Family Move Abroad

Inspiration and Information to Move Your Family to Spain

Spain Non Lucrative Visa

Living Abroad for a Year as a Family: How We Moved to Spain

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My husband and I had always dreamed of living abroad for a year as a family. In fact, we’d talked about it before our first child was even born. And yet, this notion to move our kids to a foreign country had never really coalesced beyond the idea stage. Notably, we hadn’t even thought about what country to stage our dream of living abroad for a year. And even when we did hone in on Spain, we still had no idea where within that beautiful nation we should make our home for the year.

Life had us on the go with two active boys. As such, it wasn’t until they were 8 and 12 that we finally got them to Europe. All of sudden, it hit us. We’d all but forgotten that dream of living abroad for a year as a family. One afternoon, as the boys kicked a soccer ball around a plaza in Barcelona’s El Born, we realized we needed to act now, or our dream of living together as a family in a foreign country might never happen.

My husband turned to me and said, “Let’s do it. Let’s move to Spain for a year. As soon as possible.” We raised our glasses together with a little clink, and the deal was sealed.

Then came the questions. Lots of them.

Living Abroad for a Year — Exactly How Do We Go About That?

That initial “Whew-hoo!!! We’re moving to Spain for a year!!!” quickly segued to “Hmmmm… there’s a lot of stuff we need to figure out to move to Spain for a year…” to “OH. MY. GOD. Will someone please just tell me WHAT we need to do to go live in Spain for a year???!!!”

Several months of googling every keyword combination I could think of had yielded little in terms of actionable results.

Living abroad for a Year. How to move to Spain for a Year. How to move your family to another country. Where can I buy Spanish health insurance. What is education like in Spain. Best places to live in Spain as a family.

I wanted tangible, step by step directions. Even better, an all in one instruction manual. Certainly, there must be some road map to tell us how to move to Spain for a year?

After several weeks of random searching, I’d finally learned that we would be facing a formidable and somewhat costly undertaking to even apply for what we now knew was called the Spanish Non Lucrative Visa. Further, we had no clear sense of whether we’d be granted one.  

In this expat story, I share our journey as we researched how to move to Spain as an American family. To begin with, I talk about our difficulties figuring out how to apply for the Spain Non Lucrative Visa. I then share our rather circuitous path to find the best place for us to live in Spain, where to send our children to school, and finally, some unexpected discoveries about languages spoken in Spain.

Advice for Expats Moving to Spain

In the end, our struggles to move to Spain for a year became the inspiration for this website. As a result, I now apply that same determination to move my own family to Spain to help other people find their way to living abroad for a year. After all, sometimes the best wins are gained from other people’s mistakes.

Read more of our move to Spain story here.

How To Move to Spain from the US as a Family – Our Expat Story

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Making the the decision to move to Spain for a year was easy. My husband and I had spoken of living in a foreign country with our children when I was pregnant with our first child. Yet our sons were 7 and 12 the first time we got them to Europe. That’s when it hit us — act now, or our dream to live overseas as a family might never happen.

I remember the day vividly. The boys were playing fútbol in a plaza in Barcelona. Dave and I were delighting in yet another array of mind blowing tapas. He turned to me and said, “Let’s do it. Let’s move to Spain for a year. As soon as possible.” We raised our glasses of vino tinto together with a little clink clink, and the deal was sealed.

But that was a short lived moment of glory. 

Figuring out how to move to Spain from the US would become a far more daunting journey than I had ever have imagined.

Moving our family to Spain was one of the most formative experiences of our children’s lives. (It was pretty life changing for my husband and I too!) 

We had no local contacts to help us figure out how to move to Spain. We literally didn’t know a soul anywhere in the country. I spent a year on the internet meticulously digging into Spanish school systems, visa applications, finding housing and all manner of relocation details. So it came as quite a surprise to arrive there and realize all the things I hadn’t thought of — like how to manage our children’s social and emotional well being to help them adapt to their new language and culture. 

Follow these seven tips to ease the transition to make your family move to Spain (or any other country!) an unforgettable experience for everyone. 

