With a plan to head to LA for a wedding the timing seemed perfect: 3 weeks before I leave, I get to pick up my NIE. Unfortunately, during the educational previous visit my birth-date was entered incorrectly, an oversight that was only discovered by the woman who checked my passport …

Finally, Elena and I made it back to the immigration police station, payment in hand; went through the relaxed security system; and were ushered directly towards one of the seated workers. Sitting down across from her, Elena explained the situation and handed over my paperwork (in blazingly fast Spanish). “You …

Because the Visa is officially only valid for 90 days from the date you stated as the entry-date to Spain - the last step to legally residing in Spain for a year is getting your DNI (your Spanish SSN - technically assigned on your Visa) and your NIE (national identity-card).

Once you …

Here’s a good route to follow... our process wasn’t so efficient... Comically, if you ask for directions to the DNI office, even the police will only point you vaguely in the direction of this odd building. It felt like everyone was a bit embarrassed or confused by the …

Another painless part of immigrating was getting my proof of residency or Padron. I (well, Elena really) made an appointment at our local municipal police station. In our neighborhood, Arganzuela, the local police are conveniently located a short walk through Madrid Rio from our house. We took a number when …

Moving to Spain was mostly painless. After living in a small bedroom in Manhattan and leaving all communal property with my roommates - I managed the whole move with just four bags. Elena checked one bag for me and I carried two large backpacks and a single messenger bag - I get …

Submissions were pretty painless, I had an appointment to submit my papers and the consulate office in New York wasn’t completely full - it took about 45 minutes including re-filling out two forms that I’d filled incorrectly between arriving and heading out.

One point that I hadn’t considered …

Getting a triple-stamped criminal record from the NY State was an adventure in convoluted bureaucracy.

This was a comically long process that took around 7 hours of activity spanning a month or so. First I had to get the NYS police to send me a criminal background check - apparently this …

There are many papers and details to put together for the visa, but in general, you’re trying to show that you’re not a criminal and that you’re not going to be a drain on the Spanish economy. Specifically, it ends up being relatively easy with a couple …

The visa process is a bit confusing and if you’re not working for a company that’s sponsoring your visa (and presumably leaning on their legal team to deal with the paperwork) there are a few different routes available. In all cases the process looks something like this:

1. Choose …

I moved to Spain in December 2016 and there were a few hurdles and details that I would have overlooked without substantial help from knowledgeable and Spanish-speaking people. Over the next few posts, I’ll talk about my experience of getting a Spanish Visa in the U.S. and figuring …