Hello everyone,

My wife and I went to Spain from Russia, applied for and received 5 year residency in 2009 but sadly had to return to Russia after only 6 months to look after both my in-laws who needed 24 hour care.

We did not work or register with any tax authorities. Both my in-laws have now passed away and we’d like to return to Spain. I am British and my wife is Russian.

However we did not know at the time that we were supposed to de-register from the authorities.

Any advice as to what problems we may face would be very welcome indeed, either on re-entering Spain or when we try to renew or apply for new residency.

Many thanks in advance

Surely a 5 year residency issued in 2009 is still valid?

Hi Rob,

If only it were that simple.

We were told and comfirmed by searches that if we are outside Spain for more than 6 months then residency is automatically cancelled, and I had to get residency in Russia to be able to stay here long enough.

Plus, I’m not sure we can get back by the expiry date in January, so we’ll end up over the period anyway and therefore re-applying.

Thanks for posting, we could really do with some pointers.

OK sorry I didn’t know about automatic cancellation.

I don’t have any more details for you - except in the Costa Blanca area there are a lot more Russians and I thought things were getting easier for them as they are buying property the Spanish government seems to have eased restrictions.

Good luck with your research.