About HFOsle52

Status:

Expatriate  

Gender:

Male

Currently Lives:

Citizen Of:

United States

Some Forum Posts:

Spain: resident visa:

Richard I didn't have a rental property before I applied for a visa. Are you a USA citizen? First off, Americans don't need a visa to travel to Spain (I'm sure you know). Secondly you can apply for a one year non working visa without any rental agreement or proof of residency. We applied for a visa in France (we are Americans) and, yes, it took about three months but the requirements are usually medical insurance, proof of sufficient income to cover you while in Spain (I think it's 2000 euro per month per family) and then you need the FBI release, etc. Besides, if I remember correctly you can not open a bank account or lease a property (or buy) without your NIE # and you can't get that number without the visa. So I am pretty sure you info is wrong. I suggest you go to the Spain Consular Website and investigate the requirements for USA citizens.

Spain: How to get hired in spain ?:

Al is correct. Unemployment in Spain is 22 - 25% and getting a job is impossible.

Spain: Health Insurance Poviders:

We did Sanitas through BBVA (the bank) for three adults. We previously had Swiss Life which was very expensive (in France) but it worked very well. We don't have any experience with Sanitas yet but everyone we know tells us it works just fine. The three of us (age 64, 67 and 35) are paying under 300 euro per month

Spain: bringing a dog to spain:

We brought our dog but we came via Geneva, Switzerland. It was pretty easy except for some arduous paperwork. We had to get a certified vet to sign off on our dogs health and get Dept of Agriculture paperwork also but it was all pretty easy. After that we crated her (she is 20 lbs) and had all the paperwork attached to the crate + copies with us. She was checked and registered at Kennedy in New York but, honestly, she wasn't even looked at when we arrived in Geneva and just walked straight through customs with her. My son, who also lives in europe, had the exact same experience. Let me know if you need more information.

Spain: Retirement in Spain/in our 60's/from US:

Hi, we moved to Spain in Sept/16 after 10 months in Spain. We are in our 60's, american and retired (I still do some work). We settled in the Javea area (Alicante). I did some research based on weather, language (I wanted a place where english was common), mountains, sea, food, concentration of tourism (I didn't want much), etc. Javea is not an overblown tourist destination although, like all of the Costa's, there is a lot. There is also a huge expat community here, mostly Brits but also German's, Dutch and a smattering of everything else. Javea is just over 50% expat and english is spoken so much that in some places no one speaks spanish. We are an hour south of Valencia (the third largest city in Spain) and an hour north of Alicante, both have excellent airports although I prefer Alicante. There is always something to do here and we have joined a local British organization that will keep you busy all week long if you like. Restaurants here run from moderate in price to very economical and their quality reflects their price. I must admit that generally they are better than the US with ample if not larger variety.... just don't look for mexican food (they have no idea here) or steak houses (so far I haven't found any that match anything in the US... but I have only been here two months). Let me know if you have any questions.

Date Joined:

3/16/2016

Total Posts:

19

Posts/Day:

0.05