My sister is thinking of moving permanently to Spain and is worried that her UK War Widows Pension could become taxable.

In the UK it is Tax exempt, but is this also true for Spain?

Does the ‘double taxation’ agreement work in reverse, i.e. because she doesn’t pay tax in the UK, she doesn’t have to declare it in Spain?

It seems to be hard to track down information here without paying for professional advice. I am prepared to do so, when I have determined the best course of action, but I don’t want to waste money if there is nothing to worry about!

Chris

P.S. Thanks to anyone who can throw any light on this!

I’m new to this site and would really like to hear from anyone ... !

My partner and I have been living in Galicia since October 2008 and for the first year we were working on his parents house that we were living in and trying to restore our ruin in the process.  I am now working for a local english academy and have just found out that I am pregnant.  Total shock and not planned but we are both thrilled although we have been here once before and things didn’t work out.  So with the very real risk of loosing this baby I am feeling a little worried about what to do now.  I know nothhing about the system here with regards to children and benefits.  My partner is not currently working as he is recovering from a back injury but is in the process of trying to set himself up in business and I work part time teaching english. 

He is currently in the UK helping his parents with their move here at the end of the month and I feel alone and worried.  I am worried about practically everything.  Although I do love living here the winters are particually difficult for me (SAD sufferer) and I feel as though this extra suprise has made my life even more unstable than before.  Can anyone advise with regards to the whole process of hospitals, antinatal etc.  I would like to hear from anyone but in particular anyone who has given birth while here in spain.

Best regards to all and here’s to sunnier days ahead x

I’m a 26 year-old American who has lived in Barcelona for the last 2 years as a graduate student at the Universitat de Barcelona (escribo “Universitat” en Catalan porque he hecho este error antes y quiero vivir en paz con mis compañeros de piso, son de Terragona y Mallorca).

The Master’s program officially ends in September, and I’m trying desperately to find a solution to the infamous “Catch 22” of non-EU immigration…. as all of you already know: the employers demand that you already have a work permit/visa before applying for the position, and the government demands that you have a job offer before you apply for the work permit/visa.

Part of my problem is that I don’t know any Americans in Spain…you can always see a bunch of study abroad students from California roaming the streets of Barcelona, but I’ve never met an American who is there on a work visa.

In October, I’m almost definitely going to move from Barcelona to Madrid to do the search over there, because I’ve heard from many immigrants (and españoles) that finding a job in Barcelona can even be more complicated than the normal visa problems because in many cases one needs to be fluent in Catalan…y “no parlo català”, perdóname mucho.

My Bachelor’s in the U.S. and post-graduate stuff in Spain was along the lines of Political Science / International Relations and Development….but I’m looking for ANYTHING.  I understand that a job willing to sponsor you for a work permit is a needle in a haystack, so I really would jump at just about anything.

I’ve asked so many people about this, but nobody has had the same experience.  I understand completely: I wouldn’t know the first thing to advise a person wanting to immigrate to the U.S.  I usually get one of the following responses from my Spanish friends, in this order:

1. The humor version:
“Jajaja, Jim, tienes que casarte con una española.”

2. The overly optimistic version:
“Ay, Jim, te preocupas demasaido / todo va a pasar bien / no te preocupes / tranquilo”

3. The “surprised at how difficult it is” response:
“Bueno, eres americano, puedes marchar al consulado americano aquí y trabajar para ellos, ¿no?”

4. The overly pessimistic version:
“joooooooo, guiri, estás jodido”

5. The “what was once humor is now a real suggestion” version:
“En serio, Jim, tienes que castarte con una española.”

One more thing: is it true that there is no way to get around applying for a work visa in person at a Spanish consulate in the U.S.?  It just seems like a nail in the coffin: you have to be in Spain to find the job, but then convince the job to wait for you while you return to the U.S. and apply and wait for your visa.

It’s very frustrating, because this is a permanent move for me, and it seems that even if by a miracle I’m able to pull it off and find a work permit I have the feeling that I’ll have to be dealing with this every year or so.  Didn’t have this problem in Indiana, I’ll tell ya…

Thanks for reading my mess of a post, and a huge thanks for any advice that you can give.  I’m trying to find a way without enlisting myself into a foreign army.

I e-mailed him to ask for the details, and he passed my contact along to ttMadrid, a language school in Madrid, which sent me the details.

The program costs 2000 euros, and you get 4 weeks of TEFL training and 4 weeks of Spanish courses. After that, you get a year’s worth of “cultural immersion” traning. You spend 10 hours a week learning about Spanish culture… This gets you a one-year student visa, which potentially allows you to work part-time. Here’s what it says:

“As a student you then have the right to apply for permission to work. This is for a maximum of 20 hours per week during term time (20 hours is considered full time teaching hours but if you want work more than this, we will help you get private work as well). This is not an automatic right but we have yet to know of someone being rejected for this and we will help you apply for this process through our agency network once you have finished the course.”

Has anyone done this program? Is it legit? What is the quality of the TEFL course like?

The “cultural immersion” classes sound sort of like fluff classes that are just used to get you the yearlong visa… but I’d be OK with that Any input would be appreciated!!

Here is the full document they provided with details on the program: http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=12569d93b1b910f3&mt=application/pdf&url=http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=779d249fe8&view=att&th=12569d93b1b910f3&attid=0.1&disp=attd&zw;&sig;=AHIEtbSWph7LPdW9fykrYmjyxBamKAURDA&pli=1

Hi from a newbie couple in S.F. bay area (California)..planning a trip to Barcelona and Madrid…we are ready to move back to Europe…after just returning from 4 years in London. I am from an EU country and hubby is American so we wont have a problem re-locating….if Spain ends up being a place we can call home.

Cheers
ZooutZere

Our car has to go into the garage for a week!! for repair but Linea Directa, the other drivers insurers refuse to provide us with a courtesy car even though we live in the campo 10km from the nearest village.

To compound the problem our insurance brokers S.I. Benelmadena refuse to accept that it is possible & just say its not part of the spanish insurance culture to do this.
All advice gratefully received.
Brynic

Does anyone know the procedures to bring my shotgun to Spain from the UK. I am a keen clay pigeon shotist and would like to carry on the sport in Spain, I will be living in Calahonda, and would like to join a gun club/clay club. Many thanks.

Chris