My hold up was the marriage certificate. After much cajoling of the Italian Consulate in Los Angles, they finally sent the OK to the commune in Italy to issue a marriage certificate. I waited 6 weeks after handing them an apostilled US marriage certificate in person at the consulate. It would have been 4 more weeks, but the very nice woman at the commune in the town where my husband is from helped us a lot - by emailing and basically demanding to know what the hold up was.

Oh yeah, then my application was rejected, because of the missing marriage certificate. They weren’t even supposed to process it without the Italian cert. But they did. Then I was informed I would need to appeal, with a lawyer, and that would take…well, a long time. Fortunately, I had made another appointment a month before, and I just took all my paperwork again, and copies of the old paperwork, plus an international, Italian, AND US marriage cert, plus the rejection statement and explained very nicely that my case should not have been processed. The woman this time was very kind and said, why don’t we just process it again now. I am pretty sure the regulation is to wait one month after the rejection is issued. But oh happy day, she over looked this.

Mind you, I don’t have the card yet, but I have an assigned number. My god, it’s been a struggle, but I finally got a NIE!

i got my NIE number on paper 2 months ago and still have received word about the card…they say between 1-3 months…

good luck

Wow, where are you guys at in Spain??
I am in Barcelona and it was much easier. When I went for my appt at the Oficina de Extranjeros I brought all kinds of papers, apostilled that I didn’t need. The one thing I was missing was a traducci?n jurada (legal translation) of the French Marriage certificate to Castellano, but when I left the office they gave me a sheet which listed what I was missing, saved my file and then I just had to return any day with the missing document. With the paper that they give you, you don’t have to have an appointment. I brought the missing document back the following day. You have to wait 10 days to go to the police station to file for the resident card, I went earlier this week.  Then wait 1 month, go to a bank and pay 10 euros and then pick up the resident card at the address that the police station provides.
The key to survival in Spain is patience. You have to wait forever for anything, but sooner or later it comes along.
Whenever I think that the process is difficult or frustrating I think about how much more difficult it will be to get my husband a green card for the US if we ever decide to move back there. Just thinking about the grueling process almost completely eliminates my desire to ever move back there.

Pnut, that’s incredible they rejected your application at first :( how frustrating! Sounds like you made it through the process though, at least it’s over with.

ml02kr, where are you in Spain? They didn’t give you a time frame and address to pick up your card?

If anyone ever need a recommendation for translations I went to a wonderful, inexpensive and efficient place in central Barcelona 😊

Ok, i just realized I didn’t do my due diligence and read the previous posts. It has been awhile since I’ve logged in 😊 sorry

Pnut, you are in BCN? And they denied your application? That’s crazy… when I went they weren’t the least bit interested in my apostilled US marriage certificate.

This is something that always makes me uneasy about taking care of things in Spain, it can be very simple or very difficult depending on who you end up talking to.

Viva Espa?a!

let me ask some few question i have already recieved a letter from administracion general del estado regarding my TARJETA DE RESIDENCIA DE FAMILIAR DE CIUDADANO DE LA UNION and already the result is approved HA RESUELTO CONCEDER con validez hasta el 16/03/16 what doeas it mean? is this already ready to claim my tarjeta or n.i.e ? or need to pay first then wait for another month to claim the card or when im going there at the policia and pay in the bank i can return teir to pick up my card within that day any idea? thanks in advance

Traveller, ok, you are granted spouse (or whatever family status) for five years. Have you paid any fee up till now? Given your finger prints etc. To get your card (or permiso de residencia) there is a fee to pay. Where did you apply? in the extranjeria or the Policia Nacional? Go and speak to them, if youv’e already paid, had your fingerprints done, then probably it’s ready. In any case, as you have received the letter accepting your application, they will be waiting for you.

This was my time line for documents: After I had applied for residency, it took 3 months to get accepted and get a paper NIE (which no one really accepted, banks, etc.). Afterwards I went to the National Police and did fingerprints and paid the fee, they gave me a receipt and said that my card would be ready in 40 days. However, we are in the Canary Islands and I know that the paperwork had to be sent to Madrid so some say that is why it took so long.