Hey everyone! I am new to here so thank you in advance to anyone who can help me. 😊

I am an Australian and my bf is Spanish. We met when he was here in Australia doing a scholarship but he recently moved back to Spain to start his Phd. We still want to be together and so I have decided to move to Spain in August/September 2011. (I will be going over for 3 weeks in March to visit him and investigate job opportunities)

Obviously as a non EU citizen it is going to be almost impossible for me to find a job. I have recently become qualified as a english teacher but being a non EU citizen kinda make it pointless as no where seems to be hiring ppl from non EU countries. :(

I thought about studying over there at an english university or instituition so I could get over there on a student visa but the cost involved is huge and there are not many institutions where I would be eligible to apply that are in or near where my bf lives.

So, we have discussed the possibilty of marriage to get my foot in the door and then work out the next step. (We want to spend the rest of lives together anyway, so even though marriage for this reason is a little unromantic, we both know it would have happened eventually anyway)

How long do we need to have been together before Spain will allow us to marry there? and do we need to have lived together for a certain amount of time? We have been together less than a year, and we never lived together while he was here in Australia (Although spent every night together either at my house or his).

Any advice would be helpful. Also any advice on how a non EU citizen might go about getting into the country legally without marrying. There must be a way, as I am sure there would be non EU residents living and working in Spain. That would just be a fact! 😊