Live In Spain – How to Apply for the Non-Lucrative Visa eBook

UPDATED for 2023! 

I want to live in Spain!

Does this sentence describe your desire?  If so, then you have found the right place.  If you are an American or Canadian, or even just an English speaking resident of a non-European Union (E.U.) country, then Live In Spain could be just what you need.  Is it your dream to retire in Spain?  Live In Spain is the book that will help turn that dream into a reality.

If you're interested in applying for either a Retirement or Non-Lucrative Visa, you're going to want Live In Spain.  This book provides the information and tools I wish I would have had when Heidi and I applied for our visas.  It covers all aspects of the visa process in a huge amount of detail.   At close to 100 pages, it is an excellent guide to help you maximize your efforts in obtaining a Spanish Visa.

“…but I don’t know how to do it, or where to start.”

Many people think the only way you can gain residency in Spain is with Spanish heritage, an education, or a work visa.  Those are also valid ways to become a resident, but with the Non-Lucrative or Retirement Visa, you can live in Spain for up to 5 years.

That’s where Live In Spain comes in.  There are many tasks necessary to get you to the point of applying for the visa.  This book will help you navigate the tangled web of requirements, and optimize the time you spend working towards the visa.

“Why should I listen to you?”

That is an excellent question.  My wife and I have been through the process personally and lived in Spain for two years.  And we loved it!  Live In Spain has helped dozens of others succeed in obtaining that visa.  We made plenty of mistakes while we were gathering documents.  It didn't help that the consulate’s instructions were not always as clear they could be.  Learn from our mistakes; avoid the common errors that are made when pursuing a Spanish visa.  We've been through the process, and can help cut out the red tape!

Heidi and I were both successful professionals.  We worked at excellent jobs, for large well-known companies.  We had the big house, the two cars, and all the toys that go with being successful.  We were living the American Dream.

Only, that dream wasn't fulfilling. We were so busy maintaining the infrastructure of our lives that we were not able to enjoy it.  We weren't seeing the kids as much as we wanted and were not connecting as a family.  Once we figured out that we wanted to live in Spain, the entire family went through a huge transformation, and greatly simplified our lives.

Once Heidi and I knew that it was possible, it was a matter of adjusting the family’s priorities, and ignoring the “common wisdom” of how we're supposed to be living our lives.  And along the way, we started a travel blog dedicated to helping others realize their goals of travel.

“Don’t I have to be rich?”

No, you don’t.  There are many common misconceptions about what is needed to move to Spain.

We thought…

• you had to be a millionaire in order to live in Spain;
  
• that it was necessary to have an international job in order to live in Spain;
  
• we needed to be over 60 to retire and live in Spain;
  
• we needed employment sponsorship to live in Spain;
  
• we needed Spanish heritage to live in Spain;
  

We were wrong! We found an uncommon visa called the Non-Lucrative Visa.  It is essentially a non-working visa.   Under this visa, you are not allowed to obtain Spanish employment.   It’s very similar to the Retirement Visa.  So similar in fact that the requirements are almost identical between the two.

“How much does the book cost?”

You’re probably asking, “How much does it cost?”  We'll get there.  This latest revision has been significantly updated, and provides some seriously useful tools to aid in project management (this is a project after all), and time management.  To prove how useful Live In Spain will be to you, here are some questions you should ask yourself if you're planning on applying for a Retirement or Non-Lucrative Visa:

Do you have a high-level understanding of the entire process?

It’s a lot of work, but if the goal is to live in Spain, you'll want to know what you’re in for.  The Overview Of The Process chapter provides an excellent 30,000-foot level overview of the entire process.  From “Let’s do it!” to “Your Spanish visa has been approved!”, this book has you covered.

How many types of translation are there?

Three.  You'll want to know exactly how many types there are, and which ones you're going to want to use, and they are described in the Translation of Documents chapter.

Do you know where to go to obtain the necessary forms?

