# Travel while waiting for non-EU spouse residence, is it possible?



## elkoay (Feb 14, 2013)

Hi, 

I'm not sure if anyone else has had this experience, but I applied for my non-EU spouse residence within the 3 months tourist visa which has now past it's due date. It is still in process due to the administration telling me they did not receive my empadronamiento via email which I clearly sent to them. Anyone else doing this I would strongly advise you to go there physically to give them whatever missing document they ask for because obviously this convenient email method is not reliable!

Now they are looking into the matter with no indication as to what is actually going to happen, where I stand (am I legal/ illegal?) and how long it's going to take. It's very distressing as I feel like I'm in no man's land and I don't know if I may get deported at any moment! 

To make matters worst my husband had earlier booked us a trip (perhaps unwisely) next week to another country in the EU. Seeing as my 90 days has expired and my residence is in limbo, am I still allowed to travel with my husband within the Schengen zone? I'm reading everything I can get my hands on. I found an article saying it is possible although it would be a major hassle. 

If anyone has any idea what one can or cannot do while waiting for residence, please share! I'm at my wits end

Thanks


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## Guest (Sep 20, 2013)

I was in your situation when my spouse (a spanish citizen) and I married in the US. I came on a tourist visa and there were some misunderstandings on our parts about the process, so what would have normally taken a couple of months stretched out to a year.

What I was told by a highly reputable immigration lawyer: don't leave Spain until you have your residency. Authorities here will generally not give you a problem if you are in the residency process, but leaving and then trying to reenter with an expired visa is an entirely different matter.


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

I was in a situation that was similar but not exactly the same. I was in the middle of renewing my residency permit - the old one had expired but the new one hadn't been issued yet - when there was a family emergency back in the States. I didn't know how I'd get back into Spain without a valid residency permit, so I went to extranjeria and explained the situation. They said I should definitely NOT travel out of the country without a permit, and that they would give me a temporary one. It took them a week to issue it however, so it wasn't an instant solution. But it did allow me to travel. I had to show the paper they issued me along with my expired permit and the renewal receipt at the border.


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## elkoay (Feb 14, 2013)

Thank you for sharing


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