Moving to Spain? We do the dull bits. You do the sunshine.
English-speaking immigration lawyers on the Costa del Sol. Visas, residency, NIE, the lot — handled properly and explained in actual plain English, not in the dialect of Spanish officialdom. You came for the weather and the wine; let us deal with the forms that stand between you and them.
Warning: may cause you to smugly correct other expats about visas at dinner parties.
You didn't dream of Spain so you could spend it weeping at a government website.
The dream is a terrace, a long lunch, the sea doing that thing the sea does. The reality, left to its own devices, is a 2am session with an untranslated PDF, a queue for an appointment that doesn't exist, and a form that demands a document only obtainable from the office that needs the form. We think that's the wrong way round.
So we took the boring, baffling, slightly maddening part — and made it our problem instead of yours.
A SHORT STORY (NOTHING TO DO WITH PAPERWORK)
The man who assembled the flat-pack wardrobe without reading the instructions
A confident chap bought a famous Swedish wardrobe and, as a matter of national pride, refused to read the instructions. “How hard can it be,” he announced, a sentence that has preceded every domestic disaster in recorded history. Three hours later he had a structure that was technically a wardrobe in the way that a shipwreck is technically a boat. A door opened the wrong way. There were, mysteriously, eleven screws left over. It leaned, with quiet menace, to the left.
His neighbour popped round, glanced at it, and said: “You've done step seven before step four. Everyone does. The instructions exist precisely because the obvious order is the wrong order.” They took it apart, followed the little diagrams, and it went together in forty minutes — solid, upright, doors behaving. It was never about being clever or strong. It was about doing the right steps in the right order.
He didn't lack effort. He lacked the instructions — and someone who'd built one before.
Moving to Spain is that wardrobe. The pieces are all there and it absolutely can be done — but the obvious order is the wrong order, and one step out of sequence means starting again with eleven spare screws. We're the neighbour who's built this one a hundred times and knows which diagram comes first.
The two routes most Brits actually take
There are several ways into Spain, but for UK and non-EU arrivals these two do most of the heavy lifting. Not sure which is yours? That's literally the first thing we'll tell you.
Non-Lucrative Visa
For retirees & the financially independent
You can support yourself from pensions, savings or passive income and you don't need to work in Spain. The classic “I've earned my place in the sun” route.
- Proof of stable passive income / savings
- No working in Spain (it's in the name)
- Leads to long-term, then permanent residency
- Private health cover required
Digital Nomad Visa
For remote workers & freelancers
You keep your job or clients abroad and work from a terrace with better weather. Created under Spain's Startups Law, and it actually lets you work — legally.
- Remote income from outside Spain (≤20% Spanish)
- Higher income threshold than the NLV
- Employed applicants may access the Beckham Law (24% flat)
- Often decided in ~20 working days from inside Spain
The usual firm vs. Globalium Expats
THE USUAL FIRM
- “A multidisciplinary team committed to excellence”
- Replies in three working days, in legalese
- Your case handed to admin staff
- Quote that quietly grows mid-process
- Takes the case whether it's viable or not
- Makes you feel daft for asking
GLOBALIUM EXPATS
- Actual humans who answer the phone
- Replies in plain English, promptly
- Handled by a qualified lawyer
- Fees up front, no surprises
- We tell you honestly if it won't fly
- No question is too daft — ask away
What we sort out for you
From the first visa to the day you're handed a Spanish passport — and all the admin gremlins in between.
Visas & residency
Non-Lucrative, Digital Nomad, work & self-employed routes.
NIE & TIE
Your Spanish ID numbers and residence cards, sorted.
Renewals & permanence
Keeping you legal and getting you to permanent residency.
Family reunification
Bring the spouse, the children — and the in-laws if you must.
Spanish nationality
The long game, mapped out from day one.
Driving licence & admin
Exchanges, town-hall registration, the lot.
Four steps, no Spanish required
A proper chat
You tell us your plan. We tell you, in English, which route fits and what it really involves.
The strategy
We pick the strongest route for your profile and give you a clear quote and document list.
We handle it
We prepare and file everything, deal with the offices and chase what needs chasing.
You land
Residency in hand, you get on with the terrace and the long lunches. We stay on call.
The questions every Brit asks us
Can I even still move to Spain after Brexit?
Yes. Brexit ended free movement, so as a UK national you now need a visa to live here — but the routes are well-trodden and Brits use them every week. The two most common are the Non-Lucrative Visa (if you can support yourself without working) and the Digital Nomad Visa (if you work remotely). We tell you which one fits in the first chat.
Non-Lucrative or Digital Nomad — which one is me?
Roughly: if your money comes from pensions, savings or investments and you won't work in Spain, it's the Non-Lucrative Visa. If you'll keep earning from a job or clients outside Spain, it's the Digital Nomad Visa — which, unlike the NLV, actually lets you work. Borderline cases exist, and sorting them out before you spend a penny is literally the first thing we do.
Do I really need a lawyer, or will a gestor do?
A gestor files paperwork; a lawyer reads the case. For a simple renewal a gestor may be plenty. For a visa that can be refused — and appealed — you want a qualified lawyer who can argue it, not just post it. We are the latter, and we will tell you honestly if your case is simple enough not to need us.
How much Spanish do I need? (Be honest.)
To get the visa, none — we handle the entire Spanish-language side for you, in English. To enjoy living here, a little goes a long way and your neighbours will adore you for trying. But the paperwork is our job, not yours.
Where are you, and do you cover my town?
We are in Fuengirola, on the Costa del Sol, and we cover the whole coast — Marbella, Mijas, Benalmádena, Estepona and beyond — in person, plus the rest of Spain and the UK online. Your visa starts at a Spanish consulate in the UK; your life starts here, and so are we.
The sunshine is ready. Let's sort the paperwork.
Tell us your plan and we'll tell you the route, the requirements and the realistic timeline — in plain English, no obligation, no jargon.
+34 667 77 02 19 · +34 667 78 20 85 · infoglobalextranjeria@gmail.com
Camino de Coín 14, 29640 Fuengirola (Málaga)
P.S.— there is a certain type of expat who insists on doing it all themselves “to save a few euros,” and you'll meet him at every barbecue, still mid-process eighteen months later, explaining with great passion the difference between two forms he has now filed incorrectly. He is having a marvellous time being furious about it. If that's your idea of the good life, godspeed and bring snacks. If your idea of the good life is, in fact, the actual good life — terrace, sea, no spreadsheets — you know where we are. Mine's a coffee; we'll handle the rest.