# Planning a move to Barcelona/Castelldefels - Updates from current trip



## kimuyen (Aug 8, 2013)

I posted a few questions on here regarding NIE, residency, opening a bank account, etc. Got lots of good information from many of you. We made our trip to Barcelona this past week and wanted to share our experience. Just for back ground so the information below makes sense - We all are Americans but my husband holds Irish passport, so legally, we should be able to obtain residency.

*1. Opening a Bank Account:*
We narrowed down either Sabadell (website is more English friendly) or La Caixa (more branches). At the end my husband chose to come in a La Caixa bank in Barcelona as they have branches around almost every corner. After an hour and the help of three bank employees with limited English, he was able to open a non-resident bank account with $20 deposit. Due to our work schedules, my husband and I were playing tag team. I was not with him when he went to the bank so this is a second hand account. He thinks part of the reason it took him so long was because he made a mistake to give them his Irish passport. When they asked for an address, he gave him his American address. Now he threw them for a loop. They thought he is an Irish but working in the US. They talked to him about some taxation that he did not quite understand. As a non-resident, we hope whatever it is, it won't affect us (yet). At the end, he had to sign a whole bunch of paper (he may sign away the cow and did not even know it!).

Take-away: For a non-resident account, if you have more than one passport, use the one where your current home address is. 

*2. NIE: *

I said "legally" we should be able to obtain residency and what comes with it, but here is the reality...

We stayed in Castelldefels for part of the trip so we could check out the town where the British School of Barcelona is housed. I went to the Oficina de Extranjeros in Castelldefels, which actually is housed in a police station in the center of town. We need to figure our what the "sufficient resource" is for our family (one EU member and non-EU spouse and dependent), whether we need police records, etc. I figured since I was there, why not tried to apply for an NIE. I downloaded and filled out form EX-15 and even Modelo 790 just in case. When I showed up a bit after 8:30AM, there were three groups of people before me so that wasn't bad. I heard that there were places that you had to show up no later than 7am in order to get a number (they only gave out limited number of cases that they would handle per day). Anyhow, when it was my turn, I gave the EX-15 form to the person (not sure what these people are called?) She asked me why I needed an NIE. I showed her the appointments with the schools as proofs that we have social interest in Spain (this is one of the check box on the form). She threw a bunch of Spanish back at me and gave me another form. I then realized that she thought I was the one going to the school and not my son (who is 4 by the way) as she gave me a form for student visa. I tried to explain it to her in my very broken Spanish that it is my son who is going to school and not me and that I needed an NIE to rent an apartment. I think she scolded me for confusing her. She asked me if I live in the area now. I said no. She told me I can only get an NIE when I live in Spain and apply for one within 3 months. She spoke no English and I speak very broken Spanish so you can imagine what a scene. I left, unable to even ask the questions about the requirements and no NIE. It was a pretty demoralizing experience. On the bright side, having gone through this once helps with the second trip (or third, or fourth...)

We will try the consulate in Washington D.C. next to try to obtain our NIE. If anyone has gone through this route and was successful, please share your experience.

Now that we have a bank account, we can start to transfer some money into it so it will show that we have regular income (we in fact will have rental income from the States). I hope this will take care of the resource requirement.

Take-away: 1) Learn Spanish! We won't move until next Spring/Summer but it is never too early to learn. Some people may think they don't need to learn Spanish (much less Catalan) but I believe that lacking Spanish will not only impact one's survival but also one's quality of life and experience. 2) You may want to try an office in a smaller town where it is less crowded (but make sure you speak Spanish!)

*3. Schools*
I had appointments with both the British School (Castelldefels) and American School (Barcelona). 

British School: mix of students is about 60% locals/40% foreigners; on the day of my visit, the director, front office person and other staff were all Spanish; school year is Sept-June; Summer program is for 4 weeks in July; all day school from 9-4 with some after school activities; tuition includes lunch; class rooms with decent set up; facility nice and modern with the use of a nearby swimming pool for PE class; neighborhood- residential with a mix of villas and apartments, and commercial with a hotel near by, a tennis court, gym, yoga place, a restaurant nearby. The school is expanding its campus to include a library and new building for the younger age groups.

American School: mix of students is about 40% locals/20% Americans/Canadians/British, and 40% everyone else; on the day of my visit, the director, coordinator (whom I met with) and another staff person were all American; school year is Sept-June; all day school from 9-4 with some after school activities; tuition does NOT include lunch; classrooms for "early years" are in a trailer (air conditioned) as the school is expanding and the section for this age group will be in a new building; unable to see much of the facility except for the outdoor space (it has a soccer field); neighborhood mostly residential with many big villas in the immediate neighborhood. 

