A visa is often required to stay/live in the country of your destination. You must request the form and get the information to the Spanish Consulate when you are still in your country of origin.

Do not mix consulate and embassy. The embassy is the representation of the State in a foreign country and is in charge of all the relations with the government of the country where located. The consul protects and administrates the community coming from his country. However, you must usually live for 6 months in the country before you have to register. You will find all the information by asking the Consulate.

In the 27 countries of the European community, a valid National Identity Card or Passport is enough. You don't have to fill any other form in. In many cases, your new company will do the formalities for you.

The 27 countries of the European Union are: Germany, France, The United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Italy, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Sweden, Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania.

Residence Applications
Anyone arriving in Spain and planning to live indefinitely, study, work or start a business, must apply for a residence card within 15 days of arriving in Spain.

EU nationals planning to stay for a limited period (e.g. a short-term contract) are issued with a temporary residence card for the period requested. If the period is indefinite a five-year residence card (tarjeta comunitaria europea or tarjeta de residente comunitario) is issued. Cards for dependants are issued for the same period as the principal applicant (children under 18 may be included on a parent's residencia).

A non-EU residence card is initially valid for two years or the length of a contract and on renewal is valid for five years. A permanent residence card is available to all foreigners who have held a normal residence permit for a period of six years.

Residence cards are issued by the foreign nationals office (Oficina Gubernativa de Extranjeros) or the provincial central police station (Comisaría de Policía Provincial) in the province where the applicant is resident, and applications must be made in person to the nearest national police station (Comisaría de Policía Nacional) with a foreigners' department (departamento/oficina de extranjeros).

When you are in Spain, take your Rental Agreement/Property Title, and two different bills (gas/electricity/telephone for example) with your new address to the Oficina de Empadronamiento in order to get your Alta de Residencia and your Certificado de Empadronamiento (it's useful for free public emergency care, free entrance to museums...etc).

Citizenship
After being a resident in Spain for a few years (2 to 10 years depending on the circumstances and the country you come from) you can apply for a Spanish citizenship. Nevertheless, if you are already a EU citizen, it may not change a lot, except essentially passport and the right to vote. The public body in charge of citizenship is the Ministerio de Justicia ; the place to apply is the Registro Civil. You might have to renounce citizenship with your country of origin, but in practice they check rarely and you shouldn't get into trouble as long as you don't show both passports at the same time.

 Share: 

	Sponsored Links