# Applying for residency and finding housing conundrum



## Melissa58275 (Apr 14, 2014)

I think I understand from what I have read here and elsewhere that when if I wish to stay in Spain for longer than 90 days must apply to the embassy here in the US before arrival in Spain and that I will need to supply evidence of a place to live in Spain... A long term lease for an apartment for example. But I also gather that landlords will. E reluctant to lease to someone who doesn't already have the long term visa. If this is so, how does one resolve the problem? I take it that it is not possible to arrive with only a short term VrBOrype rental arranged in order to apartment hunt after arrival?


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## zenkarma (Feb 15, 2013)

Assuming you are a non-EU citizen you can only stay in the Schengen area 90 days out of 180. That effectively means 90 days in and 90 days out before you can return.

A non-EU citizen wishing to stay in a Schengen area country (Spain for example) for longer than 90 days will require the necessary Visa applied for in your current country of residence at the Schengen area country embassy BEFORE you travel to the country.

You cannot travel to a Schengen area country and apply for a long term residence visa in that country—it must be done in your original country of residence before you travel.


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## Melissa58275 (Apr 14, 2014)

zenkarma said:


> Assuming you are a non-EU citizen you can only stay in the Schengen area 90 days out of 180. That effectively means 90 days in and 90 days out before you can return.
> 
> A non-EU citizen wishing to stay in a Schengen area country (Spain for example) for longer than 90 days will require the necessary Visa applied for in your current country of residence at the Schengen area country embassy BEFORE you travel to the country.
> 
> You cannot travel to a Schengen area country and apply for a long term residence visa in that country—it must be done in your original country of residence before you travel.


Zenkarma, that's exactly the problem I am trying to solve. If I musst apply for a long-term residence visa in the US before leaving for Spain AND I must show that I have a place to live in Spain in order to get the long-term residency visa, but it is difficult to find a long-term place to let BEFORE you arrive in Spain and before you HAVE the visa, how do I accomplish this? It seems a sort of catch-22...impossible to do one without first doing the other.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Melissa58275 said:


> Zenkarma, that's exactly the problem I am trying to solve. If I musst apply for a long-term residence visa in the US before leaving for Spain AND I must show that I have a place to live in Spain in order to get the long-term residency visa, but it is difficult to find a long-term place to let BEFORE you arrive in Spain and before you HAVE the visa, how do I accomplish this? It seems a sort of catch-22...impossible to do one without first doing the other.


if you search through previous threads about this - there are some links in the http://www.expatforum.com/expats/sp...-living-spain/2725-faqs-lots-useful-info.html section about visas for non-EU citizens, there's bound to be something from someone who has done it before

why not ask the Consulate what they suggest? They wouldn't expect you to be paying out 1000€s on deposits & rental if you weren't certain of getting the visa


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## Melissa58275 (Apr 14, 2014)

Xabiachica: I have found no information about how one pulls this off after searching the FAQs and trying as many keyword searches in the Spain forum as I can think of that might yields results. Perhaps I'm not doing something correctly with the search, but I can't find anything EXCEPT posts in which various members say that landlords will want to see the residency visa and that you really shouldn't rent anyplace you haven't physically seen and threads that say the Spanish consulate in the US will not likely grant the long-term residency visa if the applicant has only hotel reservations, an airBNB reservation or the like. 

I will certainly ask the Consulate; you would think that it MUST be a problem that comes up. But given what others say about the consulates not being particularly welcoming and often rather strict, I'm not optimistic of getting much help from those quarters.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Melissa58275 said:


> Xabiachica: I have found no information about how one pulls this off after searching the FAQs and trying as many keyword searches in the Spain forum as I can think of that might yields results. Perhaps I'm not doing something correctly with the search, but I can't find anything EXCEPT posts in which various members say that landlords will want to see the residency visa and that you really shouldn't rent anyplace you haven't physically seen and threads that say the Spanish consulate in the US will not likely grant the long-term residency visa if the applicant has only hotel reservations, an airBNB reservation or the like.
> 
> I will certainly ask the Consulate; you would think that it MUST be a problem that comes up. But given what others say about the consulates not being particularly welcoming and often rather strict, I'm not optimistic of getting much help from those quarters.


have you followed the link I gave you? That has nothing to do with keyword searches 

in any case - the consulate where you lodge your application is the only place to give you definitive advice as to whether you need a long term accommodation contract before they will issue a visa


I do know some Aussies here who have long term lets - they don't live here - they work on oil rigs all over the place & are never here more than a few weeks at a time & always for less than 6 months a tax year - so have no form of residency at all


