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Old 06-21-2016, 03:36 AM
 
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Came to Barcelona for a month. Was literally the time of my life. How can an American get a visa to live in Spain?
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Old 06-21-2016, 04:07 AM
 
Location: Prepperland
18,927 posts, read 14,115,131 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by philopower View Post
Came to Barcelona for a month. Was literally the time of my life. How can an American get a visa to live in Spain?
Contact the Spanish ambassador or consulate office.
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Old 06-21-2016, 05:34 AM
 
Location: Brussels
503 posts, read 652,568 times
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In Spanish: Residencia de carácter permanente - Ministerio del Interior

Basically, either retired or not, you need to prove that you have the means to live comfortably. Maybe because you have a job and a salary elsewhere, or a pension, or some business. Or maybe because you have a job contract in Spain.
Another way to do it it is to buy a house in Spain with a value over 300k.
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Old 06-21-2016, 09:32 AM
 
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It is very easy to move to Europe.

Just like jetgraphics said, contact closest consulate or their embassy.
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Old 06-21-2016, 03:14 PM
 
Location: State of Transition
102,126 posts, read 107,381,087 times
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How is your Spanish? One way to do it is to show up on a tourist visa, and talk your way into a job that requires fluency in English, like website design and Eng. language marketing, so something. Have a job skill the locals don't have, so you won't be competing with them for jobs. I know people who have done that. It works best if you're fluent in the local language, though.

Another option is to have a job skill that's in demand, so you can arrange a job in advance, and go on a work visa. Engineering is in demand in some European countries, for example. Check out the Spanish Embassy's website to find out that skills they're looking for, and what your other options are.


Also bear in mind that daily life abroad usually isn't like your vacation experience. Once life becomes routine, it loses some of its luster, and you may start noticing the shortcomings compared with where your from. Just saying.
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Old 06-21-2016, 05:04 PM
 
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Unemployment is very high in Spain but who knows?

Maybe you can get a job with your English skills.
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Old 06-21-2016, 07:49 PM
 
Location: Edmonds, WA
8,975 posts, read 10,160,559 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth View Post
How is your Spanish? One way to do it is to show up on a tourist visa, and talk your way into a job that requires fluency in English, like website design and Eng. language marketing, so something. Have a job skill the locals don't have, so you won't be competing with them for jobs. I know people who have done that. It works best if you're fluent in the local language, though.

Another option is to have a job skill that's in demand, so you can arrange a job in advance, and go on a work visa. Engineering is in demand in some European countries, for example. Check out the Spanish Embassy's website to find out that skills they're looking for, and what your other options are.


Also bear in mind that daily life abroad usually isn't like your vacation experience. Once life becomes routine, it loses some of its luster, and you may start noticing the shortcomings compared with where your from. Just saying.
You have to be careful with the English jobs though. I have a family friend who is an American but married to a Spaniard and she runs an English language school in Sevilla. I stayed with them for a while when I was studying in Spain. She was trying to hire two teachers from Florida but they were in removal proceedings due to visa overstays. The Spanish government said she had to give preference to Spanish English speakers or EU English speakers. My understanding was that they didn't care that the demand was for American English taught by native speakers. I believe the two teachers were ultimately deported back to Miami. This was ten years ago, I don't know if things have changed.
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Old 06-22-2016, 03:53 AM
 
Location: Madrid
1,049 posts, read 1,602,239 times
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Understand, that like all places, living in Spain is very different from a month long vacation. Especially if that was your first time out of your home country, you'll quickly realize that everywhere becomes "normal" at least to some extent, after a while. That being said, I enjoy living here very much, and can afford to live a much better life here than I could in the USA. I suppose "the time of my life" is a fair assessment. If you're an American (or Canadian/ Kiwi/ Aussie), you have two realistic options:

1) I have posted extensively about this, but there is a visa called the non-lucrative visa which allows you to live in Spain for up to 5 years if you have a financial source outside of Spain. I have a job in the USA which allows me to telecommute, so because I have a full income from the USA, I am able to live here. You can also show that you have adequate savings to support yourself for one year, €25,560, or you could have investments, a pension, or any other source of at least €2,130 per month flowing into your bank account form outside of Spain. There's more information here, but note that you'll have to do everything through your local Spanish Consulate and requirements are slightly different from place to place:

http://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consula...nLucrative.pdf

2) There is a program that is quite popular with young Americans called the Auxiliares de conversación extranjeros en España where you essentially assist a teacher in a school with English classes. As far as I know, this program is unique in Europe. In Madrid, it's 16 hours per week for €1000/ month. In other areas, I believe it's only 12 hours per week for €700 per month. It's not a lot of money, but you can live on it, and you get a visa (student visa). In addition, you can hustle English lessons on the side to make extra cash - I have several friends in this program who earn an extra €500-€700 per month with private lessons. A downside, in your case, is that they don't have this program in Catalonia, but you could live almost anywhere else in Spain. The main requirements are a university degree and being a native English speaker. Another downside, besides low pay (i'll reiterate that you can live, even in Madrid, on 1000 per month, it just won't be glamorous) is that a lot of my friends who work in this program feel... under-utilized. I'm sure it depends on your school and the teachers you work with, but you are there to assist, not to be the sole teacher. If you've had a legit career, this might feel like a bit of a step back. But hey, it's a visa. More info here:

Consejerias Exteriores : Cultural Ambassadors: North American Language and Culture Assistants in Spain

Finding a proper job in Spain that pays a competitive wage and would sponsor you for a visa would be next to impossible. The situation for Spaniards is not the best, let alone other EU citizens trying to work here. A Spanish/EU company will have to prove that you're better qualified than anyone else (EU or non EU) that's applied in the last 30 days. Outside of the Auxiliary program, which operates through the loophole of giving you a student visa, it's quite difficult to find a visa-sponsoring English teaching job because UK and Irish citizens (EU members) don't require a visa. Like I said, I've been through the ringer myself, and have a roommate and several American friends who are making a go of the English teaching options, feel free to PM me if you want any additional information.

Last edited by wikiwikirunner; 06-22-2016 at 04:02 AM..
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Old 06-22-2016, 04:45 AM
 
4,231 posts, read 3,544,301 times
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Actually when looking all across countries in Europe it's probably easiest that it's ever been to move there.

If you wanna move so badly you can get a bartender job and live your dream!!

Maybe some countries are not so easy but i think Spain is not one of them.
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Old 06-22-2016, 04:51 AM
 
Location: Madrid
1,049 posts, read 1,602,239 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by J.Thomas View Post
Actually when looking all across countries in Europe it's probably easiest that it's ever been to move there.

If you wanna move so badly you can get a bartender job and live your dream!!

Maybe some countries are not so easy but i think Spain is not one of them.
I hate to sound like a know-it-all, but it's not quite that easy. There's still the issue of only being able to stay in the Schengen Area legally for 90/180 days. Unless the OP wants to become illegal, and risk deportation not only from Spain, but the entire Schengen Area.
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