Moving an elderly parent to live with you in the EU

[lucycoco]

In short, I've lived in Spain 18 years and my mother (80 years old) is in the UK. She used to live very close to my brother, but he sadly passed away last month, and she's now very keen to sell up and move to be with us here. I'm delighted about this, but it's all a bit more complicated since Brexit and I wondered if anyone is or has been in the same boat?

She'd be looking to gift us money to use as a house deposit for us all, and we will then cover mortgage and bills while she keeps a sizeable chunk in her account to cover healthcare, etc. And as I understand it, the best option would be a non-lucrative visa to cover her first five years, and all being well (and she's still going strong!) we could then apply for her residency.

I've been handing as much of her life admin as is possible for a while, and I will need to handle as much of this process as is possible. Even filling out a form stresses her out too much.

Anyone have any experience of this? Thanks in advance!

What's your status in Spain? Are you EU citizens as I think that could make a difference.

I'm in Germany and have German citizenship and I know that 'dependent' family members can come and live with us without restrictions.

Sorry I should have said - my family has residency (applied before Brexit) but we are UK citizens.

I am sure if you have permanent residency then you can apply for family members to join you.

I think it would be you that starts the process rather than your mum applying- as she'd be piggybacking onto your residency.

I wouldn't know how to begin though, do you have a good gestor you use?

Thanks, mamatoTails. I think unless you can prove you've been supporting them financially for some time (in which case they can come as a dependent) then the best bet is a non-lucrative visa.

But I don't actually know anyone who's been through this system, so it'd be interesting if anyone had and knew possible pitfalls. I'm worrying about things like transferring an eighty year old from a lifetime on the NHS onto private health care in Spain - would she need to be rediagnosed with the various little ailments an 80 year old has? I guess so!

Even getting her cat across - I assumed he'd go in the hold of a plane, but it turns out a lot of airlines like Ryanair and easyJet don't take pets, I never realised!

Oof, a lot of ducks to get in a row, and it's hard to know where to start... 😅

She can come on a non lucrative visa which will be the quickest. She might have a claim under family reunification but thats usually lengthier
www.facebook.com/groups/citizensadvicespain/?ref=share the CAB Spain is very helpful

As is this one

www.facebook.com/groups/133217347273496/?ref=share

Good luck

My friend did their nlv though Venetia house. They were very good

Thanks so much for that info, maddy68.

I think you're right that CAB Spain will be the best place to go. And thanks for the recommendation, as well. We do have a lawyer but not one with much experience in this type of visa and I'd be reassured if we had someone with experience of the pitfalls on the case!