im sure this is a common topic and ive tried to find specific answers, but my fiance and i have so many questions that its literally driving us insane.

i met her while i was on tour in europe, and we fell in love. she came to see me in the states for about 2 months. im going to see her at the end of the year and look for small jobs here and there and possibly get a work visa for a later time.

the dilemma is that i dont want to expatriate and lose american citizenship, as she wants to live in the states with me at some point.

would it be easier for me to live illegally for 5-6 months in spain and then come back to the states, or will that cause problems upon my return?

would it be best to try and get an extended stay visa or work visa?

and what about with her here- we are trying to figure out the most economical way to get married and where the legalities arent as long as a wait.

Staying illegaly in Spain for about 5-6 months with a tourist VISA I think it’s not a good idea.

Have you called Spanish Consulate in your state?

If you want to get married, you say that both you and your fiance want to live in USA, and she will apply for US citizen?

And I think that if you want to find a job here in Spain you have to apply for the work permit but nowadays it’s a little difficult because of the “crisis”... I don’t know what’s your profession but maybe you can be able teleworking from Spain for your actual job.

I dont think either option, living in Spain long term or living in the U.S. long term will be something that happens quick. If she wants to live in the U.S., you can get a fiance visa that allows you a certain amount of time to get married and then she can stay there while her green card is processing but the fiance visa can be a long process

If you want to live in spain, I would suggest going and living legally and getting married in Spain during that time. After immediately go get your residency based on the fact that you married a spanish citizen. This is just residency and allows you to live there indefinitely and after a certain amount of (years?) you can apply for citizenship. You do not lose your american citizenship for being married and resident in another country. This also is not a fast process from what I have heard.

My situation is a little different as I am an american married to a european and we are living in Spain. My residency which then allowed me to get a NIE number and work took 4 months to get, with it being said that I already had a permanent european permit to stay via marriage to a european which only helped to not do as much of the paperwork as i had to prove it before.

either way it is not an easy process, jobs can be hard to find… do you speak spanish? and it is a long process… the US one is worse as costly but equally as time consuming.

i dont mean to seem harsh or discouraging but just want you to know that it is not quick and easy. If you are planning on living in Spain at all, I would not stay past your tourist visa time as it could affect you when you try to do legal documents later.

thanks jesshabz, that answer gave us a lot of calming down that we needed.

we will want to get married in spain so i can gain residence as you spoke of. my other question would be the time frames in which things happen, i know all are different, but in my line of work (touring musician) it wont allow me to be there large chunks at a time.

would it be feasible to begin the process in july(when i be there next for about 3 weeks) and then continue in september where i be staying for 2 months?

are there any good sites that im overlooking paperwork wise for i need to pay for/bring/etc?

hello mskattum,

I am a little late reading this but I have lots of answers to your many questions if you want to know how everything worked out for me. I am an American who married a Spaniard and have been living here for 5 years in total. We spent years going back and forth because the legality issue makes it really hard to settle until you get married. I know about the whole process for an American in Spain, and enough about how hard it would be for my husband to apply for residency in the US in the event that he may want to someday.

Since this is an old post, I wont elaborate unless you still have questions.

Cheers,
Kim