Daveman

Hello,

I am positing to ask for some advice.

I have a question about a non EU Citizen moving to and living in Spain with a UK Spouse.

I am a British citizen, currently living in Japan, where I recently married my wife, a US citizen. We will both return to our respective home countries in August for around two months, and then following that, we wish to move to Spain together (in October) for around a year.

I understand that we would both need to apply for a residence card (me, a tarjeta de residencia, and her, the tarjeta de residencia de familiar de ciudadano de la Unión) in order to stay for longer than three months. Am I correct in thinking I do not need a work permit as a British citizen and EU national? Do you know if my wife would need a work permit even if she is married to a British citizen/EU national?

I have read that once I have applied for the tarjeta de residencia, she can automatically apply for the tarjeta de residencia de familiar de ciudadano de la Unión. Is that true?

Also, we both had to visit our respective embassy in Tokyo in order to receive documents (a certificate of no impediment and whatnot) to get married, but we actually got married in our local city hall here in Japan. Do I need to register my marriage formally in the UK before she is eligible to receive the benefits of being a spouse of an EU national, or simply present them with a (translated) copy of our Japanese marriage certificiate? One thing I am sure of is that our marriage certificate is as binding in both the UK and the US as a certificate received from one of our home countries.

Other than that, are you aware of any process or procedure I, as a British national, or my wife, as a US citizen, need to complete before we can move to Spain for a year in order to teach English?

Thank you very much in advance!
Sorry for the overload of information!

Rosemary

Hi and a warm welcome to the Spanish forum on BE. Myself and Fred James are the moderators for the Spanish forums whilst BEVS moderates Europe. Moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. This is so that members gain the information that they are looking for and find their experiences on the forums to be friendly and worthwhile.

Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderator who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are usually friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge about the issues of living in Spain. I hope that you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

MikeJ

You will probably need to go back to the embassy to get an epistole for the marriage certificate so at the same time you could ask them for advice. Will you tranship through the UK or the US? Either way one of you will need a visa from the respective embassy.

mikelincs

You as an EU national do not need any sort of visa to live or work in Spain, your wife can move to Spain as you will be exercising your treaty right in the EU and she is the wife of an EU national. You need to look as this article

Surinder Singh : British Expat Wiki

EMR

I though that the UK had not accepted the Singh ruling ??

mikelincs

Plenty of people on here who have moved that way so they must have..

Bri and Katee

There is a married couple in our village, he is UK she is USA. While he had no problem getting his residencia, she had to jump through hoops for over a year before one was granted. I do believe its only a 6 month temporary one though, which has to be redone every 6 months until the spanish givernment are convinced she isn't trying to be an illegal alien. She had to supply numerous documents regarding banking, marriage, birth et etc, with many trips to the office in Murcia. Again all her documents had to be translated into spanish by an official translator.

MikeJ

What I meant was that if the Brit goes via the US with partner then they will require a visa for the US and if the US citizen travels via the UK then they would require a visa. Either would require a trip to the respective embassy where first-hand advice could be available.
If they travel independently by different routes then it obviously doesn't apply.

Daveman

Thank you for your quick replies!

@MikeJ I don't believe I need a visa to enter Spain as a UK citizen, as I never have done before. As for her entering the UK, again no visa needed. As for me entering the US, there is an online registration/visa requirement, but that isn't really any concern for me, as she is coming through the UK and we both will go to Spain on the same flight from the UK.

@mikelinks I believe the Singh method is used for couples wishing to move back to the UK and reside there permanently, am I wrong? My question is more focused on how do we move to Spain, and what registration is required?

@Bri and Katee If she had to jump through hoops for a whole year before her residencia was granted, does that mean it is possible to spend an entire year in Spain without actually possessing residencia? We only wish to move to Madrid for a year, teach English and then leave. Do you know what documents were required in any detail? For example, birth certificate, evidence of a bank account with X amount of money in it in the US? It would be a great help to know!

Can anybody tell me - if I am in possession of a notarized marriage certificate, will the Spanish authorities grant application of the tarjeta de residencia de familiar de ciudadano de la Unión? If not, what documents are required/what evidence is needed to get the card?

Thanks again everyone!

MikeJ

I don't think a simple notarised document is sufficient - I still think you would need the epistole (which is like a super-notarisation). If that is the case it would be too late when you arrived in Spain as it would need to done in Japan so it may be wise to get it done anyway - it's a fairly straightforward process in the UK and I can't see why it would be any different in Japan. It would also be useful for any further travels you may want to do in the future.

Bri and Katee

Sorry I can't help further, this is just talk across the table in the local bar (expats tend to gather together!) I know they had been here 4 months searching for property, then bought, then a couple months later started the residencia route because they wanted to stay permanently.

Daveman

Thanks again.

@MikeJ May I ask, do you mean an apostille? I searched everywhere for 'epistole' and it doesn't seem to exist from my search. Is there any reason you think the Spanish authorities won't accept a regular notarization?

Has anybody ever heard of a regular notarization (from the city office you received the certificate) not being 'official' (for want of a better word) enough in the process of applying for temporary residence in Spain?

amideislas

I believe it also must be translated into Spanish by a certified legal translator.

MikeJ

Sorry - my spelling mistake. Apostille. I had to get a document which had been legally notarised in the UK translated and Apostillated by the FCO before the Spanish authorities would recognise it.
It wasn't a marriage cert, though, but it might be better safe than sorry and get it done before you leave Japan.