Starr Treks

Hooray! I have just successfully completed the requirements for my Spanish residential/non-lucrative visa, which, as a U.S. citizen allows me to live in Spain full-time for the next five years.  This is my fourth renewal visa renewal, although many more trips were required to the various locales needed to fulfill all the necessary requirements.

This current visa renewal is for a period of five years, and was surprisingly simple compared to my earlier Spanish visa applications. The initial one, which I started while I was still living in California, was rather complicated to understand and complete all the requirements. First, there was the initial application in 2013 which I was required to submit at the Spanish Consulate in San Francisco, which was determined by where I was living. These are detailed in this blog post. Once arriving in Spain, there were additional steps to change the temporary visa into a permanent one. Ironically, by the time I received that visa, in November 2014, it was time to start the renewal process for my first renewal, which was for thankfully was for two years.

As many of the visa renewal requirements for the first two year visa were similar to the initial application, the process was easier, although still not without some challenges. The third renewal was also for two years, and again, increasingly easier, especially as I could go to nearby Benidorm to get my fingerprints done, as opposed to the long trek to Alicante.

I could not find the information on what documents were required to submit for the five year visa, so I assumed I would need to submit the same documents for my five year visa as I did for my prior visas. I diligently got a financial statement from my portfolio manager along with a statement of my projected social security benefits, which I had translated by a certified Spanish interpreter; a copy of my current medical insurance policy; documentation of my address being registered with City Hall (Ayuntamiento); copies of all pages of my passport and more.

When I went to submit my renewal request with the application form for the five year visa, documentation of having paid the application fee at a local bank, along with the other copious documentation, I was surprised to be informed that other than the application, documentation of paying the required fee, they only wanted the copies of my passport pages. Of course, they wanted to see my original passport to compare the copies, and my current Spanish Visa residency card (NIE).

A few weeks later, I received a letter indicating my application was approved. The letter, which was in Spanish provided the instructions to complete the Visa. While my Spanish is pretty good in social situations, official documents and other non-everyday Spanish are more challenging. I managed to decipher the requirements, setting up an appointment for my fingerprints to be taken in Benidorm, and instructions to print out another “TASA,” for which one has to pay another bank fee.

Feeling quite confident, I arrived as scheduled. But when I presented the papers , the officer kept asking for the  “resolución,” and I repeatedly replied in Spanish I didn’t understand. Eventually I understood he was asking for something that was sent to me in the mail, so I guessed it might have been the letter I received indicating my visa was approved and requiring the additional steps of setting an appointment and paying the TASA. He told me to return two days later with the required document. Still unsure of what document was required, the following day I went to the Oficina de Extranjeria, with all of my current application where I intended to inquire which document was the “resolución.” Fortunately, the screening officer at the front desk knew immediately what the needed document was and quickly identified it. Still unsure, I returned to the Benidorm Police Office at the designated time, although the officer did not arrive until an hour later. When I was eventually called to his desk, he indicated I had brought the proper missing document, and, after quick digital fingerprints, my visa was approved. I just had to return in 30 to 45 days to retrieve it.

UPDATE: So when I went back 31 days after it was approved, the police officer simply informed in Spanish that my visa had not arrived. He offered no dates as to when it would arrive. I arrived 46 days after the approval even though they said I could only pick it up between 30 and 45 days. Since it was a Monday, the 45 day window fell on a Sunday and I was fairly certain they would not have returned it. Fortunately, it was there. Whew! Interestingly, the renewal papers said I could work, even though my application was for a “non-lucrative” visa; don’t know why but maybe after five years of residency one is able to work in Spain. As a retiree who often worked 100 hours a week, I have no inclination to work.

Tags: 5 year Spanish visa, Spanish residential visa