Hello everyone! Like many of you I am interested in moving to Madrid sometime this year. I have been researching how to go about getting a visa and a work permit. This has proven to be more difficult than I first thought. Has anyone gone through this process and can gove me any pointers. I amn from Colorado and just recieved word that I need to go to LA (Co doesn't have a consulate) and prove to them that I have a job making $75,000. That just doesn't seem to make sense. I should also mention that my boyfriend is from Spain. Do you think I should go ahead and get hitched to make my life easier? Would that make moving to Spain easier?

Hi hscanlon! Your WANT to move to Spain is not at all uncommon. I've even considered it a time or two (every second of the day, that is). I'd fist suggest expanding the "Working In Spain" forum to "SHOW ALL TOPICS" and you'll find a number of threads on your request already. In fact, one in particular, " Working/Moving To Spain " should be helpful, but there are many others regarding work, visas, marrying, etcetera.

Fact is, it's DOWNRIGHT DIFFICULT to move to Spain as someone (like us) from OUTSIDE the European Union. Prepare for a long, hard journey to realize your dream. Good luck to you.

Saludos, MadridMan

[originally posted by hscanlon on 01-07-2002 10:24 AM...]

Has anyone out there moved to Spain recently. I am looking forward to moving there this September with my boyfriend who is a Spainard. I have trying to figure out how to get a visa and a work permit but have recieved a lot of conflicting information. First of all, I have been told that in order to get a visa I have to go to LA. (I am from Colorado). Second, I was told that I need to prove that I have a job in Spain making $75,000. Is this true.
If I were to marry my boyfriend would that make the entire proccess much easier? What would I have to do? Can anyone help me- or at least tell me where to look?

Welcome out of the closet MM....
Ups you did not you write that message.

Well EU is closed unless you are really lucky and find a job. Some demand that you already have your visa before they will hire you.
So yes marry him and save a lot of trouble.
You might get other problems later.....
I don't think that there are any limits to what you have to earn to get a visa.
Finding a job in Spain is not easy.
I have been seaching for months.
So if anybody here has some connections please help me!
I would take anything now but have been working 5 years for Ericsson. (AXE, Switches mobile & fixed)

Saludos

Carvajal.

No. Of course not. Get married for financial reasons?

C'mon.

Cantamal

Ufff....I agree with Cantamal. I do not propose to be a marriage counselor, but would certainly advise against getting hitched just for the sake of making your life easier here. You may just be making your life more difficult. And quite possibly the worst mistake of your life.

You could always just try moving here with your boyfriend using a tourist visa. You don´t have to go to the consulate for it, it´s simply the stamp that they put in your passport once you enter Spain (or the point of entry into Europe...make sure they stamp it, I have been in a situation where they merely looked at my passport and did not stamp it.)

While you are here, you can try getting an under the table job (which you did not hear from me) teaching English. There are plenty available if you are willing to scramble and look. try www.infojobs.net . As far as a decent paying "corporate job"...you will never have it so long as you don´t have a legal work visa. (and expect to make less than one third your current salary, if lucky). However with your three month visa and under the table job, you can leave the European union every three months (i.e. quick trip to Swizterland or find a cheap flight to NYC for the weekend) and then have your passport stamped upon re-entry to Spain.

But then again, you didn´t hear that from me.

And by the way, I am married to a Spaniard, began the paperwork trail last April and was finally visited by the Guardia Civil this past week in the last leg of the process to receive my resident´s card and work visa. Hopefully I will have my resident´s card and work visa within a month. It has been a long road....marrying a Spaniard in the end helps to ease the process, but doesn´t necessarily make it shorter or more efficient.

[ 01-26-2002: Message edited by: Chica ]

Hey

The only reason you'd need to prove you make $75,000 is if you applied for a resident visa WITHOUT intent to work OR an independent contractor visa which would mean you could prove that that's what you will be making as a self-proprietor.

Both ideas are ridiculous if you plan to just live there with your Spanish bf.

Please take my advice...do what MOST non-EU citizens (Americans and Canadiens) do...go over on your little 3-month tourist visa with the intent of VISITING and then by the 90-day mark say to yourself (and anyone else who might ask...) HECK, I'm beginning to like this place and want to stay. Then you and your bf go down to the police station to file an extention of your visa on the belief that eventually you will both be married.

Although this will not grant you legal employment status, it will extend your stay...LEGALLY and you may therefore continue working under the table...Hopefully, after a year's time, you'll latch on to someone who might want to hire you full time (teaching English, for example)...and you make a quick trip back to the USA to file your docs and then return.
Anymore questions??? Visit also the EXPATRIATE CAFE for more details :))

Good Luck!

tracy