hi, so i’m moving to barca for a year to teach english and study Spanish from the us. so what are some things that i should buy before i leave that most people don’t even think about??
Hi everyone,
My partner and I are planning to move to Madrid next year. We’re treating it as a long‑term test run (at least a year, possibly a few years), and we’re trying to understand what level of Spanish is actually needed to get decent jobs in our fields.
👩**💼 My backgrou**nd
Sustainability consulting / ESG
Experience in insurance + banking
3 years working in ESG
Open to staying in my field, but also considering getting a TEFL qualification and teaching English if that makes employment more realistic
👨**💼 My partner’s backgrou**nd
Business development
Experience in Mastercard + Uber
Interested in BD roles or possibly venture capital
Keen to stay in his field if possible
🗣 Our Spanish level
I’m currently A1 (beginner)
My partner is slightly above A1
We’re actively studying ~5–6 hours per week
Hoping to reach a functional level before moving, but we’re unsure what’s realistic or required
💼 What we consider a “decent job”
Stable employment
Enough to live comfortably in Madrid
Preferably not temporary or remote roles
Open to English‑speaking jobs, especially with multinationals (we’ve both worked for large global companies)
❓ Our main concern
We’re most worried about whether we can get jobs in our fields without being fluent. I’m more flexible and open to changing fields if needed, but my partner is hoping to stay in business development or move toward VC.
🙏 What we’d love advice on
What Spanish level is actually needed for roles in ESG, sustainability, BD, or VC in Madrid?
Are English‑speaking roles in these areas common or extremely competitive?
Is TEFL a realistic backup plan for me, or is the market oversaturated?
How far can A1/A2 get you, and what level should we aim for before arriving?
Any expats who moved with beginner Spanish — how did job hunting go?
Any companies or sectors in Madrid where English is genuinely the working language?
Any insights, personal experiences, or honest reality checks would be hugely appreciated. We’re excited about the move but want to go in with clear expectations.
Thanks so much!
Both people who are applying for the first time and people who are applying for renewal have been receiving arbitrary requests from the UGE or even absurd rejections.
In the nomad groups, everyone is complaining:
- People who apply have been rejected because they entered the Schengen Area through other countries. This was always a common practice for people who took a vacation trip before finally applying in Spain. This was never a problem. Now it is.
- After 20 days from the application without an answer, nomads had the right to positive silence. This is in the law. This is being completely ignored, and many nomads are either not receiving approval after requesting administrative silence or, believe it or not, having their applications rejected when the LAW requires their approval.
- Nomads who are applying for renewal are receiving pressure from the UGE to register with Social Security retroactively from the day after the visa was approved. This is materially impossible (or it was in 2023). It was necessary to have several documents before doing this, which could mean waiting weeks or months for available appointments.
All these things have no legal basis and are arbitrary and unfair. I deeply regret coming here. The country is wonderful, but it is impossible to live with the fear of this instability.
Entire families who were living here and were already completely integrated into life here are having to leave the country because of pure greed. It is extremely unfair.
EDIT: My main intention with this post is to let everyone who already has this visa know that they should be prepared, and also to warn those who are interested in applying for it to be ready for surprises, which are generally negative.
Perhaps cities should even consider an additional tax on high-earning remote workers who choose to live in already pressured housing markets, with the revenue going directly towards affordable housing.
If your income and purchasing power are substantially higher than the local average, and you have the freedom to work from anywhere, it isn't unreasonable to ask you to contribute more towards the housing pressure you are benefiting from.
The laptop may be remote. The consequences aren't.
Is there anyone living in Spain. A close person of mine is in Spain in Tourist visa. She wants to get admitted into a vocational course. She needs to convert her tourist visa into student visa. There is law in Spain in favour of that. Therefore, an immigration lawyer is needed. Please, can anyone let me know about an immigration lawyer who can handle this?
I've been thinking about this for several weeks now. I'm a 22-year-old guy from southern Brazil and I'm quite extroverted. I don't speak Spanish yet, but since Portuguese is my native language, I can understand quite a bit of it. I also speak English at around a C1 level.
I work online and make over $5,000 USD a month before tax, and I'm planning to move to Spain on my own.
I'm looking for a city where I can have a good quality of life, play sports, work out, eat good food, meet new people, and live without needing a car. I'd ideally like somewhere extremely walkable with a good public transport.
I'd be comfortable spending around €1,000–€1,300 a month on rent.
Weather is also a major factor for me, as bad weather tends to make me feel lazy and a bit down.
What city should I choose?
I've already seen many posts about Valencia, Malaga, Alicante, Madrid and I am still don't know what should i choose. (I am open to new options!!!)
Hello all!
I’m a line cook/sous chef in the US who’s been wanting to Move to Spain long term and work in restaurants. I have a clean record, I can save up the money and currently have a private health insurance. It seems the job seeker visa is the best way to go about it but I’m wary if I even meet the criteria.