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## Melissa58275 (Apr 14, 2014)

I did follow the link. There I found several threads asking questions about how to get around this problem, but only one which explained how one poster did so. In that case, the US couple had a friend in Spain whose address they used. As I don't have such an accommodating friend in Spain, that route isn't available. It seems a question many others are asking and I'm somewhat surprised that no one has been able to offer suggestions about a work-around.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Melissa58275 said:


> I did follow the link. There I found several threads asking questions about how to get around this problem, but only one which explained how one poster did so. In that case, the US couple had a friend in Spain whose address they used. As I don't have such an accommodating friend in Spain, that route isn't available. It seems a question many others are asking and I'm somewhat surprised that no one has been able to offer suggestions about a work-around.


you might not need a work-around

check with the consulate which will issue the visa - they will have the final say, regardless of what info you find elsewhere


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## Sandraw719 (Jul 19, 2013)

Depend on the reason you come to Spain. If you work,your company contract will help.If you study, school letter will help.If you invest a lot, you cannot avoid to come here twice. First,come to buy property or set up account,then get all the paperwork and go back to apply the right visa.

If you only travel,you cannot stay more than 3 months. Or you can come on 90 days visa and it is possible to extend 30 days.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Sandraw719 said:


> Depend on the reason you come to Spain. If you work,your company contract will help.If you study, school letter will help.If you invest a lot, you cannot avoid to come here twice. First,come to buy property or set up account,then get all the paperwork and go back to apply the right visa.
> 
> If you only travel,you cannot stay more than 3 months. Or you can come on 90 days visa and it is possible to extend 30 days.


it isn't possible to extend a Schengen visa at all


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## Melissa58275 (Apr 14, 2014)

I'd be coming to retire...or at least to stay for 6 months or so to see if it suits, before making the move more-or-less permanent.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Melissa58275 said:


> I'd be coming to retire...or at least to stay for 6 months or so to see if it suits, before making the move more-or-less permanent.


well in that case, before you go through the hassle & expense of a visa, why not try it for the 90 days?


then if you feel that you could live here, go back to the US & apply for a visa


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## Melissa58275 (Apr 14, 2014)

xabiachica said:


> well in that case, before you go through the hassle & expense of a visa, why not try it for the 90 days?
> 
> 
> then if you feel that you could live here, go back to the US & apply for a visa


A version of that is the plan....problem is, that having never been to any of the more southern parts of Europe, I'd like to have a look-see at Spain and Italy as well as Portugal and will use up 90 days doing that. Next step would be to come back to the US and apply for a longer period (6-plus-months) wherever seems to speak to me most. If I instead wait out 90 days in the US and do another 90 day stint in Portugal, Spain or Italy, then come back to the US again...it becomes a VERY protracted and costly process, as I wouldn't be able to rent out my US home for convenient 90 say stints. So the plan is...90 days traveling and doing reconnaisance, then say 6 months rental somewhere promising and decide from there whether to come back to the US "permanently", settle there "permanently" or come back to the states just long enough to arrange another 6 month stint somewhere else.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Melissa58275 said:


> A version of that is the plan....problem is, that having never been to any of the more southern parts of Europe, I'd like to have a look-see at Spain and Italy as well as Portugal and will use up 90 days doing that. Next step would be to come back to the US and apply for a longer period (6-plus-months) wherever seems to speak to me most. If I instead wait out 90 days in the US and do another 90 day stint in Portugal, Spain or Italy, then come back to the US again...it becomes a VERY protracted and costly process, as I wouldn't be able to rent out my US home for convenient 90 say stints. So the plan is...90 days traveling and doing reconnaisance, then say 6 months rental somewhere promising and decide from there whether to come back to the US "permanently", settle there "permanently" or come back to the states just long enough to arrange another 6 month stint somewhere else.


yes it does seem protracted

I'm pretty certain that there's nothing between the Schengen deal & permanent though

at least not in Spain

the UK isn't part of Schengen, so you could maybe do 90 days Schengen, 90 UK etc...for a year, anyway - questions are likely to be asked any longer than that


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## Melissa58275 (Apr 14, 2014)

I plan to come for 90 days first, but want to spend some time also in Spain and Italy, as I've never been to any southern European country and would like to explore all three a bit before giving one a longer term tryout. That's phase I. Then I'll go home and apply for a long-term visa in whichever speaks most to me. Phase II will be a six-month trial there. At the end of it, I'll A) Decide the expat life is not for me and head back to the states. B) Decide I love it and look for a longer-term lease or consider buying. Or C) Try somewhere else. But doing multiple 90-day stints in the Schengen area followed by 90 days back in the states is I think too protracted and would wind up being costly, as I am not likely to be able to rent my home here for such short-term stints. And I'd rather not sell here, till I'm sure I want to stay there!


