Good Immigration Lawyer required

Two old friends applying for Residentia are being messed about by the Immigration department in Alicante due to bad help from a couple of Quesada companies dealing with their application.
They urgently require legal assistance from a lawyer who is up to date with the current legal requirements,

Are they UK or EU passport holders?

Darro. They are retired with English Passports but have lived in France for a number of
years and have French Residency

What are the problems the couple are encountering with their current legal firm?
According to this official French Gov website it should not be a problem to get Residencia in Spain with your French Residencia. Would you be treated as an EU citizen with your French Residencia which should speed up the Spanish Residencia application? You would be required to sign on the Foreigners Register if in Spain longer than 90 days and presumably show you have the means to sustain yourself financially and medically in Spain.

Hit "General Case" button on this link:

https://www.service-public.fr/particuli ... conditions.

Bee

[quote="Bee"]What are the problems the couple are encountering with their current legal firm?
According to this official French Gov website it should not be a problem to get Residencia in Spain with your French Residencia. Would you be treated as an EU citizen with your French Residencia which should speed up the Spanish Residencia application? You would be required to sign on the Foreigners Register if in Spain longer than 90 days and presumably show you have the means to sustain yourself financially and medically in Spain.

Hit "General Case" button on this link:

https://www.service-public.fr/particuli ... conditions.

Bee[/quote


Thank you Bee, this fits the situation perfectly. The only problem is, who has the power and authority to overturn the ruling given by the Alicante Immigration office that this couple did
not have French Residency.
Apparently they visited a Lawyer on the high street, with the details, they were charged
150 euros and told to stay quiet for 3 years and Residency would be automatic.
They are retired and have all necessary documents including S1 for health.
They themselves have replied to the Immigration Officer by Registered post with copies
of all the documents but have not had any reply or response

prefect wrote:

Bee wrote:What are the problems the couple are encountering with their current legal firm?
According to this official French Gov website it should not be a problem to get Residencia in Spain with your French Residencia. Would you be treated as an EU citizen with your French Residencia which should speed up the Spanish Residencia application? You would be required to sign on the Foreigners Register if in Spain longer than 90 days and presumably show you have the means to sustain yourself financially and medically in Spain.

Hit "General Case" button on this link:

https://www.service-public.fr/particuli ... conditions.

Bee[/quote


Thank you Bee, this fits the situation perfectly. The only problem is, who has the power and authority to overturn the ruling given by the Alicante Immigration office that this couple did
not have French Residency.
Apparently they visited a Lawyer on the high street, with the details, they were charged
150 euros and told to stay quiet for 3 years and Residency would be automatic.
They are retired and have all necessary documents including S1 for health.
They themselves have replied to the Immigration Officer by Registered post with copies
of all the documents but have not had any reply or response

Unfortunately, having left France for 3 consecutive years and not applied for renewal (assumed), then they have allowed their French residency to lapse.

I really don't understand why they didn't apply for Spanish residency in 2020 when they arrived. Listening to advice to "stay quiet" for 3 years must have given them some suspicion that things were not right.

Based on the information given I would think that they could either try to reinstate their residency in France and then plan a move to Spain, or just apply for a NLV for Spain.

Oh dear that was very bad advice especially as in 2020 there was no problem with UK citizens applying under the EU regulations. How were the Spanish authorities to know they were in the country from 2020. Did they sign on the Pádron, pay tax as residents or get a SIP card which would be proof. They do need to check out the French Residency so that they are not caught between 2 stools while they appeal the Spanish decision. Are they on Facebook to contact Brits in Spain who would have local contact details for Associacion Babelia who were helping UK citizens with Residencia.They need a solicitor with a good working relationship with Immigration in Alicante.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/residency-r ... 0the%20TIE.

Bee

Bee wrote:Hit "General Case" button on this link:

https://www.service-public.fr/particuli ... conditions.

Bee

I believe the information in that link refers to non EU citizens who legally acquired residency in an EU member state and wished to move to another, that does not include British citizens made non EU by Brexit.

That will continue to be my belief unless or until someone shows me a case where a Brit, legally resident permanent in France and with a new post Brexit 10 year+ permanent Carte de Sejour, or whatever they called the new card, has seamlessly relocated to France on the strength of it.

Even now, legally resident in France or Spain or wherever, Brits are not EU citizens and never will be unless they take up actual citizenship.

It is always best to not get a refusal because now they have to come up with something that Extranjería can justify reversing their decision and we know that can be very difficult but not impossible.

Bee

prefect wrote:the ruling given by the Alicante Immigration office that this couple did
not have French Residency.

Notwithstanding my earlier reply, if they did not exchange their old Titre de Sejour's, (if indeed they ever had them as they were not obligatory) for new post Brexit residency cards, or successfully apply for them, then indeed their French residency would have been lost as there was a 'drop dead date' for that which has long since passed.

On top of that if they have absented themselves from France for three years, a time during which I'll hazard a guess they have not been submitting French tax returns, and surrendered their Carte Vitale's which is automatic recall from CPAM in France whenever a new SI is issued for another country, I doubt there is anything which can be done about it now.


I wish I could say something more positive about their situation but it's hard to conclude anything other than that they are well and truly stuffed and the only possible option left open to them would be to apply for NLV's - which of course would need to be done from UK.