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yasmina
  1/18/2002 18:14 EST

Poll Question:
I am moving back to Barcelona, from Chicago, this time with my things. I've contacted two companies, North American and Allied, for estimates on the move, and i'd love to hear from someone who has either used one of these movers or just has good advice on shipping things overseas. also, i am married to a Spanish citizen and will be getting my papers in order as far as residence, etc - is there anyone out there who has done this, and if so, how did it go? i do hope it's less frustrating and upsetting than the US process - my husband and i went through a lot on our way to getting his permanent resident card! much incompetence, and the worst part, extremely disrespectful and just plain nasty behavior from staff. somehow i think the people will be less sadistic in spain...

thanks!
christine

Answers:
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Chica
  1/19/2002 08:52 EST

Hi Christine! Good luck on your move! I recently moved to Madrid from Philadelphia. While I didn´t use the either of the companies that you mentioned, my experience was "relatively painless", just a little drawn out. You will most likely need a NIE (número de identidad de extranjero) in order to claim your freight once it arrives in Barcelona. Or, just have it shipped in your husband´s name and he can use his DNI. You will probably have to pay customs fees and/or port taxes as well (depending on the value of the items that you ship). Check with the nearest Spanish consulate to you. You may be able to apply for that number at the consulate.

With regards to applying for your Spanish residency... I have been here since April 2001 and still don´t have mine...should have it in the next couple of months. You will need patience. Best piece of advice, do as much as you can from the Spanish consulate nearest you before going to Spain.

Do you have a libro de familia? If you were married in Spain and registered your wedding there, you should have one. If you were married in the US and never had your marriage recognized in Spain, make sure you get this done at the Consulate in the states. They can process the paperwork for you in about 3-5 days (it took us 4 months to get it done from this end). You will need your marriage license stamped with an Apostille Seal (probably done at your state´s capital)..will cost $15-$25. Take this document along with your passport, your husband´s passport, a sealed copy (Apostille Seal) of your birth certificate and that of your husband´s to the Consulate. I believe they are all the docs that you will need.

Ask the consulate for the list of required docs in order to get a residents visa (needed to apply for the resident´s card), the libro de familia will be one of the docs needed. It was an interesting process for me, on the NYC Spanish Consulate website, they listed about 8 different docs that I had to hand in translated into Spanish plus a $45 processing fee, however when I went to the Consulate with all the paperwork, they only asked for 4 of the docs and 4 passport sized photos and waived the processing fee for the visa. Nice to waive the fee, but frustrating that I went through the hassle of all the docs and they they didn´t want them. Make sure you get your visa before heading to Spain, otherwise you will have to fly back to Chicago to pick it up.

Once you have your resident´s visa, you can apply for your resident´s card (here in Spain). Do you plan on working here? If so, you will needed a combined visa which is good for both residency and employment. In order to get this, you need to provide an "oferta de empleo" letter from the business planning to hire you here in Spain. Otherwise, without this documentation, you will just be given the resident´s card allowing for residency, but not employment. You will later be able to apply for the permiso de empleo but I understand that it is a real hassle...and being married to a Spaniard, better to take advantage of the more liberal rights that you have.

Feel free to post any additional questions that you may have here and I will try to answer them for you!

Good luck!
Rebecca

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