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## Sandraw719 (Jul 19, 2013)

Melissa58275 said:


> I plan to come for 90 days first, but want to spend some time also in Spain and Italy, as I've never been to any southern European country and would like to explore all three a bit before giving one a longer term tryout. That's phase I. Then I'll go home and apply for a long-term visa in whichever speaks most to me. Phase II will be a six-month trial there. At the end of it, I'll A) Decide the expat life is not for me and head back to the states. B) Decide I love it and look for a longer-term lease or consider buying. Or C) Try somewhere else. But doing multiple 90-day stints in the Schengen area followed by 90 days back in the states is I think too protracted and would wind up being costly, as I am not likely to be able to rent my home here for such short-term stints. And I'd rather not sell here, till I'm sure I want to stay there!


I would suggest you visit the immigration office with a translator or enquiry with a lawyer.

For non european citizen, you need to approve more than 2000 euros income per month to get residency plus private health insurance.

Spanish Embassy usually does not issue visa more than 3 months. You can get D visa and apply your residency here. But there are whole list of documents to get this visa. If you get all the documents,you will get visa in a week. But it takes time to gather all the documents!

Also it takes forever to get the resident card here. I came in Feb and was approved the residency in Apr,then will go to do the finger print in Jul. I guess I won't get the actual card until Aug or Sep.


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## Kathrynj (Jul 14, 2014)

*Did you find an answer?*

Your post immediately got my attention because I am seriously researching the idea of retiring to Spain. I have thought to make another trip next spring and find an agent with which to work, but really don't have any firm ideas of how to make everything happen.
I am wondering if you have made any progress on finding an answer to the conundrum.


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## Nignoy (Jun 4, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> have you followed the link I gave you? That has nothing to do with keyword searches
> 
> in any case - the consulate where you lodge your application is the only place to give you definitive advice as to whether you need a long term accommodation contract before they will issue a visa
> 
> ...


The aussies tend to have a bit of a don't give a sxxx attitude towards visas, but tend to shout the loudest when they get caught!!, had an Australian pensioner couple staying in our neighbourhood until last sunday,we got to talking over a beer they have been touring Europe by train for the last 5 months,I askedwhere they got their Schengen extension, their reply we never bother to apply for one nobody asks about it anyway so even as a new Australian I was a bit surprised, but its normal Australian attitude I,m afraid


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

What a load of generalistic BS tosh.

There are more illegal Brits and Americans in Australia than actual asylum seekers. Spain too for that matter.
Maybe we get our crap attitude from the motherland. The apple and the tree and all that.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Nignoy said:


> The aussies tend to have a bit of a don't give a sxxx attitude towards visas, but tend to shout the loudest when they get caught!!, had an Australian pensioner couple staying in our neighbourhood until last sunday,we got to talking over a beer they have been touring Europe by train for the last 5 months,I askedwhere they got their Schengen extension, their reply we never bother to apply for one nobody asks about it anyway so even as a new Australian I was a bit surprised, but its normal Australian attitude I,m afraid


one Aussie couple I know have actually tried to pay tax & so on here - but they are never here enough days a year & were sent away by several gestores - so they gave up in the end!!

so they aren't all like that - although some are - but not just Aussies - this happens with people from pretty much anywhere outside Europe - they seem quite shocked when told they can't just turn up & live & work here without some kind of visa

in much the same way as some Europeans think they can move to the US, Canada & Australia etc. - you just have to look around the different forums here to see that!


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## Nignoy (Jun 4, 2010)

Pazcat said:


> What a load of generalistic BS tosh.
> 
> There are more illegal Brits and Americans in Australia than actual asylum seekers. Spain too for that matter.
> Maybe we get our crap attitude from the motherland. The apple and the tree and all that.


Not really generalistic, after 16 years in queensland 10 of those as an employer until I retired,I got the opportunity to experience the Australian attitude to laws and rules,at first hand ,where as for mateship and true friends there are non more reliable and trustworthy, but as employees they are the pits quick to call the union or walk off the job especially on a Friday or if the broncos are playing at home, don't know where you get your facts but the most illegal immigrants in Australia at the moment are Thai and Khmer, but deep down you know it is an Australian fault, another is they take general criticism as a personal attack,just wind them up and watch themgo!!


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