Hello everyone!

I am new to the site, so not quite sure how it all works. I am a Canadian citizen living here in Spain and I need some help, everyone I ask gives me a different answer….sound familiar?!?!?!

I am getting married to a Spanish citizen. Once I am married, what is the process and how long will it take before I am allowed to live and work here without having to leave every 3 months for 3 months? Does anyone know??????

Any advice would be very much appreciated:-)

You know, a lot of people stay in Spain for years at a time without a visa or the legal right to be there… have you tried it?

Also check out the Getting Married in Spain page for info about the reagrupacion de familia. As for time… it should be pretty much immediate as you’ll have the libro de familia, but you ought to ask a lawyer, or perhaps Maria will get back to you on here.

I have been doing that, but I own a business and need to be here legally. I am getting married anyways, so I would like to have everything sorted ASAP. I am currently doing an application for a work permit for Cuenta Propia at the Spanish Embassy in Canada, but I have been waiting 8 months and they need more info, so now I have to wait another 8 months. I can nolonger afford to leave every 3 months for 3 months because of my business. Any ideas?

I would just really like to have this settled once and for all!

I hear ya. How far along are you in the marriage process? As you’ll read on the wedding page, the application process can take a lot more time and delay than you might expect (just like anything else bureaucratic in Spain…).

Do you have a lawyer already? Shouldn’t they have sorted out your visa for you when you started the company? Do you have an NIE yet? Why not apply for a visa for autonomos?

Well, I’m still waiting for a copy of my long birth certificate from Canada (it seems to be taking forever!), then I go to the embassy over here and get the rest sorted within a day. I’ve really got everything except for that long certificate. We are set to marry on July 14 (but are happy to do the ceremony asap and then celebrate on July 14 so that I don’t have to keep on leaving!)

I don’t have a lawyer, I have a gestoria that is in charge of my papers and the accounting for my company. We have been sorting out the papers since I started the company over a year ago, but Spain says they have a huge back log, and everything is takeing forever!!! Funny thing is, I had to empadronar in order to get my NIE and I needed a NIE to get the CIF for the company because in the escrituras, I am the Administradora of the company. Legally I can’t live here, but I have to register as living here just to get the NIE and CIF….....I tell you, they work a bit backwards over here!

Also, because I am already in the process of a visa application, I can’t change the type, that would mean starting all over again and I’ve already invested over a year and a hell of a lot of money to fly back and forth, etc. My worry is that technically, there is no guarantee that my visa application will be accepted, so if it’s denied, and then I get married, it might look a bit odd! Also, the embassy needs to see my passport on a regular basis to ensure I live in Canada, etc and to ensure that I have not been in Spain for even one day illegally. If I stop leaving every three months for 3 months, I could get denied altogether!

Really, it’s like a constant circle of hell that I can’t seem to get out of.

If I can become legal fairly immediately through marriage, we are willing to move up our wedding date…..a bit depressing not to have ‘the day’, but in the end, it will be a civil ceremony and we’ll be able to pretend the first one never happened and focus on the wedding with all are family and friends….really symbolic more than anything else anyways!

It’s taking that long to get the birth certificate? Surprising…

Are you sure they will make a big deal at the embassy if you’ve been here illegally? I never had this problem… 😉 How do they know you haven’t been in other european countries?

Perhaps you should be looking at getting a lawyer instead of just the gestor. A friend of mine started his business and inside of six months had everything sorted out. He’d already been living there illegally for over a year and a half as well. I believe he was with Sanchez & Molina in Barcelona if that helps. I hear the lawyer is a bit of a creep, but effective, if you know what I mean.

As for the wedding, why not apply for a change to the date, bump it up. As you said it’s just a ceremony. For some, of course, it’s more important that it’s done <strike>right</strike> traditionally, but you sound a bit <strike>desperate</strike> eager.

I can appreciate the circle of red tape hell that you’ve found yourself in, but a little fibbing and fudging of the truth goes a long way. Again though, a lawyer can help you figure out what you can and can’t do and get around.

Where are you in Spain?

Out of curiousity, what kind of business are you starting?

You’re right! I think maybe I just needed to talk it out with someone…..you’ve been a big help! I am in Madrid and I have a Language Academy. We have a lot of big clients this year that only know me, so to leave for 3 months would really hurt the business! I worked really hard to get them and I would hate to lose them!

We are trying for July 14, but we didn’t apply for it at the Ayuntamiento yet in case we need it earlier. We are going to do a bit of a fake civil ceremony at a hotel. The idea was to be legally married the same week, but I suppose it doesn’t make much of a difference either way, we’ll still have the ‘ceremony’ for the family and none will be the wiser!

Any ideas ideas on how to go about getting a lawyer in Madrid?

hola…if all goes well, i’ll be in your boat soon. been here illegally three years and am about to launch a very specialized language services company.
i am also hoping i’ll be getting married soon, so…i’ll have that to figure out too. (well, and convince my beau too! ) 😉

anyway, i just wanted to suggest three things….
one…GET A LAWYER….i have had so many friends try to do their papers and other legal affairs on their own or with a gestoria, and it has just led to lots of headaches. one example, a good friend in madrid owns a successful restaurant. she is american. for three years running she had been submitting paper for permanent residency and getting denied….she was doing it all on her own…the paperwork, the lines, etc… finally, frustrated, she hired a lawyer that someone recommeded…no lines, no paperwork…her application was accepted! i have other friends that are still struggling with the paperwork, and some smart friends with lawyers who are just coasting along.  so that leads to two….finding a lawyer…

two…there is a guy in madrid, tom leacy http://www.spainwide.com, he is irish but has been practing law in spain for over a decade, mostly on the business side of things, but he does one off counseling. i am sure if you booked a meeting with him, he could answer your questions directly and also put you in the direction of a good lawyer for your situation. (if you read the broadsheet, he is their legal columnist). i can’t remember the fee for a single consultation, but it was less than a 100 euros.

three…there is another expat site, based in madrid…. http://www.multimadrid.com it has lots of long-time expat members. many times the site has covered this topic of marrying a spaniard. in fact, the american guy who runs it just got married himself! check it out, but do a search before you post for help. i am very familar with the site and how it is run and they are very strict about doing searches so as not to repeat information. if you search for marriage, you’ll come up with all the pertinent threads.

and felicidades!!!!
cll in madrid

Thanks for all the great info…..I’m looking into it right now:-)