Meet the Experts: Balcells Group Discusses Spanish Immigration, Taxes, and More

Spain continues to be a leading and attractive option for Americans moving abroad. Join our conversation with Cristian Balcells, founder and CEO of the popular Balcells Group in Barcelona, Spain, where we talk about all things Spanish immigration, from common misconceptions to process timelines and tax implications. Cristian adds his thoughts on the latest mood towards foreign nationals in Spain, as well as other valuable details for U.S. citizens considering a move.

This is not a paid promotion. Some of our team members continue to work successfully with Balcells Group for their personal immigration and expat services, so we are pleased to recommend this group as a resource.

As a thank you for listening to this podcast, our listeners can get 20% off their initial meeting with the Balcells Group by using the code BALC20. Book your meeting at balcellsgroup.com

Learn more about how The Living Abroad Academy informs and accelerates moves to Europe for Americans: www.livingabroadacademy.com

Chapters

• 0:08 Intro
• 0:50 Meet today’s guest: Cristian Balcells, CEO of the Balcells Group
• 1:17 Jeffrey’s personal experience with the Balcells Group
• 3:32 Challenges and successes in the immigration process
• 4:29 Cristian’s Perspective on Spain for expats
• 7:37 Common misconceptions about Spanish visas
• 8:53 Popular visa options and the Golden Visa
• 10:53 Tax concerns and special tax regimes for expats
• 13:34 Healthcare as a tax benefit
• 14:52 Balcells Group experience with American clients and common issues those clients face
• 16:56 How many expats choose to remain in Spain?
• 17:59 Audience and goals of the Living Abroad Academy
• 22:15 Discount offer for Balcells Group initial meeting
• 22:42 Services offered by Balcells Group
• 25:09 Outro

Transcript

Jeffrey Jones  0:08  

Welcome to the Experts and Expats Podcast. I'm Jeffrey Jones

Michelle Hippler  0:12  

and I'm Michelle Hippler. We're co-founders of the Living Abroad Academy. We focus on the information Americans need to plan a move to Europe on a faster timeline than the one we experienced

Jeffrey Jones  0:22  

We cover all the best visas to explore, along with financial and social considerations that will help you determine what country-

Michelle Hippler  0:29  

or countries

Jeffrey Jones  0:30  

Right or countries- might be the right fit for you and your circumstances.

Michelle Hippler  0:33  

Absolutely, a country might look great on paper, but not turn out to be what you expected. So we talk to expats about their experiences and experts about their particular expertise in their country.

Jeffrey Jones  0:45  

All with a goal to get you as much information as possible to make an informed decision. Today, we have Cristian Balcells from the Balcells Group in Barcelona, Spain. Hello. Cristian

Cristian Balcells  0:54  

Hello. Hola ¿Qué tal?

Jeffrey Jones  0:56  

Bien, bien. Cristian is the CEO and Managing Director of the Balcells Group, which offers services for expats and immigration, taxes, real estate, and a lot more. Cristian has some more information to share about Spanish immigration and their other services coming up.

Michelle Hippler  1:09  

To add a key detail, we are Americans, and so we are focused only on US citizens and the information specific to helping them.

Jeffrey Jones  1:16  

And if you feel like Spain is a strong option for you, or you want more in depth information on how to move there and some other details we're so pleased to introduce you to the Balcells Group. They've been my personal immigration attorney in Spain this year. Actually, we started last year. They've done an excellent job for me and my spouse, and besides that, they've been really great people to meet and to work with. 

Before we start with questions, I'd like to share a bit about my personal experience with Balcells, to give you a sense of the process and the timeline. Again, it was positive. In the late winter of 2023 last year, my spouse and I decided on Spain after considering quite a few expat countries. Michelle knows it was a multi-year process, and we really wanted the digital nomad visa in Spain. Since I- we thought we did right, since I work at home as a professional.

So, how did we find the Balcells group? So, we saw Cristian present on a program by YouTuber Patrick Reyes. He has terrific content on Spain and Barcelona. We were really impressed with your presentation Cristian. really clear and thorough. I think we watched that four times and took notes. So anyway, after that, we booked an introductory zoom session with your team and your attorney, Marta, who we enjoyed meeting and working with right away. We booked, and I think we paid on the website. I just know it was easy. There was a big button at the top. We went up there, clicked it, book an appointment, and then we had the appointment pretty quickly. 