I don’t know anyone there, no family no friends. I don’t have a college degree but I do have a high school diploma and 12 years working in the industry. And I still currently live in the US.
What are my chances of getting approved for the visa? How can I increase those chances? Should I move there without landing a job first so I can show face in interview and make connections? Would another country/continent be easier ?
Any and all advice would be appreciated.
Gracias!
I have submitted my long term student visa appointment application with an address of a friend currently living in Spain under the address section. At the BLS appointment will they ask for anything else to confirm this address? Like do I need a letter from them or a bill to prove it? I’m very confused.
I’m looking for some outside perspective from people who have gone through the Spanish Digital Nomad Visa process, especially anyone who paid for a relocation company or immigration lawyer to handle it.
I signed up for what was marketed as a premium relocation/visa service, with a five-figure price tag, to help me move to Spain. For that amount of money, I wasn’t expecting miracles or for them to somehow control Spanish bureaucracy. But I was expecting someone to actually manage the process and guide me through each step.
The service included a dedicated case manager, coordination with the immigration lawyer handling my application, regular check-ins, and reasonably quick response times.
In reality, there were several months where I basically heard nothing unless I reached out myself.
There was also no clear roadmap along the lines of: “These documents expire at this point, these ones need to be legalized, this needs to happen X weeks before you travel, and this is what we need from you by this date.”
And that’s really where my frustration starts.
I was having regular calls with the project manager throughout the process, so naturally I assumed that what we discussed was being relayed to the legal team and that they were communicating internally about my case.
Apparently, that wasn’t happening.
At one point I was genuinely shocked to discover that the legal team didn’t seem to know where I was in the process and mentioned that I hadn’t contacted them in months.
That confused me because I thought the whole point of hiring one company was that the project manager and legal team were working together. The legal team also hadn’t reached out to check on my progress during those months.
Then, less than a week before I was supposed to move to Spain, I suddenly received a list of documents and legalization requirements from the legal team that apparently needed to be completed before everything could move forward.
And these weren’t things I could simply download and email over.
Some involved government offices, embassy legalization, banking documents, couriers and processing times. I eventually had to work with a third party just to help secure appointments and handle parts of the legalization process, which became very expensive.
These were things that realistically needed to be planned weeks, if not months, in advance.
Naturally, I asked why I was only finding out about all of this right before my move.
The response I got was essentially that I should have provided the documents earlier.
Which... yeah, that frustrated me.
There hadn't been any mention of these additional steps beforehand. Even the project manager seemed to think I was almost at the finish line, only for the legal side to suddenly introduce requirements neither of us seemed to have been preparing for.
That was when it really hit me that the different people managing my case apparently weren’t communicating with each other properly.
Things became even more stressful around the actual move.
They ghosted me for several business days before and after my flight. I found myself scrambling for help with the remaining requirements, arranging legalization, chasing documents, figuring out government procedures and coordinating much of the process myself.
I flew to Spain without knowing where things stood and felt abandoned.
They only got back in touch days after I had already arrived! and without a single apology or explanation why they were MIA.
I was incredibly anxious and felt very much left on my own at the exact point when I thought professional support would matter most.
At some point I remember thinking:
What exactly did I pay a premium relocation company for if I’m the one project-managing my own visa application?
There were smaller things too. One person handling my case repeatedly couldn't get my name right even though my name appeared throughout my documents. It added to the feeling that they just didn't care about me.
The delays also ended up costing me quite a lot of money.
I had to renew documents and residency-related things in the country I was leaving, adjust travel plans, pay for additional accommodation and document processing, use third-party services, and postpone parts of my relocation.
I completely understand that immigration authorities can be slow. Embassy appointments can be difficult to get. Government offices have their own processing times. Flights get cancelled.
I don't blame a relocation company for things genuinely outside their control.
What bothers me is everything that happened before those external factors became a problem.
If someone had given me a proper timeline and the guidance I needed months earlier, I could have prepared for most of this.
Instead, there were months of very little proactive communication, followed by a sudden scramble immediately before I was supposed to relocate.
Then I was made to feel as though I should somehow have known what needed to be done, despite this being my first time navigating an international relocation and one of the main reasons I paid professionals in the first place.
That’s the part I’m struggling to accept.
I would like a refund, but the contract is written in a way that makes obtaining one extremely difficult.
So I’d genuinely like some outside opinions:
I’m not naming the company or any of the people involved.
I’m considering eventually leaving a factual negative Google review about my experience. I want a fair resolution and, ideally, most of my money back.
I’m not wealthy. This was money I had specifically saved to relocate and start my life in Spain, which is probably why the whole experience has been so frustrating.
I’d genuinely like to know how other people would handle this situation.
Has anyone recently applied for the Spain DNV from the UAE/Spanish Embassy Abu Dhabi?
A few specific questions:
Is the application submitted directly to the Embassy or through BLS?
How easy was it to obtain the NIE and DNV appointment?