  1. Humble yourself to ask all your questions — even the ones you think are too dumb to ask. Trust me, they’re not. Expats love to help other expats so dig into expat oriented websites, forums and meetup groups. Don’t be shy. Nothing beats first hand tidbits of info from people and parents who’ve really been there. 
  2. A little paid guidance with the right consultant will save you money, time and a whole lot of unnecessary hassle. Serious, when was the last time you tried to find an apartment in a city you’ve never been to, where all the realtors and landlords only speak Spanish? Not to mention, one look at the visa application process will have your eyeballs popping out of your head. You want to get the mechanics of your day to day life up and running as quickly as possible. If that means shelling out a bit of cash for a bit of help, do it. The sooner you can relax, the sooner your children will feel more settled and secure.
  3. Choose your children’s school in Spain wisely. Hint: Evaluating schools in a foreign country compared to schools in your home nation demands you consider factors far beyond mere academic offerings, campus facilities and schoolday schedules. This will be especially true if you’re children will be arriving in Spain with little to no Spanish, or if you’ll be moving to a place with no personal ties before you arrive. For more information on the topic of expat education and choosing a school overseas, including a list of detailed questions to ask specific schools, download Family Move Abroad’s free guide to Your Child’s Expat Education.
  4. Build support networks from the start. Let go of your pride and be willing to reach out to strangers for questions and guidance. Ask your child’s school if they might pair you with a “buddy parent” — someone who doesn’t mind you calling them to ask questions. Lots of questions. A solid list of recommendations of the best grocery stores, hair salons, local events and a good pediatrician will make life easier when you’re brand new to a ciy and know absolutely nothing. Find ways to start people and make new friends, both for you as parents and for your kids. Join a gym. Enroll your kid in an art class or basketball team. Sign up at a local coworking space. Certainly, many of those initial people you meet will remain simple acquaintances. But in time, some of those folks just might become lifelong friends. The sooner your kids start getting those birthday party invites, the sooner you and your spouse are asked by some locals to join them at the bodega for an afternoon copa, the less you’ll all feel like strangers.
  5. Learn about culture shock, how to recognize it, and how culture shock symptoms might vary by age, personality type and other factors affecting your child’s adaptation. Speak to children openly about the changes they’re going to experience. Talk to them about the spectrum of feelings that might come up for them, both the exciting and welcome ones as well as the potential for loneliness and challenge. Start these conversations before leaving home. As parents, remember, just because you think you’re giving your children the opportunity of a lifetime by moving as a family from America to Spain doesn’t necessarily mean your children will think it’s the best thing ever. Expect that at some point they will question this decisions, and possibly even resent you for it. Give your children permission to have their own experience and trust in the process. 
  6. Speaking of children having their own experience, be patient and accepting with the how they approach their new life circumstances. Part of the beauty of living in Spain, versus just traveling through, is that you have time. Time to soak up the culture in all sorts of ways both large and small and that extends well beyond seeing monuments and learning about the thousands of years of history that predate their arrival. Trust that they’re taking things in and picking up the language, even if they refuse to speak Spanish in front of you. Honor their desires for familiarity and connection to the home they left behind. Make favorite comfort foods at home, and don’t try to force paella down their throat if they say they hate it. Find a movie theater that shows their favorite Hollywood films in VO (Version Original). Actively connecting their past to their present, will help them understand that not everything they once loved in their life has changed. Knowing that will make them more open to the new life in front of them.
  7. And finally, the Spanish factor. Simply put, the more Spanish immersion you can give your kids (and yourselves) before your kids start school and begin interacting with peers in Spain, the easier the transition will be. This will be especially true for teenagers, and even more true if you’re sending your teens or older children to an all Spanish speaking school. So, what’s your level of Spanish? How about your kids? Can you put your kids in an all Spanish speaking environment either in Spain or elsewhere before you leave the States? This doesn’t have to equate to sitting in a dark classroom all day. Surfing camps, fútbol camps, cooking classes or any favorite activities taught in Spanish will complement classroom hours and make language instruction more personally relevant. If pre-arrival immersion isn’t possible, do as much as you can to front load their language development as soon as you get there.