So our first meeting was very useful with her. She asked us some really pointed questions. I'm glad she did, you know, to make sure that we qualified for the visa. And that just clarified that really quickly. Then she said, call back, you know, in a number of months when we were close to moving to Spain. So fast forward to this year, in January, we reconnected with her again in a zoom call, and started the immigration work. And she, you know, it's when she recommended, about three months before we were to arrive in Spain. We started exchanging a lot of documents online, and once we arrived to Spain in May, we'd already submitted everything for the process, so we were really just waiting and, you know, enjoying paella and enjoying Spain and not doing a lot. Until a few weeks later, when we got the great news that we were approved for the visa and we got our NIE, our NIE document, the piece of paper that said we had it. So that was a celebration. So we started the final part after that, activities like fingerprinting, Social Security, and tax stocks. So those meetings and the last steps to get that magic piece of plastic, the visa residency card- so glad we got that. It took about seven months once we kicked off the process. Cristian, I'm wondering, were we quick or were we slow? Maybe we're slow, I don't know.

Cristian Balcells  3:36  

It depends on how busy is the immigration office, but between five and seven months, yeah.

Jeffrey Jones  3:42  

Yeah, The office was quite busy, and then there was some sort of glitch. Anyway, we had to wait a few extra weeks. So anyway, yeah, it was seven months. I did want to close with one thing. There were moments in the process when I think the best word is stuck. Things just got stuck, like what I just mentioned. And we were even told by government people that there were going to be weeks added to the process. Contacted our attorney, Marta, at the Balcells Group, and she jumped in and fixed things within days so we didn't have delays that would have been sounded like weeks or even- no information. So I think that was amazing, and I just want to thank you and your group again, Cristian, I think you guys did a great job. Was not a painful process at all. So, thank you.

Cristian Balcells  3:42  

Thank you. I'm glad to hear this. Our -our mission is to give a good service and to make the journey easy. So I'm happy that- that you are here and that we can talk in these terms as well.

Jeffrey Jones  4:28  

Thank you.

Michelle Hippler  4:29  

All right, we've got some questions for you. One of the big ones, I mean, Spain's been in the news a lot this year, starting in the summer, when there were the anti-tourist protests and the infamous squirt gun incident that people have been asking about. But there's been some changing immigration laws. There's some climate change concerns now too, with the horrible flooding in the Valencia region and other things that are occurring in Spain. So we wanted to just get your- your take, your perspective of if you think Spain is a good option for expats, and why? And we love Spain, so don't get us wrong- We just want to hear your take on it.

Cristian Balcells  5:07  

Very good, very good. Thank you. Well, what I can say, I'm Spanish, I love my country, and I think I've been traveling a lot around the world, and I think Spain is one of the countries that offers you all. the culture, the mountain, the sea, the weather, the people, the language, the atmosphere, the feelings, the energy. So of course, I understand why it's a top destination for expats and so attractive. On the other side, of course, as every country was perhaps cities like Barcelona or Madrid, we are receiving a big amount of expats, foreigners, and there is some demonstrations, but now there is demonstrations all around the world, and about all the topics of the world. So, and it's not that every week, there is this type of demonstrations. Perhaps in summer, where we are a little bit collapsed, especially in cities like Barcelona, there is this tendency from some districts. But I think it's something understandable, and it does not mean that we don't like expats at all.

Michelle Hippler  6:14  

I think that the images that we saw from over the summer were definitely in the tourist sections, and I would imagine that expats aren't really hanging out in those areas once they move there. So I think there's a distinction between the expats and the tourists that are people are protesting against, and I think a lot of it has to do with housing also that's been taken off of the long term market and put into the short term.

Cristian Balcells  6:41  

Well, I think it's something very common nowadays in all the world that to do demonstrations, something is a little bit more than with respected and also there is this sensitivity from the local people that this is our city, this is our district, and we don't want to change our bars or our where we can see in Barcelona that some like restaurants or some projects, they are very oriented to- to intend to expats and not to locals, and we lose our culture at some point. No, this is a little the case- but I think that in- that in general, as far as I know from our clients and in cities, I mean living in Barcelona, like my clients, they try to integrate into the culture, and they like even our traditions. They like our- how we do the thing, and perhaps we learn things from other nationalities. So I don't think it's very- it's a big issue. It's once a year, in summer, it appears for a couple of weeks, these demonstrations.

