Sorry to hear that.

Are you intending just to visit Spain?
What kind of visa do you have in the UK?

 

Hi Hargreaves,

Like Triple H mentioned, it´s essential to know what kind of visa you are in the UK with, in order to know what advice to give.

If you entered the UK as a tourist, obviously you gained entry without a visa, it would be difficult, if not impossible to get a visa issued by the Spanish embassy. They only attend to people resident in the UK. For this you need to have a stamp on your passport to that effect.

If you are resident in the UK, you permit or entry stamp has to be valid for more than 3 months; anything other than that will not be accepted.

As for people married to Spanish nationals jumping the queue, forget that. That´s not true, as the Spanish embassy have only one person processing the residence visas. She sees about 3 or 4 people per day, so there´s always a long wait. You can call this number, it tells you when the next available appointment is 020 7594 4904 - it´s 24 hrs.

To tell you the truth, it would be better if you were married, because you would get the ´Libro De familia´, which opens a lot of doors. Right now, even though you have been together and are having a baby together, there is no official link. Spain does not really have anything in place to common law partners. Although when the baby´s born, I think you can ask to have residency in Spain based on the fact that your baby will be Spanish.

If there´s anything else I can help with let me know. I am also non EU and had a lot of challenges when appling for residency at the Spanish embassy in London, so I know what you are talking about

 

Hi,

Within the meaning of European law, dependants are, irrespective of nationality, the spouse and descendants of these persons dependent on EU citizens, as well as the dependent relatives in the ascending line of the person and their spouse. To be honest, I don´t know if you can apply for a ´family reunification visa´, which is what you as a visa national for Spain have to apply for in order to gain residency in Spain. If you apply for an ordinary/tourist visa, you will not be able to convert it to residency. If you enter Spain as a tourist and extend your stay without proper documentation, you will be deemed to have overstayed.

You mentioned that you are unemployed; if you were applying for a ´family reunification visa´, it is not required to present evidence of employment. My guess is that you are applying for a tourist visa, so you will be asked for evidence of employment. What you can do is take your partner´s letter of employment. The truth is, if you are not employed, you will not be given a visa. I know this for sure, but if your spouse or partner who supports you is working, you will need to show their letter of employment. That´s the way things are in the Spanish embassy.

You also need to show a bank statement with adequate funds in it. They may or may not ask for the invitation, I have been for interviews at the Spanish embassy in London 3 different times now, twice for tourist visas. I wasn´t really asked for an invitation letter. I was actually the one who said: ´I have a letter of invitation, do you want it?´. Another thing you need to have is insurance cover.

If you are considering marriage, you will need to have a COA to have a civil ceremony in the UK or get married in the Church of England. I don´t think it´s necessary to go back home. You still have some time on your visa. When you get married, you need to take the following documents to the Spanish embassy in order to get a ´Libro De Familia´:

1. Your passport
2. Your husband´s DNI or Passport (preferably both)
3. Your marriage certificate
4. Your husband´s literal birth certificate - he needs to get this in his municipal council in Spain. It´s just a copy of his birth certificate stamped and signed by an official. It has to be no more than 6 months old.
5. Your birth certificate

You will need to go with your partner.

When you decide to get married, let me know so I can tell you some other things my husband and I should have done but didn´t do; this made the process longer for us. I hope you will be able to learn from our mistakes.

The Spanish embassy website is www.conspalon.org It can prove useful, that´s if you don´t know it already.

Take it easy, take care of yourself and the little one. I know how frustrating it can get. You need strength, don´t worry, everything will work out fine. It may take a couple of months more, but you´ll get there.

Regards,

Rhea