Our Epic Journey to Get a Spanish Non Lucrative Visa

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The Spanish Non Lucrative Residence Visa

The Spanish Non Lucrative Visa Freshly Sealed in our Passports

I knew it was possible for Americans to legally live in Spain for a year. I just didn’t know that the visa we needed was called the Spanish non lucrative residence visa. It took me over a month to figure that out. It would take several more to figure out all the hoops we’d have to jump through to get one.

Seven months, countless hours of research and several thousand dollars later, our family of four was taking our second trip from Wyoming to San Francisco to pick up our newly awarded Spanish non lucrative visas from the consulate. Everything had worked out pretty much as it was supposed to.

Still, as we set out for the five hour drive from Jackson Hole to Salt Lake City, where we would then catch a plane to California, I said to my husband, “If I’d known at the beginning what I was signing up for, I’m not sure I would have done it.”

Yes, our visa application process had the added logistics two long distance trips during the work week/school week to get to the consulate.

Yes, the Spanish Consulate of San Francisco has some of the more stringent application requirements for the non lucrative visa.

Still, even without these extra hurdles, you will execute a bureaucratic marathon before that visa is stamped in your passport and you cradle that TIE (Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero) in your oh so grateful hands. 

This Facebook post I shared the day we finally picked up those Spanish residence cards shows our commitment to the cause.

A Paperwork Pilgrimage

A year in the making to our Spanish non lucrative visa and TIE.

Today we celebrate the culmination of a year long process of immigration bureaucracy.

Notarized letters affirming our identity to order two birth certificates and one marriage certificate from three different counties in two different states.

Fingerprints for David and I at local police department. Send those to FBI to issue criminal background check. FBI fails to deliver said clearance on schedule. Send second copy of fingerprints to private FBI approved Channeler. Costs $65 instead of $18, but I get it in 24 hours. 

Authenticate all of the above by their respective state and federal bodies with Apostille of the Hague. (Note to self — figure out what an Apostille is and how to obtain one.)

Medical checks for all four of us from our three respective physicians. Letters from said physicians certifying we’re unlikely to ignite an outbreak of the plague. Letters must be printed on the physician’s letterhead and sealed with their official physician’s stamp. (I never knew doctors had an official stamp.)

Proof of zero-deductible health insurance. (Second note to self — investigate how to purchase medical insurance valid only in a country in which we don’t yet have permission to live.)

Demonstrate sufficient income and savings to convince the Spanish government we can live in Spain without seeking work there.

Write and notarize a cover letter explaining the madness that compels us to put ourselves through the torture of this application process.

Now… Translate All That.

As in, all of it:

  • The letters.
  • The certificates.
  • The notarizations to obtain the letters and certificates.
  • The criminal records clearance reports.
  • And All five Apostilles from those three different government bodies

Into Spanish.

And not just any translator. 

All translations must be completed by an “officially recognized translator certified by the government of Spain.” Duly sworn and stamped. 

(Translators have stamps too? Huh. Guess that rules out the Spanish-speaking secretary at my son’s elementary school. Third note to self — figure out what “certified translator” means. Then determine how to find one.)

Just a Bit More Paperwork

Above mentioned translator now acquired and on the case.

I get to work filling out multiple visa application forms written in really fine print. Spanish fine print, in case that’s not obvious.

Crash course in immigration related Spanish terminology that pushes my vocabulary beyond “Where are the bathrooms?” and “Cerveza por favor.”

Make copies of all of the originals and all the translations.

Compile an original and a copy of each family member’s application forms, certificates and translations into a file folder in the exact order listed on the consulate’s application instructions.

Attach two passport sized photos plus a copy of each passport ID page.

Check, recheck, have husband check, then recheck again. One more time. Just to be sure nothing is missing.

Spanish Consulate in San Francisco, Here We Come

From Wyoming. Like, 900 plus miles away.

Apply for residence visas in person — all four of us. 

Return to Wyoming.

Turns out you can indeed drive from Wyoming to San Francisco — and back — in under 48 hours and still have two living, breathing sons upon your return.

Then… Wait.

Still waiting.

Tick tock, tick tock. Tick. Tock.

Six weeks later, four emails unceremoniously arrive in my inbox.

You’ve Been Approved!!!

