# What I learned while immigrating to Spain (and wish I knew before)



## tomwins (Dec 27, 2014)

Today, I met with an attorney who is helping me with the immigration paperwork. This includes filing for a Non-lucrative Visa in Miami and filing once I arrive in Spain. 

To make a sad story short, I'm going through a divorce as well as immigrating and the divorce has turned ugly. While I know I could get a Spain Visa and do everything on my own, I'm not in the mental mindset to do that. So I'm paying 800 euros for his help.

I'm in Santander making arrangements to move here in July. As a part of the conversation today, he told me that he could have gotten me a NIE number easily in a day if I had wanted it. That means I could have opened a bank account and used it in other places including the lease I signed.

I'm not sure that piece of information is worth 800 euros by itself, but I wish I had known that prior to meeting with him. If I'd known I would have asked for the meeting earlier and requested the NIE.

If you've been through the immigration process in Spain (from a non-EU country) and have learned something along the way, please share. Who knows, you may even help me by sharing something else I didn't know.


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## alex T. (10 mo ago)

tomwins said:


> If you've been through the immigration process in Spain (from a non-EU country) and have learned something along the way, please share. Who knows, you may even help me by sharing something else I didn't know.


Hi, If you're in not a good place, 800 euros not a bad price to let someone else eliminate the headache.

Counting on lawyers to do what they should - like look out for all of your interests - well, the sad story is the same here in Spain as it is in the U.S.

The years since I moved to Spain has been about peeling and peeling through layers of BS immigration lawyers extend to the unsuspecting, while never bothering to tell you the mindboggling complex world-wide wealth and income tax situation you'll be buying into. Or how you're going to be accused of contributing to "black labor" just because you paid a friend look after your apartment while you're away. 

My advice is do your research and never rely on lawyers to tell you the entire story. Spain lets in a lot of immigrants, like the U.S., and there are many people who live off of providing mediocre (if not criminally dishonest) services to immigrants, like in the U.S. And don't be afraid to file paperwork yourself (when you're in a good mindset).


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