The British citizens living in Spain are currently considered citizens of the EU, therefore allowing them freedom to travel and work inside the European Union countries. With the UK’s exit, this status will cease, as well as the rights that these citizens have.

All of the doubts now reside on the immigration status of these British citizens abroad. It is highly unlikely that they will remain undocumented as Spanish Immigration Laws allow a person to change their legal regime should their status as an EU citizen or family of an EU citizen finish.

In the worst case scenario, should the UK exit without adhering to any international or bilateral treaty, these citizens will be able to change their type of residence permit from an EU residence permit to a non-EU residence permit by initiating a process with the Immigration authorities if they comply with certain requirements regarding documentation and proof of financial funds, so each case will have to be individually studied.

Depending on how long each citizen has lived in Spain, they will be eligible for a different type of residence permit: more than 5 year residency would mean a change to a Long Term residence card; less than 5 years would mean changing to a temporary authorization, with or without the right to work depending on each case.

Another aspect to take in to account is whether these citizens have a Spanish family member, which would allow them to maintain their status as an EU family member.

However, we do believe that this will be the worst case scenario. The foreseeable outcome would be that the UK, even though out of the EU, would still be a member of the European Economic Area (EEA) or would sign a treaty with the EU and, therefore, the British citizens will still be allowed to move freely. However, this will also allow the citizens from other EU and EEA countries to move freely, not complying with one of the Brexit’s objectives.

As it has been mentioned on the news in the past week, the UK must now notify their intention to leave the EU and negotiate how the exit from the EU will take place, negotiation which can take up to two years extendable. During this time frame, the British citizens status will not change and the Spanish government has stated their wish to strengthen their bilateral relations with the UK and keep encouraging the relationship between British and Spanish citizens.

Of course, we will not know the outcome until the EU and the UK negotiate and come to an agreement, so we will keep monitoring the progress to try and clarify the British citizens status in Spain.

(News/Legal: Brexit & EU Residency