Well Tuesday September 22nd was another milestone for our eventual move to Spain. We attended the Spanish Consulate in Toronto and applied for our residence visa. The process began months earlier with the start of investigating what was needed for the Visa application. The documents required needed to be officially translated and notarized and multiple copies made. Here are the documents we thought we needed:

Our passports with an expiry date beyond the length of our application time line.
Two passport photos
A letter from our doctor with specific language indicating we are free of infectious deceases
Proof of medical insurance with specific minimum coverage for the duration of our stay in Spain
RCMP criminal records check
Proof of minimum monthly income that meets the requirements set out by Spain
Proof or marriage
(Now the following ones are tricky I will expand on these later.)

Proof of flight to spain
Proof of a residence in Spain when we arrive.
chicken-and-egg How can you have a flight to spain and an address in Spain to live, if you have never been there or don’t even know if the Visa will be approved. It’s like the chicken and egg thing. That’s a tough one, in order to meet the requirements and still be able to balance life if the Visa is not approved. (hopefully this won’t occur) We decided to book two months at a short term holiday spot. That will give us an address and also provide us with a short term apartment to work from. From there we can find a long term apartment to settle into.

The other key thing that we need to keep in mind is that if for whatever reason our visa application is delayed or denied, we can’t stay in Spain for longer than three months. By booking two months this will allow us to either have a a temporary residence until we find a permanent apartment or it becomes a vacation and we come back after two months if needed.

Once we had gathered all our documents and secured our flight and short term apartment address we were able to submit our Visa application. But…… wait there is still a few more details to deal with first. We needed to determine if an appointment was needed or if we could drop into the consulate. we scoured the website with no luck. We called the consulate and reached a recording. We left a message asking the simple question, did we need an appointment or could we just show up with our application. The message went unanswered. We then sent an email (in spanish) to the only email available and it went unanswered as well. We called again and left another message. After a week or so we did get a call from someone from the consulate and they advised yes an appointment was required and that the only way to make the appointment was on the website. We asked where on the site it was located. the reply was simply it is only on the spanish section of the site and we needed to find it. So off we went to the spanish section of the website and after a fair amount of looking we found the scheduling form. The process involved locating a free time slot, which in our case was three weeks out. We booked our 1/2 hour time slot and received confirmation via email. Ok so we were set, the appointment was made the documents gathered and translated.
To be safe we booked a hotel room in Toronto close to the consulate. We headed to Toronto the day before our appointment and scouted out the consulate. It is located in an office building on the 12th floor. OK seems that we are all set, off we go to the appointment. We arrive and take a number. Our number gets called and we go to the wicket and are told that a separate appointment is needed for each of us… I guess my look must of said it all… She said I will check and see if the person can do us both today. A different person returned to the wicket and this women asked to see my documents. I presented the documents which were organized, and clearly all in order. When she realized that we were organized and ready she agreed to do applications together. She was very helpful and she began looking closely at the documents and noted that two new document forms were required. This was news to us and she advised that the website needed updating and it was not updated on their website yet. We were obviously concerned and asked her what forms were required. She provided one which we filled out there, signed and gave to her. The other form was online only and MUST be filled out online and then printed and signed. They would not accept a hand written version of this form. She indicated that if we could come back today with the final form filled out she would process the applications. It was a race against time… We took a taxi back to the Hotel and found the forms on line and completed them. The forms were not very clear and cumbersome to complete. We finished the forms and returned to the consulate. By this time, it is nearly 11:45 am and the consulate closes at 12:30. We take another number and wait. We are finally at the wicket by 12:15 and present our forms to the same women. She is very helpful and reviews the form and advises that the forms are not completed as required. Yikes….. now what? We told her we were from Kingston and we would drive back to Toronto tomorrow if we could get an appointment. She looked at our files again and stated that if we paid the fees today and got everything else set up, we could mail her the other forms and she would process the applications when she got them. We agreed and completed the process paying the $762. each for the application. She provided us with her contact info and her phone extension. She was very helpful, but the process is cumbersome. We left the consulate at exactly 12:30 pm with the only thing left to do but complete ad mail the one form.

Our next stop was to Jack Asters for a beer and lunch. To say the process was easy would be a stretch, it was a challenge and stressful. We mailed the forms ensuring it is tracked and the forms will be at the consulate tomorrow. Hopefully the next stage of the application goes without a hitch.

For anyone thinking of applying for a residence visa I recommend doing lots of research and plan on some frustration along the way.