# Oh More questions now as the reality sets in



## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

So whats it like in Spain... Do you think we will like it there!!!!!!! We want to open a poodle parlour, is there a demand



ONLY JOKING!

Will be starting to take endless photocopies of all the obvious and non obvious things.

Is it worth getting anything translated while we are here in the UK, or is it better to wait until we are in Spain to ensure that the translations are recognised?

:couch2:


----------



## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

cambio said:


> So whats it like in Spain... Do you think we will like it there!!!!!!! We want to open a poodle parlour, is there a demand
> 
> 
> 
> ...


In the 7 years that we've been here, we haven't yet needed anything translated.

The letters from DWP come in both English and Spanish, so that was OK. No one who needed to see our birth certificates or marriage certificates have asked to see them in Spanish.

I understand that some people have been asked for translations so I guess it depends where you live and how good your Spanish is to discuss things with them.

Best of luck.


----------



## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

snikpoh said:


> In the 7 years that we've been here, we haven't yet needed anything translated.
> 
> The letters from DWP come in both English and Spanish, so that was OK. No one who needed to see our birth certificates or marriage certificates have asked to see them in Spanish.
> 
> ...


makes sense thanks Snikpoh x


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

When you get here, find yourself an unemployed bilingual Spanish graduate (there are plenty of them!) to do your translations and interpreting for an agreed fee. Especially useful if you have to make phone calls in Spanish.


----------



## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Alcalaina said:


> When you get here, find yourself an unemployed bilingual Spanish graduate (there are plenty of them!) to do your translations and interpreting for an agreed fee. Especially useful if you have to make phone calls in Spanish.


Just remember though that any such translations will NOT be accepted by officialdom unless they have the necessary 'stamps'. All official translations need to be done by authorized translators - a list can be found on the consulate web page.

They will, of course, be useful for you.


----------



## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

My Spanish is coming along fine at the moment. I have even held phone conversations in Spanish. However, I am certainly not confident to deal with officialdom in Spanish.

x


----------



## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

cambio said:


> My Spanish is coming along fine at the moment. I have even held phone conversations in Spanish. However, I am certainly not confident to deal with officialdom in Spanish.
> 
> x


You'll be fine! Just smile lol

Jo xxx


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

snikpoh said:


> Just remember though that any such translations will NOT be accepted by officialdom unless they have the necessary 'stamps'. All official translations need to be done by authorized translators - a list can be found on the consulate web page.


It's not such a big deal - I accidentally became an "authorised translator" while helping some friends with an inheritance document! The notary just entered my details into a database and I had to sign something saying I took responsibility for any translation errors.


----------



## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

Alcalaina said:


> It's not such a big deal - I accidentally became an "authorised translator" while helping some friends with an inheritance document! The notary just entered my details into a database and I had to sign something saying I took responsibility for any translation errors.


Traductor jurado??? I thought you had to do an oposicion to get that qualification?


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Alcalaina said:


> When you get here, find yourself an unemployed bilingual Spanish graduate (there are plenty of them!) to do your translations and interpreting for an agreed fee. Especially useful if you have to make phone calls in Spanish.


I can't think of any time when I've needed just a translation, but when I got married and to get my degree recognised I needed sworn translations, which my BIL just happens to do!


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Alcalaina said:


> It's not such a big deal - I accidentally became an "authorised translator" while helping some friends with an inheritance document! The notary just entered my details into a database and I had to sign something saying I took responsibility for any translation errors.


Here's how to become a sworn translator in Spain
Cómo obtener el título de traductor jurado en España

Do you have the stamp which must accompany documents that have been translated by a sworn translator?


----------



## anles (Feb 11, 2009)

elenetxu said:


> Traductor jurado??? I thought you had to do an oposicion to get that qualification?


An authorised translator is not the same as a "traductor jurado". I have been authorised to translate at two Notaries' offices and in court on two occasions, but I still had to get my birth certificate translated by someone who was registered, even though I had to decipher the writing myself as the translator couldn't read it! Fortunately, I knew what it said otherwise I might not have been able to read it either, the handwriting is dreadful. Now I need to get a copy of my birth certificate as it has been sent to Madrid, translated and apostilled as I am applying for Spanish nationality. The office here couldn't tell me if I would get it back! Does anyone know if I can obtain this from Spain?


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

anles said:


> An authorised translator is not the same as a "traductor jurado". I have been authorised to translate at two Notaries' offices and in court on two occasions, but I still had to get my birth certificate translated by someone who was registered, even though I had to decipher the writing myself as the translator couldn't read it! Fortunately, I knew what it said otherwise I might not have been able to read it either, the handwriting is dreadful. Now I need to get a copy of my birth certificate as it has been sent to Madrid, translated and apostilled as I am applying for Spanish nationality. The office here couldn't tell me if I would get it back! Does anyone know if I can obtain this from Spain?


