If you fall a little below the income requirement but have assets

@Kevin8181

You're not far off anyway, the NLV needs around 30k euros for a year (just under 2.5k euros/month). My guess is that they'd accept your 2k income (as long as it's passive income from pension, etc.) + 6k in savings. If you purchased a property for 250k, I'd be a bit shocked if you didn't still have at least 30k of savings kicking around, and I think it's easier just to demonstrate that.

As to your property, you have now tied that money up so it's no longer available for you to live on (which is what you have to prove to immigration). If you rented your property out, that would count as passive income for your NLV, but this probably defeats the point of buying a nice Spanish pad. However, owning your property does help with the NLV (and then TIE) application because you can prove your address/residence very easily.

@gwynj

Thank you very helpful,  actually the house is mortgage free, I will rent it out for about 2000 p/m and then would only rent again in Spain (say 800 euros p/m), not old enough for pensions at all.

I mean that having an asset as a sorta back up on the books could that swing the slight shortfall?   that plus any money in an account  e.g. £10k

KR

Cool

@Kevin8181 Property does count. The means test lets you prove what you have by any evidence admitted in law, and title deeds are named in that list alongside bank certificates and the rest. A mortgage-free house doesn't become invisible to them just because it isn't cash sitting in an account.

The other thing worth knowing is that it isn't a single test you either pass or fail on monthly income. You can get there with a fund big enough to cover the whole period you're applying for, or with a regular income stream, and rent from the UK house is income like any other. So on what you've described you're not really scraping at a shortfall, you're choosing which of two routes to document.

What I'd sort out before applying is proof the tenancy is actually running. A signed contract plus a few months of the rent landing in your account is worth far more to them than a projection of what it should bring in.

@Kevin8181

Hi,

If you are applying for the NLV, 250k is more than enough to meet the financial requirements.

You can find all the requirements here [link moderated]

Kind regards,

Javier

Thank you so much

Yes £250k house plus £1800 p/m income and small bit of cash.

I will consider this

KR

@Kevin8181

No--the value of your house cannot be included. The money has to liquid enough to access it. You will have to show the rental income when applying, not tell them you plan on renting it later. The consulates have gotten very strict about finances, so it is important that you meet the actual requirements--in euros, using the official currency conversion rate. In addition, if you plan to rent in Spain, you would normally need to show guaranteed income. 800€ is very optimistic unless you are moving inland. Also keep in mind that the iprem goes up every year, and you will have to show finances again for the renewals.

@electra777

thanks for this.  Contrary to what was said above.

So perhaps renting it out for a while first before moving would get round the problem?

KR

@Kevin8181

I'm sticking with my original suggestion that the easiest, by far, is to have the 30k liquid with a recent (official, ideally) bank statement to prove it. And most folks get their NLV before they spend their savings on a property. But if you've already purchased your Spanish pad, then I can understand that cash is a bit skimpier now.

I imagine that immigration/consular officers have leeway in decision making. They might even take the common sense view that anyone who can slap down 250k in cash for a property, probably kept a few quid around to live on. :-) However, realistically, they're probably looking for a bank statement in the first instance. For me, I found that immigration appointments were expensive and time consuming (hotels, international flights, etc.) so getting it right first time was a big deal for me. However, if you're happy to have 2 or 3 bashes at it, you can try with whatever proofs you have available. If they're not happy, they'll refuse because of x and tell you to come back with y. i.e. you could try with your property deed and a few grand in the bank, they might say OK, and if not they'll tell you what they want to see instead (or in addition to).

Officially, (looking at the Spanish immigration NLV page) your options are much broader than simple savings.

https://www.inclusion.gob.es/web/migrac … -lucrativa

Specifically, this says:

"Documentación acreditativa de disponer de medios económicos para el período que se solicita. 

It can be accredited by any means of proof, including the provision of property titles, certified checks or credit cards accompanied by a bank certification that accredits the amount available as credit on the card."

So this says property deeds are OK... and says that you can even show credit cards if you've got an official letter confirming the credit available to you.

If it were me, I'd worry whether the deed alone was convincing enough. I mean, maybe you bought it for 250k, but what is it worth now? And how much mortgage is on it? It's a while since I looked at a Nota Simple, but I think it confirms what you paid, and shows the debts (if any) against the property. So if you had a Nota Simple and an official current valuation, you've covered all the bases.

I reckon there's a similar issue with renting out your property to show passive income. I don't think having a rental contract will be enough (i.e. you might do one with your best mate for 5k pm). So you'll need the rental contract AND bank statements showing the rent coming in regularly. How many months? I'd guess 6 or 12, but maybe they'd be happy with just 3, especially if your other proofs are very convincing. Separately, Spain is notorious for the Okupa problem, so I'm not sure I'd rush out to rent out my life savings... especially if that means I have to rent a place to live in. Yes, I can see you're envisaging a 1,200 pm gain on the deal, but it doesn't strike me as the best option, and has significant downsides (okupas, property damage, much less gain than you think). Personally, I'd much rather rent a room in my house, than rent the whole house and then go live in a budget apartment. It's a bit less income, but I get to enjoy my fancy pad on the beach, and it's easier for me to get rid of a roommate I'm not happy with (and I'm far less likely to suffer property damage and okupas).

Overall, you should put forward your most convincing application with every proof you can produce from the above list i.e. bank statement with some savings and/or Nota Simple (and perhaps valuation) and/or rental contract (and perhaps bank statements) and/or credit cards (and credit available letters). Hopefully, you'll get approved, but if not, you'll get some info to help you try again. In particular, if you're going slightly non-standard on the proof of funds, make sure you've nailed the rest (application form, payment, photo, medical certificate, criminal record check, proof of address, proof of health insurance).

For a comparison with the official position, here's a lawyer's take on the NLV:

https://balcellsgroup.com/non-lucrative-residency/

They say just this: "Bank certificate, demonstrating the possession of over €28,800 per year." Which neatly echoes what I said at the start of this post. :-)

Finally, I'd imagine it depends where you're applying for your NLV. As a Brit, I think you'd have to go to London, where the Spanish Embassy how now outsourced to BLS.

Their guidelines are here:

https://uk.blsspainvisa.com/london/nati … rative.php

And their specific list of requirements here:

https://uk.blsspainvisa.com/london/asse … SA-RES.pdf

This doesn't mention property as satisfying the financial requirement, unless it's generating (rental) income.

@gwynj

thank you

Just to be clear, would NOT be selling uk house so would not have £250k in hand.    and would only be renting in Spain so paying £1000 a month in rent,

The £250k house is still on an asset sheet if required.

kr

@Kevin8181 You don't have to sell it or turn it into cash. The rule on proving means lets you do it by any evidence admitted in law, and title deeds are named on that list, so the flat "no" above isn't what the text says.

What is true is that a deed tells the consulate what you own, not what you will live on, and they read the file that way. It works best as backing for something that actually pays out.

If the plan is to rent the UK house, get the tenancy running before you apply. A contract plus a few months of rent landing in your account is what they look at, not a projection of what it should bring in.

And check the figure for the whole year, not the month. For the first permit it is the equivalent of 2,400 a month for twelve months, so 28,800, plus more for anyone coming with you.