Question
Seeing more instances of A1/S1 being declined. Can some expert on the Spain Digital Nomad Visa group explain the scenarios where this might happen? Eg. Sole director/employee, age of company, national insurance paid etc?
Answers
These are the answers of Spainguru’s Spain Digital Nomad Visa group members:
“Company not yet 18 months old, employee not been with the company for sufficient time. A1 applied for 2 years instead of 2 years minus at least 1 day.
S1 is a whole different story. You need to put in your Spanish address when you apply for the A1, then the system is triggered to ask questions about an S1 for you and for your family members.
When not done this way, it’s practically impossible to obtain an S1, since they changed the system a couple of months ago (October 2024).”
“Do you mean you need to put a Spanish address in the residential address bit or the work address bit or both?”
“As a digital nomad, the residential address in Spain will be your work address as well, no?”
“If you have not put a Spanish address in for the residential address, but have put a Spanish work address, does this mean I need to contact HMRC and change my residential address to a Spanish one, or is the Spanish work address enough to trigger an S1?”
“The triggering would have taken place WHILE you were filling out the A1 application….”
“Ah ok! In that case, would I need to complete a new A1 and this time put residential address as a Spanish one or would the work address being Spanish be enough?”
“To the best of my knowledge, the S1 eligibility is only triggered by a residential address in Spain. If you weren’t asked any questions about whether you wanted an S1 for you and/or dependent family members, then it will likely not be issued.”
“I thought it was 12 months? Will an A1 not be granted unless the company is 18 months old?”
“12 months refers to the time a company must be registered to qualify as a client or employer for the DNV. A1 eligibility is something separate from that.”
“How long do you have to be at a company to obtain an A1?”
“Not sure, I’ve seen mentioned 28 days, but the UK government website doesn’t state this minimum requirement. You’d have to call HMRC and ask.”
Conclusion
According to the Spain Digital Nomad Visa community, A1 and S1 applications can be declined due to various factors, including the age of the company, the applicant’s tenure, and errors in the application.
A1 eligibility is affected by the company’s operational timeline, while S1 registration is often triggered by using a Spanish residential address in the A1 application.
Those who fail to include this detail may have difficulty obtaining an S1 later. For accurate requirements, checking with HMRC directly is recommended.
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