# Apostilla de la Haya



## LA_Rick (Oct 20, 2008)

Can anyone tell me what "Apostilla de la Haya" means? I suspect its some type of what we call a "Notarized Document" here in the U.S.

WHat I'm trying to find out is, what does it take to open a Bank Account in Spain for both a self-employed consultant working under a Business Name and also a private normal personal checking/savings accouunt.

Also, here in the U.S., I work as a consultant using my own name. I do not have a ficticious name (e.g. DBA - meaning "Doing Business As"). I bill using my name and I am issued a 1099 at the end of the year for my U.S. Taxes. Is this acceptable in Spain or do I have to have some silly ficticious name?

Thanks for anyone's input!


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## J.O.N. (Oct 22, 2008)

﻿Apostillado de la Haya is what you need to do to your documents so that they are treated as
legitimate documents in Spain. What you need to do is to take the documents to the US State
department and explain that they have to be validated with the apostillado de la Haya and they’ll know what to do. Getting them notarized is not going to do the trick, there is a vast difference between a notary public in the States and a Notario in Spain.

Opening a bank account as a non resident is easy, all you need is money and your passport. Once you have established residency and are legally authorized to work, you will have a resident number which is equivalent to the NIE, at that point you will have to change your bank account from non-resident to resident status.

I hope this helps,

J.O.N.


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## SteveHall (Oct 17, 2008)

You should speak to a financial planner/advisor as to where you should be tax resident. 

You can work as John Smith, you can equally work as John Smith SL or xyz123 SL T/A John Smith 

To set up as a SL (limited company in the UK, don't know re USA) will be 3,000+ euros. Thus many stay autónomo and work their own account. 

Your advisor will be able to assist as to what is best for you. 

Te deseo mucha suerte


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