Michelle Hippler  7:37  

Yeah, well, speaking of your clients in your experience, what are some of the biggest misconceptions that people might be coming in to you about getting a visa in Spain? Do they have any sort of preconceived notions about it?

Cristian Balcells  7:50  

Yeah, in general, what we are surprised and the people, they are very afraid that they are going to be rejected and well, our as- as, as lawyers, our, our goal is to give security to our clients, to say, look, this is not going to be rejected if we follow the rules. We are a state regulated by law, so if we accomplish the requirements of the law, you will get it so you don't have to be worried about it's going to be rejected because of irrational decision. Normally, if you have the requirements, they give the permit. And another misconception is people hear that it takes a lot of time, the things and this, I cannot say no, because it takes time, but it's reasonable, and with a good lawyer, because you follow the process and at the end, it would be three, six months, maximum, the process seven months in your case. But the time frames are also reasonable. It's not 4000 years that you won't get any answer from the immigration office. So at the end there is, there is a process, and the process is regulated by law, so we have to be sure that if you have the requirements, you will get it.

Michelle Hippler  8:53  

Great. What are the most popular visa options that you're seeing with your clients? Digital nomad, non-lucrative. What are the most ones that you process?

Cristian Balcells  9:02  

Yeah, I mean the digital nomad visa when it was approved a year and a half, almost two years ago, was- it became very popular, because a lot of people were dreaming about the possibility to work remotely from Spain in a legal way with a residence permit. So it became very popular. Till now, we are receiving a lot of requests. So it's really popular, because nowadays a lot of people they can do their work remotely. So why not to do it from a country such as Spain? Also, because the golden visa has been always very attractive for investment in real estate is the dream of a lot of people to have a property in our country and enjoy the facilities with a residence permit. And of course, also a lot of students they come to study here, not just language. We have also very top universities in very recognized internationally. So it will be these three main demanded, no? Permits.

Jeffrey Jones  10:01  

So, the golden- I just wanted to ask the golden visa- is that still- it's been very popular, but you hear in the news that a lot of countries are dropping that or they're changing the terms. Is that still, I don't mean to get into details, it's still active, and it's still like a half a million dollar investment? Is that still the golden visa?

Cristian Balcells  10:15  

Yeah, during the last six months, the government has been talking about the possibility to cancel it, because this law generated speculation on the- on the sector, on the real estate, and affected a lot the local people, because the prices has increased a lot, and for the people who lives in Spain or the nationals of Spain, because the prices are getting very high to buy a property. So to reduce the speculation there is the plan to cancel it or to give other options. We don't know really what is going to happen, but till now, the program is open, and we are receiving applications every month.

Jeffrey Jones  10:52  

Good to hear. All right, so this one is personal for me. I have some friends who really love Spain, and we're like, oh, you should think about moving, but they're immediately scared of taxes. Maybe that's an American thing, I don't know, but they're really scared of taxes. In my opinion- I think Michelle feels the same- taxes pay for services that are valuable. And if you love a country like, I love Spain, you get a higher quality of life. It's worth it. But many of these people would only consider a tax country like Portugal. They're like, what about Portugal? And you know, some of these friends own businesses, they would bring those to Spain, or whatever country they moved to, right? So I know that there's some special tax rates for new migrants in Spain, maybe for entrepreneurs. What are your thoughts and views on all that, like the latest?

Cristian Balcells  11:33  

Yeah, that's true that nowadays the- the expats who wants to come to Spain they are asking us about immigration, how the process works, but the next question is, how the taxes work. because they, at the end, they are together. And, on regards to the taxes in Spain, besides that, I agree with you that when you're going to live to a country because it's reasonable to pay taxes to because you're going to to enjoy, no? To take advantage of what we have here. 

Besides this, on regards to the taxes, there is three things I would like to comment, and the first one is that people tend to think that they are going to pay more in Spain than in their own country, but when we go into the numbers with the double treaty conventions at the end, they don't pay much more taxes in Spain than in their country of origin or residence. So this is another misconception. I'm going to pay double taxes in Spain? No, no, there is double agreement, tax convention agreement. So you will never pay double. 

