Moving back to the UK from Spain with your family

Visas for a non-British partner

If you're all British, nobody needs a visa. You do need a valid British passport for each child, and children born in Spain aren't always British automatically. Whether they are depends on when they were born and your circumstances at the time, so check on GOV.UK and get their passports sorted before you book flights.

A partner who isn't British and has no UK immigration status usually needs a family visa as a partner, applied for online from Spain. The two of you normally have to show combined income of at least £29,000 a year. Savings can sometimes count instead of income. Your partner also has to meet an English language requirement. The first visa lasts up to 2 years and 9 months, decisions from outside the UK usually take about 12 weeks, and the earliest your partner can apply to settle is after 5 continuous years on the route.

On top of the visa fee you pay the Immigration Health Surcharge up front: £1,035 a year for adults and £776 a year for anyone under 18. A non-British child on the application pays it too.

This isn't legal or tax advice. Immigration rules change, so check GOV.UK or a qualified immigration adviser before you apply.

Cost of living compared with Spain

These are our own monthly estimates for a family of four, in US dollars, from the Roamsmith cost-of-living calculator. They cover rent, groceries, transport, healthcare, utilities and family activities, without school fees or childcare. They're for comparison, not a budget.

Childcare is where it hurts most if you have under-fives. We estimate about $550 a month in Valencia, $1,300 in Manchester and $1,800 in London.

• Valencia: about $2,550 a month
• Manchester: about $3,480 a month
• Edinburgh: about $3,750 a month
• London: about $5,600 a month

School places and in-year admissions

In England, you apply for a state school place through your local council, and most families coming back from Spain apply "in-year", outside the normal admissions round. The School Admissions Code says schools with places available must offer one. They can't refuse just because your child followed a different curriculum or because the Spanish school hasn't sent records. You should hear the outcome in writing within 15 school days, and if you're refused, the letter has to explain your right to appeal.

The catch is the address. The rule about allocating places before a family arrives applies to service families and Crown servants. Other families get no such guarantee, so plan on having a UK address before you apply: lease first, school application second. Councils publish their in-year process online by 31 August each year. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own systems.

Expect some reverse culture shock, especially in children who left the UK young or never lived there. Uniforms, early starts and short lunches can feel stranger to them than Spain did. Children who have only known Spanish or Valencian schools may have gaps in English writing. Talk to the new school early about it.

NHS access on return

NHS hospital care depends on being "ordinarily resident", not on your passport or your National Insurance record. A British citizen who comes back to live on a settled basis counts as ordinarily resident straight away, with no waiting period. GP surgeries and A&E are free for everyone. A hospital may ask for proof that you've settled, so keep your tenancy agreement handy.

Register with a GP once you have an address, and bring enough medicine and a summary of each person's Spanish medical records. If a pensioner in the family had an S1 registered in Spain, contact the NHS Overseas Healthcare Team to cancel it. A non-British partner gets NHS access through the Immigration Health Surcharge paid with the visa.

Benefits, banking and credit

Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction and council housing all use the Habitual Residence Test. There's no fixed period you have to wait. The decision looks at why you came back, what you've done to set up a home, how long you were away and your family ties in each country. If you're a couple, the claim is assessed on the person making it, so think about which of you is more likely to pass.

Child Benefit works differently. You need to live in the UK as your main home and have the right to reside there, and you can claim once that's true. If either parent earns over £60,000, the High Income Child Benefit Charge takes back 1% for every £200 above that, and all of it above £80,000.

Credit files don't cross borders, so your Spanish mortgage history won't help with a UK landlord or lender. UK credit agencies hold data for six years, so if you left recently some of your old record may still be there. Register to vote at your new address as soon as you can, since it usually shows on your credit file within four to six weeks.

Keep a Spanish account open until the final bills and last tax return are paid, and tell the bank you've left Spain. If you're self-employed (autónomo), you must deregister from Spanish Social Security within 3 days of stopping work, and you can file it up to 60 days in advance. File late and you pay for the whole month.

Tax: leaving Spain and arriving in the UK

Spain's tax year is the calendar year, January to December. You're Spanish tax resident if you spend more than 183 days in Spain in the year or if your main economic interests are there. Spain also presumes you're resident if your spouse and minor children live there. If you leave in, say, September, you'll probably still be Spanish resident for that whole year and file a normal Spanish return for it.

The UK tax year runs from 6 April, and the Statutory Residence Test decides your status. You're automatically UK resident if you spend 183 days or more in the UK in the tax year, or if your only home is in the UK for at least 91 days in a row. Otherwise your UK ties decide it. In the year you come back, split-year treatment can divide the year into an overseas part and a UK part, but it doesn't apply if you were abroad for less than a full tax year. Tell HMRC when you return.

Because the Spanish calendar year and the UK tax year overlap, you can be resident in both countries for part of the same period. The 2013 Spain-UK double taxation convention, in force since 12 June 2014, decides which country gets to tax what. This isn't legal or tax advice. Get a Spanish gestor or asesor and a UK adviser to look at the year of the move together.

• Deregister from the padrón at your town hall.
• Tell your Oficina de Extranjería and your health centre that you're leaving.
• Keep your NIE and Spanish tax login, since you may need them for the final return.

A realistic timeline

1. 6 months before

   Check each child's British citizenship and passport. If your partner needs a family visa, gather income evidence and book the English test. Start looking at areas and schools.

2. 4 months before

   Submit the partner visa and pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (decisions from outside the UK usually take about 12 weeks). Ask doctors for medical records.

3. 2 months before

   Decide on the car. If it's coming, plan the DGT export deregistration. Give notice on your lease. Autónomos can file their Social Security deregistration up to 60 days ahead.

4. Last weeks in Spain

   Deregister from the padrón, tell Extranjería and your health centre, settle final bills and tell your bank you're leaving Spain.

5. First 2 weeks back

   Register with a GP, register to vote, apply in-year for school places, and make the NOVA declaration within 14 days if you've brought the car.

6. First months back

   Claim Child Benefit, tell HMRC you're back, get the car through vehicle approval and DVLA registration, and file your final Spanish return the following year.