Anyone interested in these two schools can download the fees from their websites. My general sense is that the British school is more integrated with the Spanish system with more Spanish staff/teachers. Both are great schools.

Hope this is helpful to some of you who are also in planning stages.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Thanks for taking the time to write this!
I think your experiences are pretty much "normal"! And the conclusions 
However as far as the schools go, I wouldn't judge the school set up from what you saw. In the summer the make up of the schools changes a lot. The staff maybe temporary staff that are the just for the summer, or just those members of the staff who wanted to stay on, or just those who were obliged to stay on for any reason. The students are quite possibly made up students from other schools who are just doing English classes as a summer activity. In my own family I have nephews (nephews) who go to a French school in Bilbao and in the summer spend some time in the American school.

And definitely, learn Spanish!
Best learnt in short, constant time slots as opposed to two weeks on, one month off kind of thing. 20 - 45 mins every day is better than one hour twice a week if you can too. You need to be constant and you need to constantly review and recycle what you've done - IMHO, of course.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Hi, I will be very interested to learn if you can obtain your NIE without living here. I was under the impression that it is not possible so will be interesting to find out how you get on.


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## Don Felipe (Mar 19, 2013)

Best advice is to take someone to act as an interpreter for you. I'm surprised you even attempted such a complicated task without one. 
................


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

thrax said:


> Hi, I will be very interested to learn if you can obtain your NIE without living here. I was under the impression that it is not possible so will be interesting to find out how you get on.


of course you can get a NIE without living here - you can get one without ever setting foot in Spain


it's a resident cert/card that you can't get...


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Don Felipe said:


> Best advice is to take someone to act as an interpreter for you. I'm surprised you even attempted such a complicated task without one.
> ................


oh for goodness sake, it's totally straightforward!

as long as you have the correct paperwork you're fine - you don't need a word of Spanish

I think the issue here was that the OP said they needed the NIE for school - so of course they were told that they need to register as resident.............. which they can't because they don't live here yet

if they'd just said they needed the NIE for a bank account it would have been fine

& tbh, they don't even yet need a NIE...............


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

xabiachica said:


> oh for goodness sake, it's totally straightforward!
> 
> as long as you have the correct paperwork you're fine - you don't need a word of Spanish
> 
> ...


Is it very hot in Xabia today by any chance Xabiachica??


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Is it very hot in Xabia today by any chance Xabiachica??




yes it's flippin hot in Xàbia/Jávea!!


that's not the issue though - I just get annoyed when it is suggested that you need to pay an interpretor to do something that you can do yourself.... 

people ask me so often if I'll go with them to this place or that to translate - one 'helper' (who I have recently found out isn't a gestor, as I previously thought) here is charging 100€ per person for a NIE or resident cert - takes half a dozen people at once - because YOU have to go anyway.....


& really & truly they aren't needed........


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

xabiachica said:


> no idea what it's like in Xativa
> 
> 
> it's flippin hot in Xàbia/Jávea though!!
> ...


Corrected!


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## zenkarma (Feb 15, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> ...you can get one without ever setting foot in Spain


Can you? You might be able to in theory but not in practice.

As far as I know, the rules state you have to apply for an NIE in person, that by default means you have to be in Spain. The only way round this is to appoint a power of attorney to act on your behalf and apply for you but even then the place issuing them can reject this. You know what the Spanish bureaucracy is like just as much as I do. They make up the rules as they go along and good luck trying to persuade them they've got it wrong!

By far the safest and most reliable method is to apply for one in person.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

zenkarma said:


> Can you? You might be able to in theory but not in practice.
> 
> As far as I know, the rules state you have to apply for an NIE in person, that by default means you have to be in Spain. The only way round this is to appoint a power of attorney to act on your behalf and apply for you but even then the place issuing them can reject this. You know what the Spanish bureaucracy is like just as much as I do. They make up the rules as they go along and good luck trying to persuade them they've got it wrong!
> 
> By far the safest and most reliable method is to apply for one in person.


From the horses mouth 
Ministerio del Interior España

Para la asignación de NIE por razón de intereses económicos, profesionales o sociales, se admitirán las siguientes solicitudes: 


 Las presentadas en España personalmente por el interesado,
 Las presentadas en España a través de representante,
 Las que se presenten en las Representaciones Diplomáticas u Oficinas Consulares españolas ubicadas en el país de residencia del solicitante, correspondientes a su demarcación de residencia. 

