I have been helping people to obtain their Spanish residencia card as EU citizens for a few years now, and something strange has happened in the last couple of weeks.
For the first time 2 clients in a row have tried to gain residencia showing UK bank statements that were overdrawn due to the overdraft facility that they have approved in UK.
Having an overdraft facility with your bank in UK is pretty common, and you don't even need to apply for it. For the majority of customers, after a while of being with your bank and being a good customer, the bank just sends you a letter confirming that you are now entitled to an overdraft facility to make your life easier, and if you keep being a good customer the limit keeps being increased.
Whilst this is perfectly normal in UK, in Spain this is an alien concept. Our banking system is totally different, and in here if you are right now thinking in going to the bank they have already charge you 5€.
Our banks do not offer overdraft facilities to us regular mere customers, maybe big companies will have it, or if you need one you would really need to beg for it, give the bank huge guarantees, and it will be really expensive to keep.
Even if you are just 1€ in red in your account you will be receiving phone calls from your bank, and if you don't put the account back in black within a fashionable period of time, you will get charged quite a steep fee by the bank.
For residencia purposes it doesn't matter if you have an income of 5000€ a month, if you are receiving that income in a bank account with an overdraft facility of 7000€, because in our mind you are 2000€ in debt. If you are 2000€ in debt you are not able to support yourself or your family.
I totally understand that might not be the case, and that in your country it is normal, but you are not going to be applying for residencia in your country, you are doing it in Spain. Therefore you CANNOT use as proof of enough economical means bank statements from a bank account that is overdrawn, even if you earn thousands of € a month.
Each country is different and different rules apply. You can't take for granted something just because it is normal where you are coming from. If you have doubts about anything your best bet is to ask someone that deals with Spanish paperwork: your solicitors, your gestor, your friends, directly asking the police ...
Nothing worst that having all paperwork in place and being sent back for a simple misunderstanding!
