Hi,

Can anyone please help my wife and I ?

We are both living in Russia at the moment, my wife is Russian and I am a British citizen with a 3 year temporary permit to live in Russia. We want to move to Spain permanently. Can someone please tell us if we can move together without me (as an EU citizen) having to live in Spain for 1 year and apply for my wife to join me under the family regrouping laws?

We got married in Britain and do not wish to return there. Spanish lawyers have suggested that I should move there myself, become a resident and wait a year gathering docs to support my wifes application.

We have read so much conflicting information that we just dont know which way to turn. We’d be very grateful for any advice, especially from couples that have overcome this situation.

Thank you

Suggest you research these documents they may help…........

VISAS INFORMATION

LEGAL STATUS OF FOREIGNERS IN SPAIN

http://extranjeros.mtas.es/

Click: Informacion de interes

Click: ?  Folletos Informativos
        Ver

Click:  R?gimen general    

Download, Save, Open with Adobe, Read and Learn!

also check the regulations document:

RESIDENCIA (EX16)

Application Forms and the
Regulations Governing EU citizens in Spain document.

http://extranjeros.mtas.es/

For forms - Click: Modelos de Solictudes

Or direct link
http://extranjeros.mtas.es/es/general/procedimientos_Solicitudes_index.html

For the Regulations document (from Home page)
Click UK flag & R?gimen de los ciudadanos Comunitarios en Espa?a

Thanks Rob ,
We’ll get right to it and start some more sifting,I hope we’ll find our answers there!

Hi there,

have a look at my post ‘’ info for EU citizen married to a non EU citizen who want to live and work in Spain and are confused about visas’‘

just read all the comments, my situation was nearly the same. I hope it helps.

karen

Thanks Karen,

I’ve read all your posts but I’ll go over it again ,I’m sure we’ll have some more questions for you .So far everyone we’ve contacted tells us that I have to live in Spain on my own and in one years time supply residency documents,living accommodation,income in Spain etc to support my wifes family regrouping application.

I’ll be asking you a few questions soon if you don’t mind,you seem to have had similar experiences but very different advice.

Thanks again,Nigel

No problem feel free to ask all the questions you want.

Its strange that a few people have said to you about living here first because I have never even heard about that before and I had loads of different answers. With me some people were saying my husband needed a visa prior to entering spain or that he would have to come to spain then return to mexico to pick up the visa. I was stressing a lot about it but in the end it was so easy because we were married. At the oficina de extranjeros they were so friendly and helpful aswell.

Karen

Hi Karen,

Thankyou for your kind offer to ask away. Can I just get a few things straight in our minds regarding your experiences?

1.Your husband was at the time a non-Eu citizen ?
2.You are married with a recognised certificate?
3.Your husband travelled to Spain on a tourist visa and effectively changed his visa status once in Spain by applying for a residency community card at the
  oficina de extranjeros ?
4.Was it ever suggested that he should leave Spain and return on a more suitable visa?
5.Were you asked at any time to live in Spain for 1 year and have permission for another year?
6.Were you asked at any time to provide income,bank statements and documents concerning living accommodation to support your husbands application?
7.What country did your husband get his tourist visa from and was it ever suggested that he should be applying for a family re-grouping visa?
8.Did you move to Spain together or was your husband joining you as a legal Spanish resident?
9.How long had you been a legal resident in Spain at the time your husband joined you? 

So far we’ve had dealings with lawyers in Spain,on the internet and other forums that all say the same thing….I have to live in Spain ,get an NIE,full legal residency and spend 1 year collecting utility bills,proof of accommodation,proof of income spread over the year,bank statements etc all confirming that I have been in Spain for at least a year and can support my wife ...before making an application for her to join me under the family re-grouping laws.

I am a UK citizen,we were married in the Uk but now live in Russia.Health reasons and the end of the time limit on my wifes UK visa prevent us from returning to the UK and applying from there…even so it seems that the Spanish want the same if we applied from England as until my wife has got full UK residency she is still considered a non-eu citizen.

We’re very interested in your postings and your successful situation and wish to move to Spain as soon as possible.I apologise in advance for such a long post but would appreciate every ounce of information that you have for us.Looking forward to hearing from you.Elena & Nigel

Ok i will do my best to answer all your questions.

1. My husband is Mexican, and he has always been a non EU citizen.
2. We married in Mexico and we had our marrige certificate apostilled in Mexico and then we had to go to the british consulate in Malaga and they had to see it and gave us a letter saying it was a legitimate certificate. We had to give that letter to the oficina de extranjeros when he applied for the visa.
3. yeah, my husband didnt apply for any type of visa prior to entering Spain. So when he arrived he just got the 90 day stamp in his passport and then he applied for the community residence card in the oficina de extranjeros.
4. Before we arrived in Spain and we were trying to get all the info we did call the oficina de extranjeros and they said he needed an entry visa which is different to a tourist visa prior to entering spain and he had to apply for it and the spanish embassy in his country. We contacted them and they said that the laws had changed and all the paperwork is done in Spain and they wouldnt issue any type of visa for him. So basically we had no choice. When we went to the oficina de extranjeros they didnt even ask what type of visa he had arrived on or they didnt even look.
5. I was never asked to live in spain for 1 year first.
6. we didnt have to provide income or bank statements. We had to provide a certificate of empadronmiento. We are living with my parents, so my dad had to go to the town hall in our town and show his papers for the house and my husbands passport and say that my husband was living in the house and he received the certificate de empadronmiento. I think if you are renting an apartment you need the rental contract and again go to the town hall.
7. My husband got his tourist visa from mexico, we checked out the website for the spanish embassy in mexico and they only issue the family regrouping visa for spaniards.
8. we both flew into spain together, i wasnt even a resident then when we arrived.
9. I had been a legal resident for 5 minutes before my husband submitted his application. We did the applications at the same time, i went to the desk first showed my passport and recieved my certificate for residency, then my husband went to the desk and he had to show my residency paper and give them a photocopy of it. 
I came to Spain 2 years ago when my family moved here, a lawyer got all of our NIE number for us so I already had that. I dont know if that made it easier. Some people have told me that the NIE number for british people is very easy to get and you just basically show your passport.
We both had to pay a fee of 6,80euros. 

If you find a lawyer or an acesora to do the paperwork it is great, but i would recommend doing your paperwork on your own because its so easy for you. And then for your wife to use a lawyer or acesora to save the hassle. Its up to you, even for your wife its not very difficult and you have to be there in person anyway to apply for the visa even if the lawyer helps you.

I know how stressful it is, i was 7 months pregnant and really stressing about it all. Everybody gives you different answers and its confusing. Have you contacted the spainish embassy in russia and see what they say? i would do that first.

let me know if you need anymore help.

karen

Hi Karen,
I can’t thank you enough for such a thorough and thoughtful response to our situation.We are trying to deal with the Spanish consulate in Moscow which is frustrating to say the least,but your post was the closest that we’ve come to someone having a similar set of circumstances to ourselves and therefore is more useful than any advice from a legal machine.
Your answers all make sense to us now ..we’ll digest it all some more and keep going.My wife and I would like to thank you again for taking the time and effort to answer all our questions.We’ll keep you posted on our progress.
Elena & Nigel in Siberia

your welcome. good luck and i look forward to hearing how you get on.

Karen: I’d vote your post there as Most Helpful Post of the Year. If only we had a contest like that on here… 😊