Sorry, I'm sure this must have been discussed here before, but I can't find any previous posts about it.

As an EU citizen, do I have to do anything to work in Spain? Someone told me I have to register with the Police, but other people have told me I don't have to? I would just go to the station, but the times clash with my course hours....

Thanks for any advice.
Colin

I quote:

"The residence permit
The following people who hold a valid identity document or national passport may live in Spain without a residence permit:
a) Nationals of EU Member States, other states party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or the Swiss Confederation who are self-employed or employees, students or people entitled to permanent residence.
b) Family members of the people referred to in the previous paragraph, irrespective of nationality; their spouse, provided they are not legally separated, their descendants and those of the spouse, provided they are not legally separated, people under 21 years of age or over this age who live at their own expenses; and their ascendants and those of their spouse, provided they are not legally separated, who live at their own expenses, except for ascendants of students and their spouses.
c) Nationals of EU Member States, other States party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or the Swiss Confederation who work in Spain while retaining their residence in the territory of one of these States, to which they return every day or at least once a week.

In any of the above cases in which the interested party applies for a residence permit, however, the administrative authorities are obliged to inform them that it is not a requirement. If the interested party still submits the corresponding application they will be issued with the appropriate residence permit or a certificate of residence. "

Muchas gracias!

Does Finland qualify as one of the National EU states in section A? If so, I wonder if the fact that my grandfather was a Finnish citizen and my last name is clearly Finnish (ends in -inen) would be of any help. Hmmm...

-Loc

Yes, Finland is an EU State Member, but I'm not sure if you are eligible to apply for citizenship if none of your parents is a Finnish citizen, and your father may not want to claim it
Anyway, you can read this just to be sure:

http://formin.finland.fi/doc/eng/services/nationality/main.html

Salu2

Zaknaf you just led me to information that may directly impact my ability to move to Spain... and in a most positive way!

After following that link and learning about that law made in Finland last year (which was I was completely unaware of) I did some geneology research to figure out how many generations back before my ancestors were Finnish citizens. I was able to find out that my father's grandparents were the first ones over arriving at Ellis Island when they were 24 and 27 years old. This means they were Finnish citizens (at one point, not sure if they ever became US citizens or not, but I assume so). Based on that law, this means my father can declare his citizenship between now and 2008.

What I want to know, and I hope this is the case (I think it is if I read everything correctly), is that if I can convince him to declare his Finnish citizenship, can I then, in turn declare mine as then my direct descendant is a Finnish citizen? I don't see anything saying that I cannot do this. This sounds very promising as I then won't have the visa issue for Spain! I wonder how long the process for declaration of Finnish citizenship takes though.

Does all this make sense? I'm very excited about this and hope I'm not missing some catch that will prevent me from doing this.

Thanks!

-Loc

Good luck with this new avenue. Make sure to invite us to a celebratory drink in Madrid/Helsinki if it all turns out well!!!!! :p

Wow that's a pretty nice bit of info for you!

I know it's a bit cold but there are loads of tech jobs in Finland