You have thirty days to come back to San Francisco with your passports to pick up your visas, or your visa approval will be rescinded.

Yes, all four of us.

Brief moment of glory before I assess just how and when we’re going to squeeze in a second trip to San Francisco at a reasonable cost and with minimal lost work and school time. Another 900 mile drive does not sound appealing. We opt to drive to Salt Lake City and fly from there.

We Interrupt This Celebration for a Brief Moment of Panic

We’re back at the consulate, proudly cooing over the visas now freshly sealed in each of our passports. (Ok, maybe only I was cooing.)

My eyes take in every precious detail.

There’s our photo — don’t we look happy? Foreigner’s identification number — never had one of those before! The official government stamp of Spain — governments, of course, I would expect to have a stamp. And… the expiration date.

Wait. WHAT?!?!

These visas are only valid for three months.

THREE MONTHS??!!!

Anyone can go to Spain for three months! You don’t even need a visa for that!!

OH. MY. GOD. I ticked the wrong box. There’s been a huge mistake!!!

Twenty minutes of terror as I plead with the receptionist to let me back inside to speak with the visa officer.

Listen with all due humility as he patronizingly reminds me that he explained this to me during our application appointment.

The visa from the consulate is good for three months and is based on the departure date we stated during our application appointment. We must enter Spain during that time. We have 30 days from the date of arrival to begin the final process that will result in getting our Spanish residence card. That’s our proof we may legally reside in Spain for one year.

He can patronize me all he wants. I am so relieved I hadn’t eff’d up the entire thing.

And to my credit… I was aware there was more to be done on arrival in Spain. I just hadn’t realized that the stamp issued by the consulate — the actual non lucrative visa itself for which I had labored so tediously to obtain — was only valid for 90 days.

And furthermore, I’ve since heard two similar tales of panic by other non lucrative visa applicants, so let’s just say the entire process lacks clarity.

Return to rejoicing previously in progress.

Act 2: The Spanish Residency Card

Arrive in Sevilla about three months later. 

The rest of our bureaucratic odyssey now takes place completely in Spanish.

Did I mention none of us really speak Spanish? Especially the thickly accented Andalusian Spanish that even my fluent friends who learned Spanish in South or Central America have told me is really difficult to understand at first.

Total processing time from initial appearance at the local Oficina de Extranjería to TIE (residence card) in hand? About 12 weeks and three visits. 

Yes, all four of us. Luckily the local immigration office is only a 20 minute walk away.

Paperwork Pilgrimage Part 2

Or is it paperwork pilgrimage part 3? I’ve lost count.

Will we ever just get to live in Spain without incessantly applying for permits to live in Spain?

Oficina de Extranjería Visit Number One: Stand in line for half hour or so, wondering if we’re in the correct line. Make appointment to come back and stand in line again.

More forms in more Spanish fine print.

One form is to pay the “tasas” (fees). But we don’t pay the tasas in the immigration office. We’re told to pay them at “cualquier banco.” (Any bank.)

The Spanish TIE Residence Card for Foreigners

Really? Like any bank? I just walk in to any bank? Not being a customer of the bank or even a resident of this country, and I just hand the person behind the counter this little of paper and give them money?

More copies. ID page of the passports (again), copy of the page with the visa issued by the consulate. Copy of the page where passport control stamped the entry visa on our arrival into Spain.

Oficina de Extranjería Visit Number Two: Return with all the above, including proof we paid the tasa at the bank, at the previously scheduled appointment we were given during visit number one.

Fingerprints — all four of us this time. Good fun for the kids.

We’re given a date and time to return once again about five weeks later. 

Oficina de Extranjería Visit Number Three: Wait in line once again. A little more confident this time we’re in the right line. And…

Voila! Or perhaps I should say ¡Ya está!

One “Permiso de Residencia No Lucrativa” valid for one year from our date of arrival in Spain.

Who would guess, looking at those little pink plastic cards we hold in our hands, what a tour de force it took to get them? 

And yes, the effort was more that worth it.

Curious about being an American Expat in Spain?

Learn more about the Spanish Non Lucrative Visa here. Click here to Find Your Consulate.