ARCHIVED - Statement from UK Govt. reference documentation required to enter Spain

The British Government has issued a note clarifying what we already know about the problems being experienced by British nationals who do not currently have full residency, but are in the process of obtaining residency and want to enter Spain.

As reported earlier in the week, there have been many examples of British nationals being turned away at immigration and sent back to the UK (click to read full article).

This is not just limited to Spain and there have been similar reports about UK nations being refused entry to other EU nations if they are unable to provide proof of residency due to the fact that throughout the EU entry is limited to EU members, and nationals of Schengen border countries due to the high level of covid cases worldwide. As the UK is considered to be a high risk country at the moment and is no longer in the EU, UK nationals no longer have the automatic entitlement to enter EU member states.

No exception has been made due to the high level of covid cases in the UK.

The Spanish Government has reiterated that only those British nations who have Spanish residency will be admitted to Spain until 19th January (this could be extended)and has opened a one week window to permit those with residency applications in process who wish to return to Spain to do so.(Click to read full article)

The British Consular Services have clarified the documentation required in order to enter Spain:

"Lots of you have been asking us about the documentation required to re-enter Spain. For example, whether the ‘recibo de presentacion’ or ‘comunicacion del inico del proceso’ as well as the padron certificate, a work contract or a tenancy agreement would be accepted as proof of residency.

The Spanish government has confirmed that the only documents currently being accepted as evidence of residency are:

1. the TIE

2. the green residency certificate (credit card sized or A4). This must be an original not a photocopy

3. and this week, between 4th-10th January inclusive, the ‘resguardo de solicitud’ o ‘renovacion de tarjeta de extranjero’ will also be accepted: https://twitter.com/EmbSpainUK/status/1345706024611811328

If you encounter any problems with one of the first two documents, you may want to refer to or have a printout of this page (which we have posted an image of): http://www.inclusion.gob.es/.../nota_aclaratoria_green....

We have also posted an example of a resguardo, although these may look different in different parts of Spain.

Unless you hold one of these 3 documents under current Spanish rules you will not be able to re-enter Spain. We continue to work with the Spanish authorities to clarify what other documents/forms of evidence could be accepted as proof of residency. However, until we receive this clarification, we cannot confirm that documents other than those mentioned above will be accepted. "