Re: American marrying a Spanish(EU) Citizen in the US---help

Because sh is Spanish, the Spanish rules for immigration will apply if you intend to live in Spain. Therefore you have to get the information from the Spanish embassy or consulate close to where you are in California (might be San Francisco?).

Being married to a Spanish citizen will entitle you to apply and obtain Spanish citizenship after residing one year in Spain. This means that at the time of application for Spanish citizenship, you have to prove you have resided legally in Spain for at least one year.

Residency in Spain will be granted automatically as you are married to a Spanish national, although the procedure takes at least 3 months. The application for Spanish nationality is done via the Civil Registry of the location of your domicile (understood as your marriage domicile) to the Minister of Justice:

The requirements are the following:
- Birth certificate
- Criminal record certificate issued by the Israeli authorities (it is
advisable to have it clean)
- Criminal record certificate issued by the Spanish authorities
- Certificate of domiciliation in the Town Hall of the municipality where
you will live.
- Document justifying the time spent in Spain with legal residency.
- If married to a Spanish citizen, marriage certificate issued by the
corresponding Civil Registry.
- Birth certificate of the Spanish spouse.

Once your application has been approved, you will have to make a sworn
declaration of loyalty to the Spanish Constitution.

With regards to the time it takes, it depends on the time of the year, but you can expect to be summoned to make the declaration within 3 to 5 months after the presentation of the documentation.

Regarding your right to work, being married to a Spanish citizen will make things easier in theory. However you will probably need to apply for a visa for thwe first year (ask to the Spanish embassy).

 

Re: American marrying a Spanish(EU) Citizen in the US---help

Hmmmm you must know beforehand that I am not an immigration officer... :frown:
It's not that you won't be allowed to work, but you will require a work Visa the first year to be able to work. I am not up to date with the Spanish immigration law but I assume that they must be probably cooler with such cases... ??: Why don't you contact the embassy, ask information ... and come back on EasyExpat to tell us eventually what you have to do exactly?

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