[Anonymous]

I have been reading on another forum, that bank accounts of non residents are being frozen, so bills etc are not being paid, etc.

Apparently, this is being inconsistently applied by banks and cajas so some are being frozen and others not.

Banks dont appear to be contacting customers who are being affected by this as they consider it an impossible task!!! (Sounds like a poor excuse for Spanish inefficiency and their lackadaisical attitude).

A certificate of non residency is required to be lodged with the national police – so I have read.

No one has been able to tell me how this is possible to do if an account holder is out of the country. Even the British Embassy haven’t answered my query.

Any help anyone? Thanks

[Anonymous]

Surely if there may be some confusion amongst Spanish based banks, the best thing to do would be to contact your own bank directly ?

[Anonymous]

costa light: If you ask you bank they will do a Manual ” Que ” on you. As they will not have any idea as to what are you talking about.

My experience with the banks in Spain is that they don’t train staff, circulars etc are not read by the staff or the bank manager, so they are lost and by turning up to work they were doing you favour. Don’t expect generosity.

One day I found my, branches ( San Pedro ) ex manager, who I had developed a good relationship, was not in the Branch. Upon inquiry the staff was reluctant to give me any information. A couple of months later I was in a branch of the same bank in Arroys del Meil, a town 30 kms away from San Pedro. I got talking to a staff & told him that I was concerned about my ex manager. The staff informed that he had died of cancer & he had attended his funeral etc. On my next visit to my branch I wanted to pay my respect and the staff told me that the ex manager is very much alive & well.

Having digressed there has to be a reason to place an embargo. Fran has not given any examples of such reasons.

[Anonymous]

This is the article in the Costa del Sol news online
http://costadelsolnews.es/index.html

scroll down the page

[Anonymous]

shakeel – I do get your ‘drift’ about the inconsistencies amongst what is fact and what is fiction. I would also propose that there is a lot of inconsistencies in the journalistic profession. It would seem that this story has been written by Nuria Pérez and Dave Jones. I don’t know these individuals but clearly if the story is inaccurate or misleading, then they also fall into the shakeel’s Spanish information pr rather dis-information club.
I would never believe anything any News paper told me without verifying as far as possible. Especially sensational journalism.

[Arthur Stuttard]

I had this problem several years ago when the Banco de Bilbao stopped receiving payments into my bank account (but continued to pay out) because I had not provided them with my latest passport number ( for which they had never asked).
I have just received a letter in England from my present bank (Caja Canarias) asking for a certificate of non residence within 2 months, for which they have already charged me 12 euros, and this despite having signed a declaration with them a year ago for the purposes of the Modelo 214 tax return. Fortunately I hope to be in Tenerife within the next 2 months and will deal with it then.
Do not expect any help from the British Embassy unless you are prepared to give a champagne reception. I have found them to be completely unhelpful in relation to similar problems in the past.
A complaint to your MEP might have some effect, but don’t hold out too much hope.

[Anonymous]

I have read the article. What I find unusual is, you register if you are a resident and if you don’t register as a resident than by default you are non resident.

Can any one tell me, what information/paper work is required for registering as a non resident ?????

[Anonymous]

Mountain out of a mole hill again

I read this a couple of days ago and though a great deal had been lost in translation for example they are clamping down on money laundering and then say they can’t tell non residents “because it would be impossible to do so.” Now this make perfect sense to me as you don’t tell a possible money launder that their bank account is going to be frozen before you do it, do you ???

I once had a joint account with my brother frozen as we where paying out a great deal of money after depositing a great deal of money. The problem was we were executors of a will and we where paying beneficiaries of that will, oh and we weren’t told by the bank the cheques just bounced and i had to sort it out from Spain. Oh I forgot to tell you the bank was British (Barclays) and i was on holiday.

My experience with banks in Spain is that they are like banks in general and i check my account online weekly so i know where I am, i.e. frozen or not, which by the way is not rocket science.

Regards

Paul

[Anonymous]

Well, a variety of replies there! I haven’t contacted my branch yet, however I do log on every week to check balances etc.

I guess if they do freeze our account, they wont get the mortgage paid on my illegal property, the IBI on my illegal property or the local basura tax.

Whose fault would that then be? No answer please, I can guess!!!

[Anonymous]

Whose fault would that then be? What a silly question to ask !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Sorry Shakeel, I am a cynic and have no confidence in Spanish commonsense.

Undoubtedly the fault would be ours as non residents, not living in Spain!

[Anonymous]

Hi All,

I’m with BBVA and upon opening the account, my bank manager gave me a form entitled something on the lines of ‘declaration of non-residency’. This declaration lasts for 2 years and I think, absolves you of spanish tax on interest earned. Every 2 years, BBVA send me a new declaration to sign (at my UK address) and I plant my ‘paw print’ on the paper and send it back to their Madrid office.

[Anonymous]

Fran, you not a cynic. I would call you a realist.

[Anonymous]

Hi All,

Here is how the story appeared in Costa Blanca News.

Brits find their accounts have been frozen

By Nuria Pérez and Dave Jones
THE TREASURY is moving to embargo the bank accounts of EU citizens who are not residents in Spain, government officials have confirmed.

Foreigners who have opened accounts with either passports instead of NIE numbers or with NIE numbers without paperwork from the National Police declaring that they are not residents in Spain are being hit.

The situation came to light after an expat complained to CB News that her account had been emargoed while she was in the UK without her knowledge.

As a result and unbeknown to her the bank was no longer paying standing orders or making transfers.

A source at the Treasury department in Alicante explained that the Spanish government is following an EU directive introduced to crack down on tax evasion.

However the source added that they are not informing non-residents of the situation ‘because it would be impossible to do so’.

The source also stated that the Treasury is working ‘little by little’ and that all the accounts will not be embargoed in one go.

In order to have the embargo lifted clients are being asked to provide their banks with an NIE number and a certificate of non residence (un certificado de no residencia).

British citizens affected by the new regulations appear be to those who live in Spain for less than 180 days and who have not declared their ‘non residence’ with the National Police.

The initiative is not only affecing EU community residents – the government is using the legislation as a tool to clamp down on illegal immigrants.

Hundreds of Morrocans have been hit by the embargoes and thousands of non-resident workers from North Africa have been drawing money out of banks before their accounts are blocked.

In response to the information provided by CB News, the British Embassy in Madrid has advised British expats who are non residents to make sure they are registered as non residents with the National Police.

A spokesman at Orihuela town hall told CB News that certificates of non residence are available from the town hall building in Playa Flamenca.

People are asked to call between 09.00-11.00 from Monday to Friday to reserve an appointment.

Non residents all over the Costa Blanca are advised to contact their local town halls to find out where they should apply for their certificate of non residence.

Bernie

[Anonymous]

Hi all

I asked about this in june last year after we received the forms in the post from our bank. We filled them in and took them back to the bank on our next trip. We were told they were for tax purposes and needed to completed every 2 years. We will still check with the bank when we need to fill more in

Z

[Arthur Stuttard]

I have now visited my bank – Caja Canarias. Apparently I now have to file a declaration of non-residence every 2 years (which I had aleady done), and the bank have to obtain a similar certificate from the National Police every year, for which they will charge me 9.45 euros.

[Author]

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