Thanks for this.
I didn't realise that there were two types of translator.

PS My original birth certificate is in some official building's cellar in Colombia. I never got it back...
PPS if you put traductor autorizado into Google you get back links to traductor jurado...


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

We have to get our ADANA AGM minutes and other important letters and documents translated by an official translator with stamp even though we have Spanish members and volunteers who translate our press releases...


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

OOps - wrong thread


----------



## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

anles said:


> An authorised translator is not the same as a "traductor jurado". I have been authorised to translate at two Notaries' offices and in court on two occasions, but I still had to get my birth certificate translated by someone who was registered, even though I had to decipher the writing myself as the translator couldn't read it! Fortunately, I knew what it said otherwise I might not have been able to read it either, the handwriting is dreadful. Now I need to get a copy of my birth certificate as it has been sent to Madrid, translated and apostilled as I am applying for Spanish nationality. The office here couldn't tell me if I would get it back! Does anyone know if I can obtain this from Spain?


What is the advantage in having Spanish nationality;how does it affect anything to do with UK, pensions, free healthcare etc?


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

extranjero said:


> What is the advantage in having Spanish nationality;how does it affect anything to do with UK, pensions, free healthcare etc?


For me it means I wouldn't have to think about whether I'm in the country legally or not. I wouldn't have to fulfil any of the ever changing requirements. I wouldn't have to go to extranjería any more.
I'd be able to vote.
I don't have any pension, healthcare benefits etc due to me from the UK and I'm unlikely to ever return to the UK to live.


----------



## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

just seems a really drastic step to take


----------



## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> For me it means I wouldn't have to think about whether I'm in the country legally or not. I wouldn't have to fulfil any of the ever changing requirements. I wouldn't have to go to extranjería any more.
> I'd be able to vote.
> I don't have any pension, healthcare benefits etc due to me from the UK and I'm unlikely to ever return to the UK to live.


I feel the same - although I am supposed to get a pension from there eventually....


in any case - the UK would still consider you/me/us to be British.......


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

extranjero said:


> just seems a really drastic step to take


Really?
Why do you think of it as drastic?

Oh another reason is just me saying that's it, (although mentally I said that it a good few years ago)


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Is there such a thing as a Spanish citizenship test, like there is in the UK (which most Brits would, apparently, fail)?


----------



## anles (Feb 11, 2009)

extranjero said:


> What is the advantage in having Spanish nationality;how does it affect anything to do with UK, pensions, free healthcare etc?


In my case, I am not entitled to anything from the UK. I left the UK when I was 7 years old and we settled in Spain when I was 8, I have lived here all my life. I never applied for Spanish citizenship as things were simple for European citizens, but when I lost my photographic ID (tarjeta de residencia Europea) I started to think a Spanish DNI would be a lot better than my little green card, which has practically faded, and my passport. I also think I should be able to vote in the regional and general elections. My children all have both nationalities. When things started to change regarding the requirements for Europeans to register, I decided it was time I did something about it. At present I have permanent residency, but if things change again and they review all residencies, I might have problems in the future. When I processed my application, I was the only European but there were many Latin Americans who all had to undergo a personal interview, but I don't know if they had to do a test. I was exempt from this interview as when I told the clerk I had lived here since I was eight, she said, I guess you are integrated then and stamped my application. I do know that some people who were enquiring about the state of their applications had filed them in 2010!!


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Changing nationality is an interesting topic. I hadn't really given it any thought although I was a bit surprised when my Aunt in Canada, now in her nineties, became a Canadian citizen. 
She left Britain for Canada in 1946 to join her Canadian husband, a soldier who was in the first landing on D Day 1944 as a wireless operator.
She decided to do so simply because she felt more Canadian than British, not surprising after forty years or so and because she felt gratitude and loyalty to the country which had given her such a happy,contented life.
Of course this makes utter bollocks of outfits such as the 'English Defence League' which should really be named the 'White Race Defence League' as it's clear that nationality is acquired and not stamped through you like a stick of rock.
That doesn't mean I don't think nationality is unimportant, though. It may be conferred on you in some kind of ceremony or a mere accident of birth but it's an accident with profound historical and current consequences. I think that what we think of as nationality is more a matter of culture.
After all, does anyone still have difficulty in thinking of our second and third generation West Indians, Asians, Africans as anything other than British, apart from a few racists? How can anyone not see a Scot of Pakistani origin with a Billy Connolly accent as anything other than...a Scot? Or the Birmingham bus conductor with corn rows and a thick Brummie accent as anything other than English?
I must admit I have problems with perceiving wild bearded Islamists and their burka clad wives as English but then they probably feel that way themselves.


----------

