Advice concerning triple residency

[Alan Zoff]

Following retirement, my wife and I (both UK nationals) are looking to spread our time between England, France and Spain. We have owned properties in England and France (one in each) for several years and are about to buy a small Spanish house as a winter bolt hole.

Times spent in each home could be flexible but we are thinking along the lines of say 3 months in Spain and the remainder divided between UK and France.

Pointers on who best to consult for sound advice on the legal/tax implications of this arrangement will be very much appreciated.

[idun]

Another poster mentioned to me that it could end up being 90 days out of 180 in France. You will have to keep your eye on it.

It is a nobody knows situation at the moment isn't it.[:D]

[pomme]

If you are a UK resident that should be "the legislation will apply from the day following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union (31 Dec 2020). From that date, UK nationals who are British citizens will not be required to have a visa for stays in the EU of up to 90 days in any 180-day period”

So 90 days out of 180 in the EU not 90 days out of 180 in France. I've not seen mention of a single EU-wide visa.

There will be other matters, e.g. health, car insurance, travel documents, etc to consider. I believe it is possible the requirements will not all necessarily be EU wide and some countries may modify some requirements.

The current (and regularly updated) UK government advice is https://www.gov.uk/visit-europe-1-january-2021

[NickP]

Interesting situation, how about taking up residency in France which would give you as much time in France as you want, your British citizenship would allow you as much time as you like in the UK and get an Etias travel document which allows travel in the EU so you use that to go to Spain should be doable if you drive from France to Spain. Just an idea not sure if it is legally possible. If it works let me know. LOL

[Alan Zoff]

Thanks all for the comments.

That's something I had wondered, Nick. Would be good to find a reliable specialist to confirm it would work and advise on how best to go about it.

I shall be driving from the French house to southern Spain shortly to visit my brother who lives in the hills above Malaga. It's a house belonging to him that we are planning to buy.

[idun]

I don't think that I would be quite thinking that it was possible to spend as long as one wanted in the UK, think of the tax implications, could get complicated.

[NickP]

Idun, I imagine that as long as you don't exceed 6 months in the UK, you would be OK. I started my comment as a bit of a joke but the more I think about it the more it does/might seem to work. It appeals to me as we are starting to find as we get older that the French winters in the Loir et Cher a tad damp and we are rather fond of Portugal and southern Spain.

[pomme]

It is possible you could get a French long-stay visa which would allow you to stay for up to a year in France including periods not exceeding 90 days over any period of 180 consecutive days elsewhere in the Schengen Area.

https://france-visas.gouv.fr/web/france-visas/long-stay-visa

Given the lack of border posts, I'm not sure how they know where you were?

And would you be allowed to get a long-stay visa for several years?