Spanish Visa.I've searched a lot, can anyone help me?

singanasdevolver · Post by **singanasdevolver** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 5:29 pm

Hello everyone! Before people tell me to search for the following questions, I have. I have searched up and down, I have tried getting in touch with the Spanish consulate in Washington D.C. (I am from North Carolina, male, 20 years old.) My girlfriend lives in Spain, she is a native of Spain. I have been to Spain twice, she has been here once. I have decided to move permanently to Spain. I already know that I can stay at her house with her family. They are also going to find someone they know to contract me for work. Given this information, here are some questions:

1. Will a work visa be sufficient to live there, or will I need a residence visa also?
2. Will I need a student visa if I decide to study, even if I already have the work visa?
3. I have a ticket for Barcelona, and I leave on April 2, will I be able to get a visa before this time? How likely are they to accept my application and issue me a visa?
4. Will it take a lot more time for the visa to process given that the business in Spain that will contract me will have to send documents to the consulate here?

Thanks for taking the time to read these questions! I may not know a lot, but if anyone needs help questions on travelling, I can try to help, especially if they are about Spain. Thanks again!

Daniel

sakura · Post by **sakura** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 9:41 pm

singanasdevolver wrote:Hello everyone! Before people tell me to search for the following questions, I have. I have searched up and down, I have tried getting in touch with the Spanish consulate in Washington D.C. (I am from North Carolina, male, 20 years old.) My girlfriend lives in Spain, she is a native of Spain. I have been to Spain twice, she has been here once. I have decided to move permanently to Spain. I already know that I can stay at her house with her family. They are also going to find someone they know to contract me for work. Given this information, here are some questions:

1. Will a work visa be sufficient to live there, or will I need a residence visa also?
2. Will I need a student visa if I decide to study, even if I already have the work visa?
3. I have a ticket for Barcelona, and I leave on April 2, will I be able to get a visa before this time? How likely are they to accept my application and issue me a visa?
4. Will it take a lot more time for the visa to process given that the business in Spain that will contract me will have to send documents to the consulate here?

Thanks for taking the time to read these questions! I may not know a lot, but if anyone needs help questions on travelling, I can try to help, especially if they are about Spain. Thanks again!

Daniel

What visa will you be using? Is it a job sponsorship visa? If so, is it already guaranteed, or you assume you might be able to get one?

Since you're only 20, I'd like to know how you managed to get secure a visa (other than a student one). What kind of work is it?

singanasdevolver · Post by **singanasdevolver** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 10:46 pm

I think I may have misgiven my information. I don't have a work visa yet. I was wondering if someone my girlfriend knows could contract me to work in Spain, and if that would be sufficient to get a work visa, and what all I could do with a work visa. Also, could anyone tell me how to get in touch with the Spanish consulate in D.C. without driving all the way up there first? I have tried emailing him, he has yet to reply, and the phone numbers are not US numbers. I am so confused and anxious, but excited at the same time. Does anyone have info on this? Also, if I were to marry my girlfriend in Spain, wouldn't I be able to live there and work without any visa? Thanks again.

sakura · Post by **sakura** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 10:55 pm

singanasdevolver wrote:I think I may have misgiven my information. I don't have a work visa yet. I was wondering if someone my girlfriend knows could contract me to work in Spain, and if that would be sufficient to get a work visa, and what all I could do with a work visa.

I don't know about Spanish work permits, but it's next to impossible in most EU countries for someone of your age and skills level to obtain employment. You definately cannot get a work permit/sponshorship for any type of menial job (unless it is a shortage position...but Spain has enough migrants to cover that!), so merely knowing someone with a job offer might not be enough.

Do you speak any Spanish? What type of work is it? What skills/qualifications/experience do you have?

Dawie · Post by **Dawie** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 1:03 pm

In order to obtain a work permit in Spain your prospective employer will have to prove that they cannot find any Spanish or EU citizen in Spain who can do the job they want you to do.