Second thing is that there is a special treaty for those expats who come to Spain for professional reasons, which for the- it's called the special tax regime, or Beckham Law regime. It's very famous. That six years they pay just 24% on your incomes from professional activities, and they are exempt to declare their wealth. This would be the special tax regime that is very competitive with other European countries. The only thing that you have to take in consideration is that you have to be a person who moved to Spain for professional reasons, or you are an international remote worker, a digital nomad. 

And the third thing is that the general tax regime for those who live more than six months a year, because they have to pay their taxes here in Spain and to compensate in their own country, do the balance. And we have here an exceptional law about wealth that you have depending on the wealth that you have, you'll have to pay as well the wealth tax. So this would be my- my explanation about this topic.

Jeffrey Jones  13:27  

That's- that's good to hear, and I know the entrepreneurs get really fixated on the wealth tax and things like that. So

Michelle Hippler  13:33  

Yeah.

Jeffrey Jones  13:33  

So that's good to hear, and you know, one thing that I think about is that in the US we have- I think our health care is very expensive- and you have to buy it. And I have- have exceptional health care in Spain now, and it's not that expensive. It's like my co-pays in the US with a- with a health care plan, right? So, well, I actually, I'm paying out of pocket. I don't have a health care insurance plan [in Spain]. I should say. I think it's very affordable, And, you know, if you consider health care as a tax you have to pay, if I do all that math, I'm paying a lot less. I'm paying less in Spain-

Michelle Hippler  14:03  

Yeah.

Jeffrey Jones  14:03  

than in the US. maybe not a lot, but definitely less.

Michelle Hippler  14:06  

Yeah.

Jeffrey Jones  14:06  

With all the math.

Michelle Hippler  14:07  

And Americans have to consider that.

Jeffrey Jones  14:09  

Yes.

Michelle Hippler  14:09  

That that is a part of the quality of life that is woven into the- a lot of the European countries that healthcare is part of that.

[MUSIC]

Jeffrey Jones  14:22  

Hey, there just a reminder that you can learn more about moving to Europe at livingabroadacademy.com

Michelle Hippler  14:29  

Sign up for our newsletter and stay up to date on our latest podcast, events, and more.

Jeffrey Jones  14:34  

You can also submit questions and ideas for future podcasts on the website.

Michelle Hippler  14:38  

We appreciate you being a part of our community. Thanks again for joining us.

Jeffrey Jones  14:43  

And now back to the show.

[MUSIC]

Michelle Hippler  14:50  

There's one question that we didn't give you earlier, Cristian, that I'm curious about: how many of your clients, do you think, percentage-wise are Americans? As opposed to other countries.

Cristian Balcells  15:01  

Americans, they are one of the most demanded clients. This is true. Actually, is one of the clients that we understand better, like, I don't like it's easy to work with. So we are very, always very happy. Besides that, of course, we in- we work with worldwide. So we have clients from all around the world, and the percentage could be, I was checking this morning, it could be around 30% of our clients they are from the US, for sure.

Jeffrey Jones  15:29  

Wow.

Michelle Hippler  15:29  

Okay, what are some of the challenges that Americans face sometimes with the immigration process that might cause a delay or cause it to fail? I mean, we've heard Jeffrey's story of the finding- getting the appointment was the problem. Some of the communication was the problem.

Jeffrey Jones  15:44  

The system was down.

Michelle Hippler  15:46  

Right. Yeah, so what are some of those problems that they might expect?

Cristian Balcells  15:51  

Well, on regards to the US, there is several documents that they have to legalize in their own country and to put a special [ ] for Apostille of the Hague for [ ] process. And the FBI, for example, is a document that it takes a lot of time to get in the US. The- it's a document that we require for long-term residency permits. This is, for example, one- one thing that they always complain that this document takes a lot of time in their own country. Then in Spain with the guidance of a lawyer, because you will get the appointments, you will get the taxes paid, the immigration fee, so everything will be under our control. So at the end, if you do it alone, it could be very challenging. Because people normally in the public offices, they don't want to help at all, so you need to have somebody who knows the process and here where we are. But what we saw with the US is that sometimes it gets difficult for the clients to get some documents legalized properly in a short time.

