new renewal is valid for two full years.
The downside of that is that because the visa is non-lucrative in nature (in that a person can’t be working in Spain), Spain requires you to show that you can afford to live without making any money. For the first application, that amounted to one full year of expenses in the bank. But since this renewal is good for two years, basically you need to show two full years of expenses in the bank. Like most things in Spain, your mileage may vary. It’s quite possible a person can simply submit proof of funds for one year and have it approved, but in general most people need to submit proof of two years worth of savings at the current rates.
In terms of what’s required, here’s a rough list to assemble before renewing your non-lucrative visa:
- EX-01 Form – this is the non-lucrative application form. The first time you applied you would have selected “INICIAL” for the type of application; this time around we need to select ” 1ª Renovación”, the 1st renewal.
- Proof of funds (certified translation required) amounting to €2,130/mo, or €51,120. Sometimes they will ask for this to be in a Spanish bank account, but you should be able to get away without it. For the second case though, you will likely need a certified Spanish translation of the proof. I’m planning on taking one of my monthly reports for my retirement account and having it translated by a certified/sworn translator.
- Padron Certificate – you need your empadronamiento certificate. If you have your digital certificate, you can easily generate a new one online. But hopefully you are still registered at a place, as this was one of my hang-ups with getting my TIE card originally.
- Photocopies of every page of your passport – you need to actually prove you’ve been living in Spain for six months. In the old days people would obtain the non-lucrative visa and just come and go as they pleased, often only staying here a few months a year. Spain now only wants people who actually want to live in Spain (and ultimately pax taxes here – can’t say I blame them), so you will likely be denied the renewal if you didn’t spend six months here. So the point of asking for all the pages of you passport is to look at the stamps to get an indication of how long you spend in Spain.
- Photocopies of the front and back of your TIE card – I’m not entirely sure why they need this, but apparently they do.
- Medical Insurance – My Sanitas plan from last year (which I think was a great investment, they have been amazing to me) automatically renewed for another year on May 31, 2019. I did have to contact them via their online chat though and ask for proof of the extended period, since all the documentation I had only showed my plan was valid until May 31, 2019. But they send me a PDF via email in about 24 hours with proof of my renewal.
- Tax Form: Code 790, Tasa 52 – You have to fill this out and pay the fee associated with the non-lucrative renewal. The option you want to select is “Renovación de autorización de residencia temporal”, and the fee at the time of this writing as €16.08, payable at most banks.
- Proof of payment – keep your receipt for paying the Code 790, Tasa 52 form above.
One of my main sources of confusion is where to actually go to process the renewal. When I arrived in Valencia, I already was approved for my visa, and simply had to get my fingerprints taken while submitting the paperwork for the TIE card. This time around you need to get approval first, and then redo the procedure of getting an updated card.
I’m only about two weeks away from having to do this procedure, so I’ll update everyone with the results once I get started. I recently submitted a document to be translated by a sworn translator, and I’ll likely be able to pick it up in the next few days.
Update – I chose to attempt to renew my non-lucrative visa online. If you’re interested in that process, read how to renew your non-lucrative visa online.
