Well we finally made it!!!!
To Valencia Spain that is!
Its been an arduous jouney that started almost a year ago with the sale of my house...what finally promted the migration was the election of one enorme naranja pendejo!
Don't let anyone tell you its a easy and a piece of cake. Even with already having passports, the whole process took a long time. We opted for NLV (nonlucrative visa), more comonly known as retirement visas.
So 1st off was a heartfelt discussion and setting triggers that would prompt us to move. We figured it would be maybe 2 years, but the enorme naranja pendejo blew through our triggers in less than 6 months.
1-Start to gather all the documents required by Spain for the VISA
2-Sell the house which meant I had to get the tenants out. Really hated to make them move because they had been there for over 5 years and were really great tenants and people, but selling with tenants in the house would have delayed things. So in January of last year I gave them 2 months notice. Then a month or so to get the house ready for showing and sale. From the time the listing went up to when I received the funds and escrow closed was 56 days. So I consider that really great. Full price offer too!
3-Set my retirement date from work.
4-Hire a relocator in Spain to help us with documents and navigating the notoriously slow Spanish beaurocracy.
5-Get VISA appointment from the Spanish Consulate in Los Angeles.
6-Attend the interview and present off the required documents (many had to be apostilled and translated by officially reconginzed translators). That took time and money.
7-Then just wait. Partner had his VISA approved in mid-october....then we waited and waited and waited and waited for mine to be approved.
Seems the consulate "mispaced my paperwork".
8-Got an imigration lawyer involved and he in turn got the Consul General and someone from the Foreign Ministry involved.
Finally got the VISA approved in mid-Februay. 6-months after the submission and 4 months after my partners was approved!
9-Had to get a clearance for our cat and be in country within 10 days.
We had that all set up and the day of your flight Lufthansa exprerienced a 2-day cockpit crew strike and our flights were cancelled.
Rescheduled a few days later but was a chore to get seats together.
The clearance certificate for the cat expired right on the day we got to Spain!....Whew!
Our relocator couldn't meet us as they had a trip planned already to Andalusia...and our apartment hunter couldn't meet us because he had family flying in from Italy for Las Fallas.
Oh, we flew into Valencia right in the middle of Las Fallas...big event here in Valencia. Lots of turists from all of the world. Fireworks and noise until very late at night (or early in the morning)
Still, we are so greatful we are finally here and starting our new life away from the drama of el enorme naranja pendejo!
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I hope your future is brighter than it looked a couple years ago!
I have thought about going offshore but I never got very far with it. I did move closer to the shore and close to another country, though. Never know, I might think about taking the leap in the future.
Enjoy the the knew lease on life! You picked a good spot.
That's got to be a huge relief. Sounds like a long and laborious process, but so worth it.
I hope all three of you love the new digs!
Please let Europe know, we're sorry and we hate this guy too.
Please keep in touch with us on DU. We'd love to hear about your new and exciting adventures.
Happy you ecaped!