This is likely to prove impossible if you are only 20 years, have no tertiary qualifications and cannot speak fluent Spanish.

You will not be able to obtain a work permit for menial jobs like bar work or restaurant work.

Your best option would be to either become a student in Spain and obtain a student visa, or to marry your girlfriend.

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 1:43 pm

I know plenty of Russian girls who've got some sort of work permit in Spain for bar-work - no idea how tho...

singanasdevolver · Post by **singanasdevolver** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 6:35 pm

I can speak fluent Spanish. Anyway, I don't understand why it should be so difficult if I would just like to live in Spain, and find work. There are plenty of immigrants there, and I know they are legal. I also plan to go to La Escuela Oficial de Idiomas in September. Any more advice given this information? Thanks.

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 6:58 pm

I think you're maybe a bit niaive mate, the EU wants highly-skilled degreed immigrants and even they have to jump through hoops. Unskilled labour is plentyful, we have millions of Eastern Europeans for that now, as an American you will be very low down the pecking order for even that kind of work.

For any sort of the job in the EU the normal route is Local candidate first, EU second, outwith third. More hoops.

'I would just like to live in Spain' is a bit of flight of fancy without any in demand skills or something to offer.....

joesoap101 · Post by **joesoap101** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 7:26 pm

If you're one of the 35 million Americans who claim Irish ancestry and its recent enough i.e. Irish born parent or grandparent you could make use of this route by applying for Irish citizenship. Otherwise studying in Spain would be the more feasible option, although its quite expensive.

Post by **Directive/2004/38/EC** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 8:45 pm

More generally were any of your ancesters from an eu member state?

sakura · Post by **sakura** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:13 pm

Directive/2004/38/EC wrote:More generally were any of your ancesters from an eu member state?

By that we mean parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc....

singanasdevolver · Post by **singanasdevolver** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:24 pm

I realize now that getting a work visa will be next to impossible for me. However, If my girlfriend and I were to get married, and after getting a residence permit, would I be able to work and study in Spain without problems?

SYH · Post by **SYH** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:58 pm

Young americans can get (student or youth) visas for UK (ireland) france and switzerland with aipt.org or http://www.bunac.org/. Your spanish gf can work anywhere in europe so either she can find a job in france and hang out with you there or you can find a job in france and you two can visit it each on the weekends.

Meisje · Post by **Meisje** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 5:17 pm

singanas...it will be very difficult to get over there. I studied in England, met my boyfriend there, and we have been dating for two years. I came back to the US and for one year now I have been trying to find a way to get back to Europe (he's belgian and back in Belgium now, but I am willing to live anywhere remotely close - as I love Europe, it's really not a big deal for me to move). I am a rather highly skilled professional with high earnings in the US, but I STILL have not managed to get a work permit.

What we are now looking at is an "unmarried partner" visa. Belgium allows non-EU-ers to live there on this type of resident visa. You just have to submit various papers and show certain information about your relationship. I don't know if this applies everywhere, but maybe Spain has this kind of visa too? I don't quite see how you could get a resident visa otherwise - you really can't just up and move to the EU without any kind of visa, I'm sorry to say (otherwise I would have done that a lot time ago!)

singanasdevolver · Post by **singanasdevolver** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 5:57 pm

To be honest, my girlfriend and I are thinking about getting married. We are in a very serious relationship, and both my parents and her parents would be okay with it. I am pretty familiar with the steps needed to get married there, but my question is this:

After getting married (I know I will need a marriage license and all that) can I immediately apply for a residence permit? And how long does that process take? I am planning to stay in Spain for three months at first, during which I will get a marriage license and get married, or get the license and get married the next time i go, which will be around september. One more thing...is it okay to go to Spain, stay up to 3 months as a tourist, go back to the states for as little as one month, then go back to Spain and get 3 more months? Thanks again everyone.