Michelle Hippler  16:51  

Your understanding of the process, but also the language is probably very helpful too, right?

Cristian Balcells  16:55  

Yeah, true.

Michelle Hippler  16:56  

Do you find that the Americans that you've helped often then go ahead and renew the visas for the permanent residency or citizenship, because I know that there's, like, a couple years you can- you get the card, and then you got to renew, and then you renew again to get citizenship. Like, how many people do- go through the entire process to citizenship?

Cristian Balcells  16:56  

Well, to renew the permit for long-term, a lot of US clients, because they come here as- as a project or as a- to see what will happen if we will like it. And normally they like it, and they remain for years and years, and they don't plan even to go back. So this is good, because the integration in the society or in the- in the country is very positive. On regards to the citizenship, We don't have a lot of US clients who request the citizenship for one reason. Is that there is no agreement on double nationality with the US. So once they get the Spanish passport, they have to reject their own citizenship, the US one.

Michelle Hippler  17:54  

Gotch, OK.

Cristian Balcells  17:55  

In general, they don't want to do it.

Michelle Hippler  17:57  

Thank you.

Jeffrey Jones  17:58  

Interesting. So Cristian, before we turn over the mic to you to describe Balcells services. Do you have any questions for us about the Living Abroad Academy? I mean, you might not, but just curious, if you do.

Cristian Balcells  18:08  

Well, I would like to know how- which type of audience you're receiving, and what are your goals on the project?

Jeffrey Jones  18:17  

Yeah, So as far as audience right now, we- it's late career people that are close to retirement. We know that's one of our sweet spots, and that's who we're hearing from, because there's various reasons, right? It can be health care costs, it can be politics, cost of living. Sometimes it's all of that. These people are really looking at- attention to moving abroad before they're retired, to work remote, even just part-time, and then to transition into retirement in another country. Michelle, who else do you think might be our audience?

Michelle Hippler  18:43  

Well, I think there's a lot of people who maybe are curious, and we are looking to sort of help those people, because we've had a lot of friends ask us, now that we've made the jump. they don't know where to start. They've never considered it before.

Jeffrey Jones  18:57  

That's right.

Michelle Hippler  18:57  

Right? So it's like those people who are just at the beginning of the journey of thinking, you know, maybe I would like to live in a European country. I just don't know where to start, and I don't want to spend five years on a Facebook group for vari- for five.

Jeffrey Jones  19:10  

Like we did.

Michelle Hippler  19:11  

Yeah, for five different countries, or something like that. So we would include semi-retired, or retired people who are looking to have more of an adventure and to spend time in Europe longer than the three month tourist visa.

Jeffrey Jones  19:24  

But there are all age groups really are interested. And right now, you know, we just had an election, and those people that are concerned about results, they they are very interested right now,

Michelle Hippler  19:33  

Yeah, people who are not ever considering living outside of the US before are now thinking: “okay, maybe- maybe that is an option.”

Jeffrey Jones  19:42  

Oh yes, yeah, for sure. We're a starting point for the process. You know, I don't know where to start. I want to do this, but I don't, you know, and we really help people get organized and get going.

Michelle Hippler  19:51  

And to select a country they may not know which is the best country for them.

Jeffrey Jones  19:55  

That's right. And we hear like, "Oh, my cousin said I should move to Portugal. Is- that's what I should do, right?" And it's like, well, you could, but there's some other- I mean, we hear that over and over. It's like, “what about Portugal?” It's like- I want to put it on a t-shirt. But, you know, there's other options, you know. and we can help people see those and and, you know, a lot of people think: “oh, I should go to Mexico because I can't afford Europe.” Well, you can afford Europe if you do the math. So- nothing against Mexico. Love the country. There was another part to your question. You asked us, who and then what are our goals?

Cristian Balcells  20:28  

And what would be your your your next goals? On the- on the projects?

Jeffrey Jones  20:32  

Well, we're deploying multiple things. We have- we have a seminar that should be active very soon, that'll help people move to Europe at a high velocity, any velocity, like slow to fast. We also have some events we're planning where it'll be gatherings of like-minded expats with us on-site in some different cities. And we also have a tool that, again, that starts people's move process and helps them think about their priorities. Organizes their thoughts and then decide which country is a good fit for them. That's called our Move to Europe Compass. That'll be deployed, you know, we're really close to deploying that. It'll be available for the public, likely in December.