See this page
Número de Identidad de Extranjero (NIE) - Ministerio del Interior


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## Don Felipe (Mar 19, 2013)

I stand by my comment, if you cant speak Spanish, take someone with you who can. Or pay a gestor to do it on your behalf. 

Your life will be easier with either option.


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## Don Felipe (Mar 19, 2013)

Don Felipe said:


> I stand by my comment, if you cant speak Spanish, take someone with you who can. Or pay a gestor to do it on your behalf.
> 
> Your life will be easier with either option.


Sorry forgot to add the quote I was referring to

She spoke no English and I speak very broken Spanish so you can imagine what a scene. I left, unable to even ask the questions about the requirements and no NIE. It was a pretty demoralizing experience. On the bright side, having gone through this once helps with the second trip (or third, or fourth...)


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

zenkarma said:


> Can you? You might be able to in theory but not in practice.
> 
> As far as I know, the rules state you have to apply for an NIE in person, that by default means you have to be in Spain. The only way round this is to appoint a power of attorney to act on your behalf and apply for you but even then the place issuing them can reject this. You know what the Spanish bureaucracy is like just as much as I do. They make up the rules as they go along and good luck trying to persuade them they've got it wrong!
> 
> By far the safest and most reliable method is to apply for one in person.


you can apply in person from Spanish Consulates all over the world

I've helped people fill forms in for their adult children - they've then sent them to the children in many far-flung countries so that they can take them to the Consulate - it makes the process of inheritance smoother when the time comes if they already have NIEs


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> From the horses mouth
> Ministerio del Interior España
> 
> Para la asignación de NIE por razón de intereses económicos, profesionales o sociales, se admitirán las siguientes solicitudes:
> ...


note to self - read rest of thread before replying.....

I'm glad you posted that though - I sometimes think I've imagined things I _know _to be true, when several posters are so sure that it isn't.....


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## kimuyen (Aug 8, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> yes it's flippin hot in Xàbia/Jávea!!
> 
> 
> that's not the issue though - I just get annoyed when it is suggested that you need to pay an interpretor to do something that you can do yourself....
> ...


I love your spirit, Xabiachica  

Originally we intended to apply for an NIE while there and did contact two different professional firms to set up an appointment but neither responded timely. Knowing that we have time and that we will come back again, it was not a pressing issue to obtain an NIE this time. However, since I was going there anyway hoping to ask a few questions (assuming they spoke some limited English vs. none), what is the worse case that could happen? I would come back empty handed; I knew that strong posibility going in. This experience is important to me in that 1) it reenforces the need to learn Spanish NOW (yes, we were dragging our feet as we still have time), 2) as part of survival, with or without language barrier, one needs to put oneself "out there" (hence, love your comment!) to learn the system.

In the end, we will use professional help if we need to. But at the same time, lacking the initial help does not stop us from trying it out for ourselves (we will not always have help when we need it). It obviously would be diffifult but I believe that it is necessary for survival.

Just have good humor, take the lessons learned with us, and keep putting your best foot forward.


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## kimuyen (Aug 8, 2013)

kimuyen said:


> *3. Schools*
> I had appointments with both the British School (Castelldefels) and American School (Barcelona).
> 
> British School: ... tuition includes lunch;
> ...


Just wanted to clarify that the lunch included/not included in the tuition at both schools are for the *younger* age groups (you can compare the fees by download them from the websites).


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## kimuyen (Aug 8, 2013)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Thanks for taking the time to write this!
> I think your experiences are pretty much "normal"! And the conclusions
> However as far as the schools go, I wouldn't judge the school set up from what you saw. In the summer the make up of the schools changes a lot. The staff maybe temporary staff that are the just for the summer, or just those members of the staff who wanted to stay on, or just those who were obliged to stay on for any reason. The students are quite possibly made up students from other schools who are just doing English classes as a summer activity. In my own family I have nephews (nephews) who go to a French school in Bilbao and in the summer spend some time in the American school.
> 
> ...


You are right about the make up of in the summer time which is not always representative of the school year and the norm. Both schools were preparing for the new school year and there were no students at the schools at the time of my visit. I also asked quetsions about teacher/staff to student ratio, curriculum, how much English, Spanish and Catalan is taught at each school, things that are speciifc to our son's level. 

Agree with you about a constant effort to learn a new language vs. off and on. One more item we need to add to the go-go-go schedule. Sigh


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