Does the 1-year DNV count toward the 5 years for permanent residency?
Can you obtain a TIE during that first year?
Any major disadvantage of the consular route compared with applying for the 3-year residency from inside Spain?
I’m considering this because Spanish tourist visa appointments in the UAE are extremely difficult to get, and I’m hesitant to use another Schengen state’s visa just to enter Spain and apply from there because of on going news about rejections because of using other member states visa for DNV application
Buenas
Estoy pensando en irme a vivir a España en Marzo / Abril del año 2027, cuento con ciudadania Italiana por lo que en cuestion del papeles estoy OK.
Ademas soy Licenciado en Comercio Internacional y aduana con 4 años de experiencia en el rubro, cuento con un posgrado en negocios y actualmente estoy cursando un master en la escuela de negocios europea de Barcelona.
Mi idea es ir a Valencia o Bilbao que son ciudades con grandes puertos y el costo de vida no es tan caro a comparacion de Madrid o Barcelona.
Me costara encontrar empleo de lo mio? Leo todas las experiencias o consejos.
Slds.
We're going to spend 10 days in Valencia for a vibe check and would love to hear from any American immigrants or expats if they want to share their experience.
I would like to know if anyone used an actual attorney for the visa process. I've searched online but it seems like all the places give advice and guidance but don't operate as power of attorney actually submitting things on your behalf.
Also, what are some good areas to check out for future apartments? We're already planning on L'Eixample, Mont Olivet, and El Pla Del Real.
Hello everyone. I am British and got married to my Spanish partner last week in Gibraltar. I have been in the Schengen area now for 2 months and have around 1 month left on my visa. When we got married, we received a confirmation letter which I was told would allow me to stay in Spain longer since we’re married. Our marriage certificate should arrive in the next couple weeks and I’m wondering where I stand?
Can I apply for the EX-24 with the confirmation letter? Can I overstay if it takes too long? Do I need to leave the country?
I am currently doing my PhD in Robotics & AI. I won't be completing it for another year or two, but my partner and I are planning for the future and are considering a move to Spain once I graduate.
What are the job prospects for someone in my position? What is a typical salary? How do research institutes compare with corporate roles and startups? How difficult do people generally find it to land jobs in this field?
In terms of location, my partner and I are quite fond of Madrid. However, it seems that most robotics-related jobs are based closer to Bilbao and Barcelona. Is that accurate, or are there any hidden gems that I'm missing?
I'm from an English-speaking country and have a modest level of Spanish (although I'm actively improving every day). Are most jobs in these areas conducted primarily in Spanish? How realistic is it for a non-native speaker to work in this kind of role?
So I want to study in Spain but i am really low budgeted and outside of a scholarship i need a job for my living expenses and i was thinking like yeah i probably have some hours that thet let me to work as an non-eu student but will it cover all my expenses so i also thought what if i do commissions like art commissions or other stuff. Will these working hours counts as my student visa working limit or is it not i am really curious and want to listen how someone in my situation done these things i really would appreciate it
Hola soy una mujer de 22 años que se supone que se va a graduar el proximo año.
Hay una platica recurrente con mi novio, él quiere que emigremos juntos a España dentro de unos 4 o 5 años pero yo nunca me he visto yendome de mi pais, esta platica se repite cada tanto y siempre es el mismo resultado, yo llorando porque no quisiera emigrar pero tampoco quiero una relación a distancia, y tampoco quiero terminar la relación.
Aunque son las únicas alternativas que veo y él tratardo de darme las razones por las que allá viviriamos mejor
Alguno a emigrado allá, validado su titulo y podido trabajar?
Siento que él pinta todo de color de rosa, dice que podria trabajar de lo que estudie, que allá la economia es 3 veces mejor, que tendriamos una casa por la mitad del precio de lo que valen en mi pais. Pero segun yo tienen muchos impuestos.
Bueno y me da terror irme, que no nos funcione, me da miedo el racismo, me da miedo tantas noticias que he visto sobre España, me da miedo que talvez simplemente no me guste la vida allá y querer regresar.
Cabe mencionar que él tiene familia y bases allá, su familia tiene un negocio o algo así pero yo no tendria a nadie.
Y se que es algo que no está pasando ahora mismo pero ya cada vez que saca el tema hasta me cuesta respirar de la ansiedad que me causa, alguien puede ayudarme a aclarar mi mente? 😔
Does anyone have any info if you are able to get a Spanish residency visa if you are a UK citizen that has an income from abroad. I work offshore in oil and gas so would be self sufficient. But from what I understand with the non lucrative visa you cannot work in spain or abroad? And the digital nomad visa is for working from home in spain.
En octubre viajo a España, me pienso quedar a vivir. El tema es si me conviene poner brackets en Argentina y seguir los ajustes y el mantenimiento allá o colocarlos allá directamente, tengo entendido que es más caro en España. Que recomiendan?