Michelle Hippler  21:05  

Yeah, and that's- that tool is looking at, I think, 15 different criteria and 10 different countries in- in the EU. We're really focused on just the EU right now, but our initial compass is going to include 15 different criteria across from the vi- how many visa, what are the options? How to bring the kids and the- and the you know, parents over if you want to come. Health care, cost of living, political climate. I mean that kind of criteria, so that people can, at a glance, kind of see, "oh okay, I want to focus on these countries because this- these are the top four criteria that I'm most concerned about."

Cristian Balcells  21:42  

Very good, very good.

Jeffrey Jones  21:44  

Yeah. So we have- we really want to help people, and, you know, again, a starting point, help them get organized and then connect them with the resources and experts like you. Like we're connecting people with you right now. You know, we really hope to be a catalyst to help people have a successful move and not do what we did. like, look for years, but, you know, maybe do it in a shorter timeline that's a major goal.

Cristian Balcells  22:04  

Very good, very good. We are here for any anything you would need in- in Spain, for sure,

Jeffrey Jones  22:08  

We're pleased to include you and recommend you as a- as a resource. So, thank you. We're going to turn over the mic to Cristian in a moment, but I'd like to share with you first Balcells Group has been so kind to offer our podcast listeners a 20% discount on their initial meeting with them. I described this meeting earlier. You know where you ask some questions. They ask you questions. I use the code BALC 20 when you book it on their website to save. Their website Is at balcellsgroup.com we're putting all this information on our website in the partner section and in the podcast info as well at livingabroadacademy.com. So Cristian, we'd like to turn the mic over to you, whatever you care to share about the Balcells Group, your services for expats.

Cristian Balcells  22:49  

Thank you, Jeffrey and Michelle for inviting me and Balcells Group, which is the firm that I am the CEO and the founder. And we are a law firm located in Barcelona, but we work worldwide, all around Spain. We give advice on immigration, taxes, and legal. We work online, everywhere in the world, and, of course, we have our office in- in Barcelona. Our main goal is to make the journey easy with our expertise and one of our main- strongest point of the company is that, as you said at the beginning, that we are very close to the client. Where they feel with- they feel as like their Spanish friend, let's say like this, to help them to get the things happen. And we've been already more than 15 years in the working on it. So we are- very experts, and we have a very professional team which we speak English, Spanish and other languages. So you are more than welcome to contact us. We will make your journey easy in Spain, and that would be cool, yeah.

Jeffrey Jones  23:59  

Fantastic. I think it's really nice to be, if I could add, to start a process- an immigration process, and then know a team that then I'm working with your team now on taxes. That had been very helpful. So you know, that's your next step to start paying taxes, and I'm doing that with your team. And I know you offer real estate services, you offer other things, so you're a great team to work with. So once you know the team, you can expand. You know the services, it's really nice, it's convenient.

Cristian Balcells  24:21  

Very good, very good.

Michelle Hippler  24:22  

And I am assuming that the legal too would- you would be able to help people who have businesses set up the businesses in Spain legally? Is that also part of your services?

Cristian Balcells  24:31  

Yeah, exactly what we do is immigration. We do legal like from corporate to individuals, litigation, and we do taxes. So we try to offer all the journey that expat can have in Spain was to be with us, no? In our plain together, and to- actually with our clients we develop a long-term relation. They come here to get the NIE number, to get the residence permit, then they buy a property, they want to open a business, they want to do a will, they- We are with them doing all the time.

Michelle Hippler  25:02  

Great.

Jeffrey Jones  25:03  

Excellent. It's nice to know that you do estate services as well. I was looking for that in Spain. So, Okay, excellent. Yeah, so Cristian, thanks again for joining us. Great conversation. It's always nice to talk to your team. And yeah, thank you.

Michelle Hippler  25:15  

Thank you, Cristian.

Cristian Balcells  25:16  

Thank you. Thank you. Gracias. And we keep in touch.

Michelle Hippler  25:19  

Bye.

Jeffrey Jones  25:19  

Adiós. Bye.