Oh, The Paperwork

Four days to go. Last weekend, we completed the final stage of our estate sale. Artwork that didn’t sell is going to an auction house and everything else that didn’t sell was picked up by a charity group Saturday afternoon. The sale was a huge success. The house is virtually empty and we are staying with friends until we leave for Spain next week. Six months of preparation is almost complete.

When we returned to Tampa from Alhaurin el Grande in October, we had already made the decision that we wanted to live there permanently. Next, we set about learning the process for actually achieving such a move. US citizens can travel to Spain and stay 90 days with just a valid passport. Retiring in Spain, however, requires a special visa and the process for getting it takes some time and effort. Furthermore, we would need to free ourselves from most of our property and possessions, since the cost of moving them would be prohibitive.

Our early research had indicated the visa process could take six to nine months, so we decided that we wouldn’t start selling things until we had secured the visa. In reality, the process was a lot less daunting than we expected, but, once approved, the visa holder has just 90 days to use it, or start the process over again. So, the window for liquidating everything would be tight.
The visa application must be made in person at any of the eight Spanish Consulates in the US, or at the Embassy in Washington. Since we live in Florida, we were directed to apply at the Consulate in Miami. Below is a list of the documentation required with the application. Note that these requirements may change from time-to-time, so check with Consulate to be sure.
 

1. Visa application completed and signed. You can download the application from the Consulate website.
2. Two passport pictures for each applicant.
3. Valid passport with at least 1 year remaining and two empty pages. Also, you must include a copy of each page of the passport.
4. Driver’s license or state ID showing current address.
5. Certificate of good conduct from the FBI or state law enforcement agency. This document must have an Apostile Certification attached (a certified translation). We used the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for the report and an Apostile Certification company in Tallahassee. This document can’t be more than 90 days old when the application is submitted.
6. A letter from a healthcare provider stating that the applicant doesn’t have any condition that would be a threat to the residents of Spain. The letter must be in both English and Spanish. This document can’t be more than 90 days old when the application is submitted.
7. Evidence of retirement income and any other additional income. Currently, the stated requirement is about 31,000 Euros annually for a couple, although, I believe Spanish immigration authorities have some discretion.
8. Information about where you will live in Spain. This could be a rental contract (although getting a rental contract before you have a resident visa would be difficult), a letter from a sponsor, or a property deed. Not to worry though, if you don’t have any of those, you can include a short discussion (keep it very short and simple) as to why you chose that particular location. Here is what we wrote:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          When we retire in Spain, we intend to live in the town of Alhaurin el Grande, Malaga. We have reviewed several options over the past four years and found Alhaurin el Grande the most desirable. It is a beautiful small town with friendly people and has all the activities and amenities we enjoy.                      
9. Proof of health insurance with full coverage in Spain. This is the hardest item to get done. Obviously, you can’t use Medicare outside the USA so you will have to contract with a Spanish insurance provider. You must have an accepted contract prior to the visa application, although the contract start date can be after the application. Also, there are some specific requirements for the policy, such as “no copay”. We selected the Mas Salud policy from Sanitas, which provides excellent benefits at a very reasonable price. The only drawback was the payment arrangement. In order to set up monthly payments, you must have a Spanish bank account, but you can’t get a Spanish bank account without a residence card, which you can’t get without a visa, which you can’t get without health insurance. You can pay by credit card, but you have to pay for the full contract year in advance. In the end, we did pay the full year in advance and we had to start the contract in March even though we won’t arrive in Spain until May.
10. An application for initial residence form and $13 fee. This form is in Spanish and the Google translate version doesn’t make sense, but the Consulate official who interviewed us graciously helped us fill it out.
11. An application fee of $140 for each applicant. This fee must be paid with a money order. Also, you probably should get a separate money order for the $13 fee mentioned above. The Consulate does not accept checks and does not provide change. None of these fees are refundable if your application is not approved.
12. Finally, you must provide a stamped, self-addressed envelope which they will use to return your passport to you once the visa is approved. The retirement visa will be affixed to one of the blank pages.

 
We got our approved visas in just over three weeks.