Residency Cards in Spain

Getting our Spanish Residency Cards in Spain:

We learned that the process for getting your residency card in Spain is currently in a state of change. What used to happen when you applied for non-lucrative visa in the US is that you would get an “approval letter” which listed the NIE number(s) along with the visa in your passport(s). You then had 30 days to report to the ‘appropriate office’ in Spain. Now what happens is they actually print your NIE numbers directly in the visa in your passport. You no longer get a letter, or need a letter.  

When we arrived in Jávea we started asking anyone we encountered which office we needed to go to. This was a big mystery since we were non-EU citizens. Everyone we talked to had a different suggestion but didn’t really know. At this point we knew that we would have to go to another town/city because there was no office in Jávea for foreigners. Most people recommended we hire a “gestor”, which is what we finally did. A gestor or gestoría is person who deals with administrative bureaucracy on behalf of a client.  

We brought all of our paperwork to the gestor and even he didn’t know how it worked for Americans. Luckily he signed on to figure it all for us (for €60/person). He did all the work completing necessary forms and spent hours on the phone calling various ‘oficinas de extranjeros’ trying to get us appointments. In this process he was asked to provide our “Approval Letter”. This is where we realized that many spanish bureaucrats don’t know that the spanish consulate in the US is no longer issuing these. Eventually he got through, though it took him almost two full weeks to secure the appointments. When I saw that the dates are for November (well past 30 days) I panicked. But our gestor provided us with a printed receipt for our appointments which is proof that they were made within 30 days. This all happened at about the 28 day mark so I would recommend getting this done ASAP when you arrive!!!

Although we didn’t plan on the added cost of hiring a gestor once we got here, we feel it was WELL worth the money, especially after seeing how even he struggled with the process. In then end we have to drive to Alicante which is over an hour drive from Jávea. Only recently have we been able to purchase a car. It was hard enough getting our family of four to and from the gestor’s office this past month, let alone having to figure out transport to Alicante to try and make these appointments without a car. Maybe if you have the appropriate office in your city, it wouldn't be as valuable.

Side note: There are some businesses in town who claim to provide these same services to foreigners.  The first one I went into said they could get us appointments for €300/person. I felt sick to my stomach when I first heard this. Therefore, I would suggest getting a recommendation for a gestor from a local  (which is what we did) because otherwise you are simply prey for these types of businesses as a vulnerable foreigner.

Now that this big “hurdle” has been jumped, other pressing mysteries include:

• Paying spanish taxes (rule is that you must pay spanish taxes if you reside here for more than 183 days in a year)
• Spanish health insurance
• Spanish drivers license