spanish embassy

spanish embassy

Residency in Spain for Neem

Published by Owen Jones on 17 February 2017
Residency in Spain for Neem

Residency in Spain for Neem

Residency in Spain for Neem

There are several things that you need for residency in Spain, or indeed, in any other Schengen EU country. Most of the EU countries have their own interpretation of the EU directives which are meant to homogenise the rules for living in Europe. However, it seems that they are treated as just guidelines in Spain.

There are basically two types of requirements, especially if you are not a European, which my wife Neem is not. We collected the various pieces of paperwork necessary for residency while we were in Thailand, had them authenticated by the Thai government (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), and then had then translated into Spanish and validated by the Spanish Embassy in Bangkok. We were assured by the embassy staff that we were in possession of all the paperwork we would be asked for to obtain Neem’s residency permit.

Then there are the other, local requirements. This section includes having somewhere to live with a tenancy agreement – a contract; a health insurance policy; and proof of resources (money in the bank or a job). In Neem’s case, I am acting as her guarantor, but it is not absolutely clear how that will be received by the immigration officer one meets.

In order to get these things, you need other things, in particular a bank account and a phone, which no-one really wants to give you until you have residency, despite the fact that you can’t get residency without them.

This is one of the most frustrating aspects of obtaining a residency permit for non-EU personnel in Spain.

We have all those things for my wife now, so for the last three days, we have been trudging the streets looking for a solicitor to help us. Three have been recommended to us by business people we are already dealing with, but none of them have returned my calls or emails. That is a very bad sign, because if they let you down at the wrong moment, Neem could be deported!

So, with that in mind, we walked down to the police station today in order to start the process ourselves.

“No English!” the man behind the desk shouted at me.

I don’t know whether it is just me, but wouldn’t it be sensible to man the desk where foreigners come for help with someone who speaks some English? Or at least have instructions in a few other languages pinned to the walls?

At the least, it would save the man’s obvious embarrassment and frustration, and help the foreigners the office is there to assist.

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All the best,

Owen

Podcast: Residency in Spain for Neem

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Spanish Embassy (part 510)

Published by Owen Jones on 24 January 2017
Spanish Embassy (part 510)

Spanish Embassy (part 510)

Spanish Embassy (part 510)

Yesterday, we received an email from the Spanish Embassy to say that my wife’s passport was ‘ready for collection’. No mention of whether she had been granted a visa or not. Last year, this caused us considerable concern for twenty-four hours until we picked it up, but this year I simply told my wife that her visa was ready, because she gets very worried about things like that.

So, at nine thirty, after the morning rush hour in Bangkok, we embarked on the two-hour taxi ride to the Spanish Embassy, which is located in a swish, modern building called Lake Rajida – the rush hour is never quite over in Bangkok.

When we got to the Spanish Embassy on the twenty-third floor, there was only a young woman and her Spanish father in front of us, but we were dealt with and on our way back to the ground floor within ten minutes.

The official’s advice was replaying in my mind.

‘Don’t forget’, he had said in a friendly manner, ‘the papers I have just returned to you are adequate to obtain a residency card in Spain. Should your wife wish to go down that route, she cannot leave Spain until after the acceptance, rejection or appeal have been finalised, or you will have to start the whole process again from here’.

That visa and those papers were the result of a year’s research and preparation; 35,000 km of travel and about £10,000

I’m sure that it could have been brought about in a far quicker and far cheaper fashion, but it is easy to make mistakes (and we made many), and advice, even official advice, is not always correct.

I have booked the nineteen hour flights from Bangkok to Malaga for Friday morning, so we will be in Andalucia before midnight.

The only fly in the ointment, is that I am now an illegal alien, and as such am obliged to leave the country as soon as possible, but my wife’s daughter’s graduation ceremony from university is in two weeks. All three of us would have dearly liked us to be there.

You can’t have everything, I suppose, but it is still very sad.

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All the best,

Owen

Podcast: Spanish Embassy (part 510)

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Back to Square One

Published by Owen Jones on 19 September 2016
Back to Square One

Back to Square One

Back to Square One

As some of you will know, I tried to fulfil my twelve-year-old promise to my wife during the summer and move us to Europe to live. We were both looking forward to it, and I was sure that I had done enough research to make it work. However, when we arrived, I sought the advice of a few expats and hired a solicitor to help me obtain my residency permit. As a member of an EU country, I am entitled to one, so long as I show that I can support myself. When that has been granted, my wife is allowed to live with me, again, so long as we can support ourselves.

The solicitor agreed and we set the wheels in motion. I was advised that it would take three or four weeks. My interview was scheduled for six weeks later. However, the day before it, it was realised that my paperwork was not in order. The next appointment was for a month later. That went the same way. We now had ten days to get both our permits. I got mine a week before my wife had to leave, so we left together.

We are now back in our Thai village, back at square one like in a real life game of Snakes and Ladders – a very costly one. My wife took the who affair personally and it has made her ill. The problem, said the solicitor was that our marriage had not been validated.

However, a couple doesn’t have to be married! Partnerships have the same rights as married couples, so there was absolutely no need at all to have to leave. Now, though we have to wait three months in order to reapply. We are both as sick as dogs about how this has turned out, but I have not had to see a doctor, my wife has.

Does anyone have any advice on the matter? (Only serious replies, please, I’m not in the mood).

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All the best,

Owen

Podcast: Back to Square One

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Schengen Visa II

Published by Owen Jones on 25 July 2016
Schengen Visa II

Schengen Visa II

Schengen Visa II

We had to repeat our journey to the Spanish Embassy: five hundred metres on a motorcycle taxi, which took us to the end of our lane, across the busy dual carriageway and down the busy pavement to the taxi rank, where we took a taxi five kilometres or so to the Underground Station, going right across Bangkok before taking another motorcycle taxi for two kilometres against the traffic to Lake Raceda, where the Spanish embassy is situated.

Yesterday, that journey one-way took two and a half hours on its own; today we were back home, business completed, in three hours, because we missed the rush hour.

The man who dealt with us yesterday was cool, but helpful, the one today was ice-cold and almost belligerent. When we were called up, he asked for my wife’s application, scanned the papers and pushed them back saying something like: ‘You don’t have an appointment’.

I began to explain that we had been told the previous day that we didn’t need one, but I stopped when someone behind him said something. He held out his hand and I finished my explanation.

‘That’s why I’m asking for her papers!’ he snapped.

I wanted to say something, but thought better of it. He had two more digs at me, but seemed to be treating my wife courteously, so again, I let it go. In these situations, I like to think that slapping people about when their hands are tied is probably the only form of enjoyment he gets out of life. I can’t see anyone liking the shit for his personality anyway.

We were dealt with quickly and efficiently including taking fingerprints and photographs of my wife. It was the first time she had had to do that and was nervous, so I went to stand near her.

‘Keep back,’ he barked, ‘the applicant only!’

Now, I had guessed that they didn’t need my dabs as I wasn’t applying for a visa, but again, I held my tongue, although that was becoming increasingly difficult.

We had already paid the fee of 2,360 Baht, so my wife was told that they would phone her when she could collect her passport (hopefully, but not guaranteed to be, with a visa).

The call came

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All the best,
Owen

Podcast: Schengen Visa II

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