Lauren_123

Hello,

My name is Lauren and I am a UK citizen and my partner is a Polish citizen. We currently live in England but are hoping to move to Spain next year.

As my partner is Polish, and therefore a citizen of an EU country, it shouldn’t be a problem for him to move. However, I am interested if I would be able to move with him as I am a family member of an EU citizen. We are not married, but we do have a civil partnership.

I am interested in the following:

• which visa options should I pursue
• if I can start the process in the UK
• is UK civil partnership valid in Spain
• What are the associated costs

Thanks in advance for all answers

Kind regards
Lauren

spainrico

Start here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/living-i...-and-residency

and more here - https://www.pellicerheredia.com/en/open-library/

Be aware work opportunities can be difficult even for EU citizens here without the language and accepted qualifications.

Good luck.

bolton wanderer

Might be useful.....https://www.immigrationspain.es/en/civil-partnership/

Lou71

Snap! I'm an EU national and my British partner and I also have a civil partnership!

I have very good news for you. Civil partnerships are recognised and valid in Spain and because the EU look after their citizens, you (as the partner of an EU national) have special rights and privileges and you do not need a visa.

Firstly, you are not subject to the dreaded 90/180 day Schengen travel rules (as long as you are travelling with your partner) and secondly, you can move to Spain with your partner immediately and apply for residency - the cost is minimal. Obviously you need proof ie civil partnership certificate. UK nationals now have to go through a protracted an onerous process in the UK just to get a visa but fortunately this does not apply to you, you can obtain residency the easy EU way as long as you are accompanied by your partner of course.

For your info, my partner and I took residency in Portugal pre Brexit while I was still British and as far as I know, the system for partners of EU nationals is slightly different and they have to go through SEF but like Spain, there is no need to do anything in advance of arriving in Portugal.

If you need clarification on any point, you can always email the EU Commission and they will get back to you with an answer in a few days.

Good luck with your plans!

DLC

First being able to prove your UK civil partnership will help when travelling with your partner to the EU and (maybe, I'm not sure) second applying for residency.

So one way would be putting a Hague Apostille on your UK civil partnership certificate and then getting a sworn translation by an official translator (scroll down to the PDF link for the list of people and ring one up).

When you're in Spain you apply as a family member of an EU citizen. Spanish info here, English info here courtesy of Barcelona council but the procedure should be similar elsewhere.

Also some advice from other websites here and here and here. They're talking about getting a Spanish civil partnership certificate first. I couldn't say if that's preferred over one from the UK when applying for residency, but Catalonia's doesn't require living together for a year first which could simplify things.

Also your partner needs to apply for residency as well.