The Brexit bonanza for Spain: Cottage industries spring up to help bewildered expats navigate new paperwork

As Britain prepares for the end of the Brexit transition period at the end of the month, a cottage industry of agencies are taking advantage of UK residents in the EU who are desperate to get their documents in order.

Spain has the highest number of British residents of any EU country. At least 300,000 are registered with authorities, while many more are thought to live there without notifying the government, usually for tax reasons.

As the deadline of 31 December approaches, companies are charging Britons huge sums to negotiate Spain’s byzantine bureaucracy to get residency documentation.

The British embassy in Madrid has conducted a campaign to encourage British citizens to register as residents in order to enjoy the same rights to work, health services and freedom of movement as when the UK was a part of the EU.

To do this, Britons living in Spain must first get appointments with government officials to process documents to attain residency or get a TIE, a credit-card-size document that proves they can enjoy these rights.

The Covid-19 pandemic has made this process more difficult because many civil servants are working from home, and documents are taking longer to process.

This is where agencies step in, charging large amounts simply to make appointments for Britons and other nationals who are either insufficiently fluent in Spanish or lack the time to negotiate the country’s highly bureaucratic system.

The Independent tried to get one of these coveted appointments but was repeatedly met with the sign on a Spanish government website that reads “no appointments available”.

We sought help from the services of one agency, Expat Relocation Services, to make appointments for residency for two children. The price was €500 (£453).

When challenged over the price, the agency said they could stagger the payments.

“You can pay half now, the rest later,” a spokesperson said.

For those with the patience to negotiate their way around the system, it involves filling out a series of forms, making a series of copies of documents, and is free.

Another agency, Lexidy Law Boutique, offered to do the same job of making appointments for two children. The fee this time was €1,100.

For the price, they would list the required documents, submit the residency permission and get an appointment for the TIE card.

Roz Oxley, 49, a British teacher who lives in Barcelona, opted to pay an agency €250 to help her get residency cards for herself and her two sons.

“I paid my way out of it. For me, it was the expense [that was the worst thing] but I think the biggest impact on people has been getting time off work to go to appointments or to make appointments,” she said.

“Not being able to get family appointments together, for instance. I was given three different appointments for myself and the boys.”

However, it is not only Britons who are at the mercy of these agencies.

Becky Harris, from Indianapolis in the United States, found herself queueing outside a government office in Madrid to sort out residency documents along with other migrants, from Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The 26-year-old wanted to return to the US for Christmas to see her parents but needed to get permission to return to Spain because her documents had expired.

She refused to pay charges of up to €450 just to make an appointment.

“The truth is I didn't have any sympathy with immigrants until I moved here,” said Ms Harris, who works in a language school.

Like thousands others, when she tried to secure an appointment, she was met with this message: “At present there are no appointments available. Shortly, the office will put at your disposal new appointments.”

The agencies get the appointments by monitoring these websites around the clock and selling them on to customers.

For many foreigners, not having documents in order may result in bank accounts being closed down or rental contracts on accommodation being turned down.

“I love my life here in Spain, which is a great country, but every time I have to deal with documentation for foreigners, I wonder whether it is worth the while? I want to go back to the US,” said Ms Harris.

She recounted the tale of one person in a WhatsApp group of foreigners who are seeking appointments. Their message read: “I paid €95 to get an appointment so that I could get the documentation and go home to see my grandmother before she died.”

A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry said: “There are no mafias who deal with these appointments. There are appointments available. The system has been affected like many other things by the pandemic.”

Safiya El Aaddam, an activist, accused Spain of “institutional racism” because the system to get documents is weighted against migrants.

“They want the system to take longer and do not give out appointments,” she said.

El Aaddam said her group received 6,000 requests for appointments but only managed to secure 1,000 free ones.

Constanza Suarez, president of APAEM, an association of lawyers dealing with immigration issues, said no one escapes these problems.

“Poor and rich are caught out by this system. Sometimes the rich can pay people to get the appointments but they are charged large sums.”