There are a number of forms that you'll need to download.  The Obtaining The Required Forms and Downloading The Spanish Forms chapters give you the necessary information to find and download the proper forms from your particular Spanish consulate.

Do you know what an Apostille is, where to get it, and which documents need it?

The short answer is that an Apostille is a type of document authentication.  It’s provided by your state/federal government, and it’s necessary for those documents supplied by state/federal agencies.

All of the Apostille details are mentioned in the Apostille — Not The Candy chapter.  I tell you exactly how to find the proper state and federal agencies (hint: Secretary of State and Department of State), the proper form to use, and some useful tips to help with inter-agency routing of your documents.

Do you have a projected timeline for the visa process?

I would be surprised if you did.  With so many variables outside of your control, it’s hard to know WHERE to begin (also WHEN).  This is a new chapter in the latest version of Live In Spain, and it’s the Visa Timeline tool.  It can help you put together a timeline so you can determine when certain tasks can be done/scheduled.

Do you know how many visa requirements there are?

You better!  The Gathering What You Need chapter discusses those requirements, and provides you with specific guidance for each.  The real answer is more complicated, and it depends on many factors such as:

• How many family members are applying?
  
• Which consulate you will applying to?
  

I bet you didn't know that there are differences between the consulates’ requirements.  There are, and Live In Spain will help you determine what those requirements are.

How are you going to keep track of all of the documents?

You will be tracking forms, documents, and other requirements, and you better have a system to help keep you organized.  What you need is the Visa Requirements Checklist!  What is it?  It is the tool to help you keep track of which documents you have, which ones you need, and the various states of those documents.  As I mention in the Live In Spain, having this tool would have made our application process so much easier and less stressful.  This invaluable tool is described in Appendix C – Visa Requirements Checklist.  It’s been completely redone, and is available online.  It’s pretty slick!

So how did you do?

Live In Spain is packed full of useful, specific information.  The cost of applying for a visa is not cheap.  Now back to the question you asked at the beginning.  If I were to tell you that the cost is $99, you might say that that’s a bit pricey.  But let’s put this in perspective.  If you are planning on applying for a Spanish visa, there will be costs associated with gathering all of the documents, and submitting your application.  A rough estimate is $500 per person.

I’m going to bet though that it’s not the hard dollar cost that concerns you.  It’s the TIME! “Time is money”, as the old saying goes, and you will be spending a lot of time in the preparation of your visa documents.  By purchasing Live In Spain, you will save yourself hours in managing your visa project, and you'll walk into the consulate confident that you’ve got exactly what you need.  At $99, Live In Spain would be an incredible value given the amount of time you'll save.  But Live In Spain isn’t $99 !

If you were to hire an attorney or company to assist in the visa process, you would probably spend upwards of $1000, and you would still have to gather all of the documentation yourself.  The visa experts will charge anywhere from $75 – $200 per hour!  So at $99, Live In Spain would be a huge savings in cold, hard cash.  But Live In Spain isn’t $99.  Live In Spain is priced at:

$59.95

With the savings in time and money, Live In Spain represents a very small investment in furthering the pursuit of your goal of obtaining that visa, and living in Spain!

Quotes from Customers

"Overall, this was a surprisingly comprehensive guide that includes lots of detail that would be difficult for someone to find online on their own.  And the resources at the back are like the cherry on the sundae.  So useful!"

- Shawna N.

"We loved Heidi and Alan's book and found it a great resource for getting a resident visa in Spain.  Visa applications can be incredibly frustrating, but they managed to make the process much more straightforward.  The content was really well presented, clearly written, and helpful.  Highly recommended."

- Micki and Charles Kosman

"Great job.  This is definitely a needed service.  Hopefully those that follow will buy it like hot cakes."

- T.W.     

"Just wanted to let you know we received our Non-lucrative Visas! ... They were really nice to us.  I think they were surprised we were so prepared and organized... I went in w/a positive attitude, which helped me stay calm.  Thank you so much for taking the time to write Live in Spain, it was a Big Help."
- Kathy B.