Is a residence Visa the same as a working visa? can you obtain a residence visa without work in Spain? What are the qualifications for obatining a residence visa? as you see i'm a bit confused, i'm not sure if that is the same thing as a work visa. I am planning to move to Spain early next year, and I am having a hard time understanding the difference between a work and residence Visa. Can i rent a place without having a residence Visa? any comments or suggestions woudl be greatly appreciated. Thanks

------------------
San Lorenzo del El Escorial Page!! Check it out! http://www.geocities.com/missmadrid98/homepage.html?957296168010

Hi missmarid98! Here's a great link for you. Read ALL about visas, residence permits, and work permits at the Go-Spain.com website. This should clear up all your questions.

Saludos, MadridMan

I am in the process of applying for a work visa, which is the same as a residence visa. You must have work to apply for the visa, because the employer has to supply you with some of the necessary paperwork. I have heard that it's hard to get one once you get there-- I just lucked out finding a job and getting the visa from the States. The site that Madrid Man referred you to is very inaccurate and misleading. Many things have changed since that page was written. For reliable info, go to the Spanish Consulate itself www.spainconsul-ny.org.

in that website you reffered me to Kerry it states i can obtain a residence permit without work, there is a certain visa for that. I am going to visit the spanish consulate in my area just in case, but thank you both for your imput, greatly appreciate it!

------------------
San Lorenzo del El Escorial Page!! Check it out! http://www.geocities.com/missmadrid98/homepage.html?957296168010

From the point of view of those of us who are from the EEC, there is no such thing as a work visa; the theory is that any EEC citizen can work anywhere within any EEC country. (I repeat, that is the theory!!)

However, if you intend to live in Spain for more than 6 months out of 12, you must (should!) apply for your Residencia (Residency Visa). You will only be granted this if yoiu can prove that you can support yourself - i.e. if you already have an employment contract, or if you have an independent income, pension, etc.

(Having said that, there are many Europeans living here "illegally".)

I know this doesn't apply to US citizens, but thought the record should be set straight for us EEC people!

davej : proud holder of a 5-year Spanish Residencia!!

You can get a residence visa if you marry a spaniard or someone in Spain sponsor you (do you have any relative there?). I don't think you can get a visa just because you like the country and you want to go to live there (I wish we could do that in all the countries all around the world) but I think that you have to prove that you have enough money to live by yourself and you won't cause any expense to the Spanish Goverment. You can rent a place without a visa, you only need an ID and the passport is valid, BUT you need a job to rent an apartment and you have to prove that you will be able to pay it every month, unless you rent only a room is a house or you rent a "not very good in a not very good area apartment"

Visa Update:

I just wanted to note what a pain in the a&% it is to get a Spanish work/residence permit! It's been over 3 months since I applied for the visa and I have hit many obstacles, but with the help of my wonderful employers have been able to overcome them. The latest problem was that the Delegacion del Gobierno de Castilla y Leon (region where I will work) decided they wanted an official document validating that I have a college diploma and is more or less impossible to get. The school changed my job title and voila!- I don't need it anymore. Now they just need my diploma translated, notarized and apostille-d and sent to them by the 15th of the month (today is the 8th). Keep in mind that I have my plane tickets and am set to leave the 25th of August! I just want to say that if I implied before that the visa is easy to get, I was dead wrong. You need a very supportive employer to work their way through all the red tape and make calls for you on the Spanish end, otherwise it really is impossible to get one. Keep in mind that the Spanish gov't does not want foreigners working in their country with the unemployment rate at 20% and will do anything to trip you up!

Wow kerry. Thanks very much for the visa update. Please continue to keep us informed. Hearing directly from someone "in the process" of getting one is what we really need here to better educate ourselves.

Saludos, MadridMan

Hi all,

I, too, am going through the process for a work permit...it is not easy and if you are looking for a professional position, you should negotiate with your company that they hire a relocation/expatriate service to help you get set up. The service will take care of the paperwork for you and simply ask you for everything you need.

Some tips I've learned:

1. Never use the regular postal service to send something to Spain! My company always told me to use a courier (third-party) to ensure that the material made it. They say that the letter would otherwise take as long as two months to reach them...they are still waiting on my first letter. The second I used TNT.

2. Never complain about how long it takes! If you were Spanish and trying the process of getting a work permit in the US, you'd face delays as long and extremely rude civil servants working to make the process as difficult and discouraging as possible. This is true for nearly every country, with the notable exception of Ireland...they just can't wait to get more people on that little island.

3. Get your job before you show up! And ask whoever is hiring you to explain the process as clearly as possible. If they stumble, beware that they may not know what they are talking about.

4. Negotiate that the company covers the cost of having an expat service work with you. They'll typically help get you a rental apartment, your telephone service turned on, a banking account set up, the work/resident permit awarded, and several other practical points taken care of...it is invaluable!

That's my tidbit of experience...I've done this in The Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland...patience is necessary...

Best of luck to all you trying out the process!

cjl

thanks cjl,

that was pretty informative! its always good to get info from people who have gone through these processes.
i have worked in hungary and russia and with those countries it is very easy to get a work permit if you have a good employer and very standard practice (especially with teaching english).

but such is not the case with western europe and foreign english teachers.

by the way, what is your line of work?
brian