Success rate for 6 month Spanish Visa application

[DeansFamily]

Has anyone with an Australian passport applied for a 6 month visa (non working) in Spain, and how successful was the attempt. Is it better to attempt a visa through another Schengen country? With the costs associated with applying for a visa (fees, police checks, apostles, translated documents, etc... ) which I have estimated at around the $1500 mark, I don't wont to find out it was a total waste of money as the knockback rate may be high. I'd appreciate anyone's input on this subject as if it is do-able I need to get the ball rolling.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

This site is geared for Australians wanting to stay over 90 days in the Schengen area but could be useful for people with other nationalities:

https://thefreedominitiative.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/unlimited-visa-in-europe-for-free-maybe/​

For example it says:

New Zealand citizens can remain 51 months in the territory of the Schengen area (3 months Schengen visa-free stay plus 48 months on the basis of 16 bilateral visa waiver agreements)​

You might not get more than 3 months in Spain but you could get more than 3 months in Europe.

 

[DeansFamily]

Thanks, this is really interesting.

 

[DeansFamily]

Sucess! We picked up our visas yesterday after a long, drawn out preparation of necessary police checks, apostilles, medical certificates and official Spanish translations. Quite expensive when you tally up the costs of all this plus the visa fees, but after forwarding the applications the approvals came through quite quickly. Now we are all set to start walking the Norte around the 14th April and then continue exploring Spain (and Europe) without the stress of limited time. Overall, worth the effort.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Congratulations. I am, however, concerned. From what I have read my understanding is that an extended visa for one country in the EU does not give you the same privileges for any country in EU. There is a good chance that I am wrong about this but please check. As Australians though you do get some impressive waivers anyway. Be careful with this too. For example I think for some border crossings with these waivers you have to fly over the border. That link I posted above has information on this sort of stuff I think.

I don't want to be a killjoy; I want to make sure a tricky situation doesn't cut your vacation short.

 

[David from Freo]

I'd be very keen to hear how the DeansFamily experience in Europe went. My wife and I are hoping to walk from Cluny (France) to Santiago beginning August this year, but given some health and age issues we are likely only to average about 15 kms / day, meaning it might take up to 125 days to complete the walk. That, of course, is well beyond the 90 days we get with the Schengen visa on arrival for Australian citizens. We're exploring options. I wrote to the French Embassy to inquire about a separate 3 month French visa but was told the 90 day Schengen one was all that was available. I've written to the Spanish Embassy, but am still awaiting a reply. I'm keen to hear any advice from other Forum members regarding strategies for Australian citizens to stay in France/Spain for around 4 (rather than 3) months. Suggestions welcome! Thanks in advance.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I'm keen to hear any advice from other Forum members regarding strategies for Australian citizens to stay in France/Spain for around 4 (rather than 3) months. Suggestions welcome! Thanks in advance.

Did you go to the website I mentioned in one of my posts above?

 

[David from Freo]

Rick, yes, thanks I did go right through the Freedom Initiative website, which was extremely rich on information (but mainly on countries other than France and Spain). Having read that website I still couldn't find in it a way to solve my dilemma. Unfortunately, it would appear the earlier Spanish-Australian bilateral visa waiver agreement was terminated in 1978 (according to that website's information) and the French Embassy in Canberra has emailed to me that "There is no bilateral agreement between Australia and France, only the Schengen agreement 90 days in a period of 180 days". (though I've written back to query this). I'm still waiting optimistically for a reply from the Spanish Embassy in Canberra to my email, but I am getting less optimistic about finding a way to spend the longer period between France and Spain. Thanks for your interest and response. Much appreciated. Regards.

 

[DeansFamily]

Hi David, we finished our Camino Norte last Tuesday and then picked up our residency cards 4 days ago. It has been a long process to organise these cards and certainly not something that can be done at the drop of a hat. Contact the Spanish Embassy that covers WA ( contact details on Internet ) by email only as they don't take phone calls. They will email necessary forms and information sheet that has to be followed correctly. You will need your birth certificates apostilled by DFAT at the passport office, a Federal Police check each (takes a minimum of 1 month to process after full fingerprints are taken at your local police station and they are mailed to them with forms), medical certificates saying you are safe to live in Spain, current bank statement with amount required to be accepted for non lucrative residency card, Spanish translations done by official translator plus various forms completed and money order for fees included. Not cheap but worthwhile for us. When you decide your place of residence be careful as you must submit your paperwork for your residency card no later than 30 days from entry into Spain. This means that you will need to enter Spain, submit paperwork in the appropriate provincial office for the city you choose and pay your form 790 tax obligation at any bank there (€15 approx.) and your card will be waiting at that office no sooner than 35 days afterwards for pick up. We flew into Bilbao, bused and trained to start the Norte in Hendaye, reached San Sebastián and tried to submit paperwork there, had to hire a car and drive (via Burgos and Leon as not to see any of the Norte route) to get our paperwork in in time as our address was in A Coruna at a tourist apartment complex then drive back the same way and re start our Camino in Irun....phewww! When we picked up our cards they now allow us to stay in Spain for 1 year.... 6 months more than we asked for!! Rick brings up some very important points that we have found very hard to verify but we think he might be right on using planes to travel between EU borders and using passports for ID. Ok for bus, train and car travel as there are not the same checks. But, as we have Spainish ID cards now they can be used as ID instead of passports.
Go for it, plan your entry into EU for Spain, get your paperwork done before you walk, train or bus to your Camino start point and relax and enjoy your walk. If we can help with any more info we'd be happy to. Good Luck

 

[David from Freo]

Thanks so much for your detailed response. It's given me lots to consider. It certainly sounds like getting the residency permit would make the slow Camino much more feasible. I'll get back to the Spanish Embassy in Canberra and see how I go. Thanks again! Happy travels!

