Hello everyone.

I did have a good look around the forum to find the answer to my question just in case it had already been posted but I think mine is a little unique.

I am an American citizen but I also have permanent residency in the UK (a Home Office stamp in my US passport).

I have been offered a sales job in Marbella which is with a UK company but technically I will be self employed.  I will also be banking ‘offshore’ with an Isle Of Man bank account.

From looking around the forum, I know I will need and NIE number and can work for up to 90 days without a visa.

I am keen to get out to Spain as soon as possible.  Would anyone suggest that I get out there asap and apply for my work permit once in Spain?  If not, what would be the quickest way?

edtackas,
when you say self employed, what do you mean? what exactly is the arrangement’

Hi, Thanks for posting.

Its quite a common arrangement in the UK Finance industry.  I have a contract with the company whereby I am ‘contracted’ to work exclusively for them but on a self employed basis.  Its just a way for them to avoid dealingwith my tax & ni and they can terminate my contract easily if I breach the contract or dont perform well.

Ed

edtackas,
if you are going to stay in marbella to work, that means you will need to reside and work legally.
now, i know some british here that work for companies and they issue invoices to these companies for services rendered.
they pay the social security contributions and the company just keep and declare the witholding tax for hacienda.
if there is vat involved then the workers charge this from the company and transfer this to hacienda regularly.
i consider this to be a covert way to exploit workers because the company does not share the burden of social sec contribution with the worker.
and if your services are no longer needed you cannot apply for unemployment subsidy. but anyway, it depends on how much you charge to into this kind of arrangement.

now your problem is that you are not an eu citizen.
to get residence with work permit as self employed you have to fulfill tough requirements to get visa and later the residence card.
you are supposed to apply for permiso de residencia y trabajo por cuenta propia inicial see the third point on page two
http://www.mir.es/SGACAVT/modelos/extranjeria/modelos_extranje/ex_01.pdf
come over to spain and talk to a lawyer.
the new implementing rules and regulations of the new immigration has not yet been published, so the old one still applies.

can’t you get uk citizenship?

Hi Expatriator,

once again, thanks for posting.  That is all very helpful and I appreciate you taking the time.

Yes, I can become a UK citizen and currently have an application with the home Office but currently they say that applications are taking 3 - 6 months to process, so I am hoping to work under the ‘90 day’ no visa rule and get my UK citizenship sorted within that timeframe.

To be honest this has all happened very quickly so there hasn’t been the time to do the thorough research that is really required.

If you know any good local lawyers, let me know?

Thanks again

edtackas,

the 90 day temporary stay stamp in your passport is to enter as tourist for usa citizens.
technically you are a tourist or businessman.
like i said, the requirements for self employed immigrant are not easy to meet as you can see in the list.
remember the unemployment rate in spain around 4 million.
the priority is to get this people hired.
does the company offering you a job know you do not have residence in spain?
have you been told the arrangement you will have with this company?

Hi,

Yes, I know its not going to be easy, but I know a few Spanish speakers out there who are going to help me get it all sorted out.  I am under no illusions how difficult its going tp be and could result in me being sent back.

Thanks again

edtackas,
good luck then,
just get out the before the 90 day permit to stay expire and enter spain from different cities of the schengen area until you get your uk passport.
then just start immigration as an eu citizen.
if i were you, i would wait until i get the uk passport.
we do not know how stressful your plan is.

Hi,

got notification of my successful application for British citizenship today! so we are 99% there!

thanks again for your help and advice