Residents Permits by Romano

"Those with the right to residence of a permanent character are nationals of the member states of the European Union and of other states that are part of the Agreement on Economic European Space who have developed an economic activity, either as employed or self employed persons, in Spanish territory and conform to all or some of the following circumstances. "That in the moment that they ceased the said economic activity, they had arrived at the age for pensionable retirement set by Spanish law, having exercised the said activity during the previous 12 months and having resided in Spain for more than three years."

OTHER EXEMPTIONS
The residency card exemption also applies to those residing in Spain who are EU students or are currently employed or self-employed EU nationals, as well as to these people's family members, as explained in our previous report.

RIGHT OF RESIDENCE
The right to residence with a card still applies to those EU nationals and their families who are unemployed but with visible means of support or those who have retired to Spain on independent means or with an EU member state pension.

BUREAUCRATIC PROCESS
For those relieved of the need to seek a residence card, a passport or national identity card of their member state has now replaced the residence card for identification in opening bank accounts, buying a property, registering an EU driving licence or in any similar bureaucratic process.

However, a Solbank spokeswoman said that while a passport is sufficient to open a non-resident account, the only proof of residency is the official Número de Identidad Extranjero (NIE), either originally issued with a first residence card or obtainable from any local National Police station.

In the words of a Spanish Home Office official: "All those persons who no longer need to carry a residence card are obviously on the National Register of Foreigners and should supply their NIE number as proof when dealing with government or fiscal institutions." A copy of the Boletín Oficial de Estado 178/2003 is available on the official government website at www.boe.es/boe/dias/2003-02-22/seccion1.html#00002 where it can be read and printed in Adobe format.