 

[whyteway]

Thanks everyone for the advise on getting a long term visa for spain.
@davidfromfreo I stayed in Spain last year for 6 months.
After 3 months I flew to Fez, Morocco got a train to Nador a taxi to the boarder at Melilla , a Spanish enclave in Morocco,and a ferry to the mainland, and was allowed back into Spain no questions asked. On leaving Spain , I flew from Madrid to the UK , I was not questioned in Spain on leaving but was questioned in the UK . They saw me as an overstay treat but still gave me 6 months.
The trick is to get a ferry back into Spain.
Good Luck

 

[David from Freo]

Hi David, we finished our Camino Norte last Tuesday and then picked up our residency cards 4 days ago. It has been a long process to organise these cards and certainly not something that can be done at the drop of a hat. Contact the Spanish Embassy that covers WA ( contact details on Internet ) by email only as they don't take phone calls. They will email necessary forms and information sheet that has to be followed correctly. You will need your birth certificates apostilled by DFAT at the passport office, a Federal Police check each (takes a minimum of 1 month to process after full fingerprints are taken at your local police station and they are mailed to them with forms), medical certificates saying you are safe to live in Spain, current bank statement with amount required to be accepted for non lucrative residency card, Spanish translations done by official translator plus various forms completed and money order for fees included. Not cheap but worthwhile for us. When you decide your place of residence be careful as you must submit your paperwork for your residency card no later than 30 days from entry into Spain. This means that you will need to enter Spain, submit paperwork in the appropriate provincial office for the city you choose and pay your form 790 tax obligation at any bank there (€15 approx.) and your card will be waiting at that office no sooner than 35 days afterwards for pick up. We flew into Bilbao, bused and trained to start the Norte in Hendaye, reached San Sebastián and tried to submit paperwork there, had to hire a car and drive (via Burgos and Leon as not to see any of the Norte route) to get our paperwork in in time as our address was in A Coruna at a tourist apartment complex then drive back the same way and re start our Camino in Irun....phewww! When we picked up our cards they now allow us to stay in Spain for 1 year.... 6 months more than we asked for!! Rick brings up some very important points that we have found very hard to verify but we think he might be right on using planes to travel between EU borders and using passports for ID. Ok for bus, train and car travel as there are not the same checks. But, as we have Spainish ID cards now they can be used as ID instead of passports.
Go for it, plan your entry into EU for Spain, get your paperwork done before you walk, train or bus to your Camino start point and relax and enjoy your walk. If we can help with any more info we'd be happy to. Good Luck

Dear DeansFamily, May I bother you again with some follow-up questions regarding your Spanish non lucrative residency card:? I'm wondering how to arrange a local 'residency' address. Do I understand correctly that you had to submit the paperwork in Spain in the same location as you were (notionally?) residing? ie, that you had a local (postal) address (at a tourist apartment complex in A Coruna?). Did you set that up in advance, before arriving in Spain, or did you get an apartment there after arriving? I'm still trying to get my head around the mechanics of applying for this non-lucrative residency. Many thanks. David.

 

[DeansFamily]

Hi David, after much researching on the web we understood that the way many applicants go about it is to book a suitable accomodation that has the ability to cancel or change dates if necessary, as the address nominated has to be a secure booking at the time the paperwork is submitted. We booked the apartment we stayed in Santiago de Compostela as we were familiar with it and it had the ability to cancel. The problem for us was that this address meant we had to submit our application in the government centre of the province which is A Coruna. When in A Coruna at the Police Department (the 2nd location one must attend to process the card when in Spain in that 30 day window) the paperwork to create the residency cards had to be filled out we used the address of a good tourist apartment facility that we were happy to use as our "base" while we travelled Spain and Europe. This was accepted without any problem and this is the address on our identity cards. We made sure that on all the forms we filled out in Australia that we were to be contacted by email and not to be mailed anything. As far as we are aware there is no follow up paperwork mailed to us here in Spain. The process of dealing with the Spanish Public Service is slow, tedious and confusing as the public servants seem to use their discretion as they see fit. That means you mustn't get frustrated or upset at how the system works, just grin and bear it and be polite to be able to negotiate around the paperwork. Always happy to answer any more questions you may have

 

[Newanton]

I would love to visit Spain soon. Hopefully by the end of the year they will accept visa applications again. I mean so many flights to Barcelona have been canceled for the next month and it feels really frustrating that after the vaccination program has gone so well in the US we are still not welcome in Europe. Hopefully I will be able to use my Nexus card https://nexus-card.com/ And go at least to Canada for a few days next month. I heard there are some good developments for tourism reopening there.

 

[grayland]

I would love to visit Spain soon. Hopefully by the end of the year they will accept visa applications again.

Welcome to the forum @Newanton. Hope you will find the group interesting and helpful.
Feel very free to ask any question you may have.
The new pilgrims and veterans and those just starting to plan are all very happy to reply to anything you may have interest in.

Please note that this thread is from 2018 and that any information contained in it is, no doubt, very dated.