chem1 · Post by **chem1** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 4:15 pm

Is it a job sponsorship visa? If so, is it already guaranteed,

This part of your post caught my attention. Could you maybe explain this? AAre you suggesting that if a company sponsors you the work permit is basically guranteed?
I am waiting for a work permit from Spain and the spanish company is getting it for me and Im guessing this would be classified as 'job sponsorship', no?
I have a PhD in chemical engineering that I did at a Spanish university so I think my case is relatively straightforward. Its just the time involved waiting for the work permit to arrive that is driving me nuts here.

sakura · Post by **sakura** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 4:23 pm

chem1 wrote:
Is it a job sponsorship visa? If so, is it already guaranteed,
This part of your post caught my attention. Could you maybe explain this? AAre you suggesting that if a company sponsors you the work permit is basically guranteed?
I am waiting for a work permit from Spain and the spanish company is getting it for me and Im guessing this would be classified as 'job sponsorship', no?
I have a PhD in chemical engineering that I did at a Spanish university so I think my case is relatively straightforward. Its just the time involved waiting for the work permit to arrive that is driving me nuts here.

I cannot speak for rules in Spain, but if it is similar to the work permits system in the UK then...work permits aren't guaranteed just because you have been offered a job and your employers are willing to sponsor you. The final hurdle is qualifying for it according to the immigration authorities' guidelines. I am certain that many a times someone gets a job and they file for a WP only for it to fail...for various reasons.

It all depends on the level of the job and the qualifications held. If you're going for a professional job that requires a lot of training/skills, you're more likely to get it.

Can I ask, what is your current nationality? Are you still residing in Spain?

chem1 · Post by **chem1** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 6:57 pm

sakura wrote:
chem1 wrote:
Is it a job sponsorship visa? If so, is it already guaranteed,
This part of your post caught my attention. Could you maybe explain this? AAre you suggesting that if a company sponsors you the work permit is basically guranteed?
I am waiting for a work permit from Spain and the spanish company is getting it for me and Im guessing this would be classified as 'job sponsorship', no?
I have a PhD in chemical engineering that I did at a Spanish university so I think my case is relatively straightforward. Its just the time involved waiting for the work permit to arrive that is driving me nuts here.
I cannot speak for rules in Spain, but if it is similar to the work permits system in the UK then...work permits aren't guaranteed just because you have been offered a job and your employers are willing to sponsor you. The final hurdle is qualifying for it according to the immigration authorities' guidelines. I am certain that many a times someone gets a job and they file for a WP only for it to fail...for various reasons.

It all depends on the level of the job and the qualifications held. If you're going for a professional job that requires a lot of training/skills, you're more likely to get it.

Can I ask, what is your current nationality? Are you still residing in Spain?

Hi. My nationality is Canadian. And no, I no longer currently reside in Spain. Interestingly, one of the documents I had to provide for the work permit was proof that I was currently in Canada (i.e. not in Spain). I think this is pretty normal though. I had to get a work permit in Belgium a couple of years ago and one major rule was that you are NOT allowed to be in Belgium while you make the work permit application.

Ive just read that people who have a connection to spain are usually given preference in work permit applications. My belief, and my company's, was that since I did my PhD in spain, and therefore Spain has already made quite a large investment in me, the process should be rather straightforward and 'hitch' free.
Its just that its Andalucia....not exactly the fastest moving bearacratic location in western europe. This probably explains much of the waiting Im being forced to go through.

sakura · Post by **sakura** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 9:38 pm

In the UK you can apply for a work permit in-country, as long as you have valid leave (except a visitor's visa). Going back home is quite a waste of time and money (especially from Canada!).

Good luck with the application (and the bureaucracy!).

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Spanish Visa.I've searched a lot, can anyone help me?

Spanish Visa.I've searched a lot, can anyone help me?

Re: Spanish Visa.I've searched a lot, can anyone help me?