Thanks a lot for the info and for sharing your experience. I opened a Banco Santander account last summer, and a chunk of my salary has been being remitted there ever since. I am amazed to see that there is a Spanish consulate in Malawi, so I will take your advice and contact them; thank you. Now the much-delayed Irish passport (they have rejected my photo three times now) just needs to arrive via the Irish Embassy here. Wheels within wheels. A friend here asked her husband the other day, "What's that bit of paper we needed to get before I could get my Malawian driver's license?" His answer pretty much sums it up: "Needless bureaucracy?" But like you, I am willing to pay the price for the privilege of moving there.
De nada! Sounds like you’ve done your due diligence preparing for your move, even more than we did. I’m excited for you, because you’re going to love it here. And honestly, the “bureaucracy” at least in Galicia is not anywhere near as bad as what you’ll hear about Spain in general. Yeah, they cross their t’s and dot their i’s here, but we’ve found the clerks to be very kind, communicative, and prompt. Hopefully you’ll get your Irish passport soon so that’ll be one less thing to worry about.
Spanish bureaucracy can't be as bad as faculty meetings! Yes, that will be a red-letter day as it has been over 2.5 years since I started the passport application process, from another country with no postal system (like Malawi), Panama. Needed docs from the US , Ireland, and the UK, and it has been quite the logistical feat. Halfway through, Ireland told me (politely - they are unfailingly kind and helpful on the phone) that I needed yet more docs, which I had to get from the US, and then get notarised at a US consulate-like office in Seville while in Spain on a scouting visit from Malawi and then send on to Ireland. Patience is not my strong suit, and a lot of it has been somewhat anxiety-inducing, but I am just so grateful to be eligible for the Irish passport. Funny, even, while finding ways to ship documents hither and yon from countries with no postal systems. It will make it all the sweeter when I finally have that precious object in my hands. As long as the vile vulgarian doesn't make my modest retirement savings disappear with the obscene geopolitical suicide he is engaged in. It was bad enough the first time around, but this is unbearable. HHIS.
Congrats on acquiring residency, Reese (big deal relief), and thanks a lot for scaring me out of my "oh, I'm coming on an EU passport I am luckily acquiring because my grandmother was Irish" smugness . . .
One thing I'll tell you is that EU citizens, at least in Galicia, get approved for residency almost instantly (after securing a permanent residence). You'll have that going for you. But if the NIE thing concerns you, I do recommend asking your nearest Spanish consulate about this sort of situation. I'd love to know what they might say, because it's truly a catch-22.
Furthermore, while residency approval takes longer for EU family members, actually my (first-time) approval was quite fast compared to what I've heard about other regions of Spain. Elsewhere it can take between several months to a year. Even though technically there's supposed to be automatic approval (EU-based) or rejection (basically everyone else) after three months with no determination, that rule seems to go unapplied until a lawyer steps in on one's behalf. But patience is really the answer, though.
Anyway, focusing your efforts on finding a permanent residence is the most important thing to do when you arrive, but you need to simultaneously set up an account with an established(!) Spanish banking institution. In practice, not all landlords trust the newfangled "digital-first" banks. Then you need to move money over as quickly as possible so you can then prove your savings to landlords and authorities.
When we arrived in Spain, we decompressed for a week, but in retrospect we wish we would have cut that short by a few days to start the aforementioned processes. And another word of advice: don't allow yourself to be demoralized, because there are "moving abroad services" out there that will, for a large sum, try to convince you that they can find a place on your behalf. Don't trust them. You can find a place on your own with time and effort.
Congrats, resident Reese!
Thanks, Juan!
Thanks a lot for the info and for sharing your experience. I opened a Banco Santander account last summer, and a chunk of my salary has been being remitted there ever since. I am amazed to see that there is a Spanish consulate in Malawi, so I will take your advice and contact them; thank you. Now the much-delayed Irish passport (they have rejected my photo three times now) just needs to arrive via the Irish Embassy here. Wheels within wheels. A friend here asked her husband the other day, "What's that bit of paper we needed to get before I could get my Malawian driver's license?" His answer pretty much sums it up: "Needless bureaucracy?" But like you, I am willing to pay the price for the privilege of moving there.
De nada! Sounds like you’ve done your due diligence preparing for your move, even more than we did. I’m excited for you, because you’re going to love it here. And honestly, the “bureaucracy” at least in Galicia is not anywhere near as bad as what you’ll hear about Spain in general. Yeah, they cross their t’s and dot their i’s here, but we’ve found the clerks to be very kind, communicative, and prompt. Hopefully you’ll get your Irish passport soon so that’ll be one less thing to worry about.
Spanish bureaucracy can't be as bad as faculty meetings! Yes, that will be a red-letter day as it has been over 2.5 years since I started the passport application process, from another country with no postal system (like Malawi), Panama. Needed docs from the US , Ireland, and the UK, and it has been quite the logistical feat. Halfway through, Ireland told me (politely - they are unfailingly kind and helpful on the phone) that I needed yet more docs, which I had to get from the US, and then get notarised at a US consulate-like office in Seville while in Spain on a scouting visit from Malawi and then send on to Ireland. Patience is not my strong suit, and a lot of it has been somewhat anxiety-inducing, but I am just so grateful to be eligible for the Irish passport. Funny, even, while finding ways to ship documents hither and yon from countries with no postal systems. It will make it all the sweeter when I finally have that precious object in my hands. As long as the vile vulgarian doesn't make my modest retirement savings disappear with the obscene geopolitical suicide he is engaged in. It was bad enough the first time around, but this is unbearable. HHIS.
Congrats on acquiring residency, Reese (big deal relief), and thanks a lot for scaring me out of my "oh, I'm coming on an EU passport I am luckily acquiring because my grandmother was Irish" smugness . . .
Thanks! And you'll be fine, there's always a way.
One thing I'll tell you is that EU citizens, at least in Galicia, get approved for residency almost instantly (after securing a permanent residence). You'll have that going for you. But if the NIE thing concerns you, I do recommend asking your nearest Spanish consulate about this sort of situation. I'd love to know what they might say, because it's truly a catch-22.
Furthermore, while residency approval takes longer for EU family members, actually my (first-time) approval was quite fast compared to what I've heard about other regions of Spain. Elsewhere it can take between several months to a year. Even though technically there's supposed to be automatic approval (EU-based) or rejection (basically everyone else) after three months with no determination, that rule seems to go unapplied until a lawyer steps in on one's behalf. But patience is really the answer, though.
Anyway, focusing your efforts on finding a permanent residence is the most important thing to do when you arrive, but you need to simultaneously set up an account with an established(!) Spanish banking institution. In practice, not all landlords trust the newfangled "digital-first" banks. Then you need to move money over as quickly as possible so you can then prove your savings to landlords and authorities.
When we arrived in Spain, we decompressed for a week, but in retrospect we wish we would have cut that short by a few days to start the aforementioned processes. And another word of advice: don't allow yourself to be demoralized, because there are "moving abroad services" out there that will, for a large sum, try to convince you that they can find a place on your behalf. Don't trust them. You can find a place on your own with time and effort.