Just before Christmas, we received word from the Spanish Consulate in San Francisco that our visa had been approved and we actually have permission to move there! This was the culmination of nine months of effort, studying the requirements, gathering documents, trips to Olympia and San Francisco and correspondence with overseas insurance brokers.

We had dreamed for years of living somewhere in Europe, giving ourselves the opportunity to explore all of the places we haven’t yet visited there as well as revisiting some of our favorite cities like Paris and Rome without having to be at a dead run all the time. We gave some thought to where we’d like to live, taking into account cost of living, proximity to most of Europe, weather and ease of getting a long term visa (LOL) and settled on Spain.

Cindy’s retirement last spring was the starting gun. In March we began gathering the required documentation to apply for a non-lucrative long term visa. Among other requirements, we had to prove that we have adequate income, sufficient health insurance, we aren’t criminals and that we’re actually married. Many of these documents required Spanish translations by a certified translator and a sort of super-notarization called an Apostille which can only be obtained in Olympia in person. So we acquired an appointment with the consulate for the middle of May and dove into our homework.

We bought insurance through Insurance Agency #1 that appeared to meet the requirements. We went to the SPD to get fingerprinted and sent the print cards off to the State Patrol for a criminal background check. We contacted a certified translator. We contacted our money guy to get a statement of our income and savings. We filled out Spanish forms and got statements from our doctors that we don’t have Ebola. We got passport photos taken, and re-taken. We made a run to Olympia to retrieve a copy of our marriage certificate and get Apostille certificates.

May came and we flew to San Francisco. It felt like a celebration so we had a nice dinner in Jack London Square. Next day we appeared for our 10:00 appointment. After surrendering backpacks and cellphones, we were ushered into the inner lobby where we had our interview / document review with the consular representative.

It did not go well.

They were not impressed with our proof of income documents. They returned one of the forms we filled out because we answered one question “wrong” (following the instructions on the form) — and could have fixed it with whiteout and a pen. They really didn’t like our insurance, telling us that it had to be zero-deductible and zero copay, which was news to us. Our paperwork was returned to us and we were told to fix it and try again.

We retrieved our phones in the foyer and immediately went to the appointment website — where we found that the next available appointment was September 26, a four month delay! We trudged through the blustery wind and rain to the Buena Vista where we drowned our woes (and Cindy cried a bit).

That evening we enjoyed the one great experience of the trip. We had managed to get tickets to see Hamilton so we made our way through the rain and wind to the theater where we had a stiff drink and caught the fantastic musical. It was a good end to a difficult day.

What followed was four months of purgatory. We weren’t sure we’d ever get a visa. We were disappointed and frustrated; we had spent a bundle of money and were facing spending even more and as far as we could tell we were no closer to living in Europe. We made an appointment with the Portugese consulate, then canceled it, then made a later appointment. We hiked some, we traveled a bit (kayaking the Broken Island group in BC and a September trip to Denali) but mostly we just waited and fumed. We bought another insurance policy from Agency #2 which we were assured was compatible with Spanish visa requirements.

Around August we regrouped and started gathering documentation again, since many required documents were time sensitive and had expired since our last attempt. We booked our flights and hotel in San Francisco, grabbed our folder of documents and copies and steeled ourselves for another go.

Paperwork

At the consulate, the Woman in the Window took a long look at our paperwork and requested to see our full insurance policy. She was still not happy with our proof of sufficient funds and couldn’t understand why we don’t have pensions or social security. She sent us off to the copy / print store a few blocks away with instructions to have what she wanted and be back by 1:00. She kept our paperwork, a slightly encouraging sign.

We spent two hours and a bunch of cash rounding up and printing out the documents she wanted and hightailed it back to the Consulate. Another period of waiting and another shuffle through the paperwork and we were sent home with more demands and a new insurance requirement. She did keep our paperwork and said we could mail in the additional documentation.

We flew home discouraged and frustrated (again). We started really working on paperwork for Portugal, only to discover that we had to send yet another set of fingerprints off to the FBI for our criminal background checks, which wouldn’t likely be returned in time for our Portuguese appointment, so we rescheduled that for late December.

We found a broker in Madrid who assured us that he could get us insurance that would meet all of the visa requirements (a promise we’d heard before) so we applied and transferred another bundle of money to Agency #3. We pulled all of the newly-required documents together and express mailed it to the consulate. Then we waited.

October and November passed without a word. In early December we received an email demanding a certified translation of our marriage certificate and a statement from our newest insurance that they were aware of and willing to cover our pre-existing conditions. Oh and return this in ten days please. A series of panicky (on our side) messages back and forth to Madrid got the required documentation; another express mail package went off to the Consulate.

On December 15 (a Sunday night, no less) we received an email that our visa application had been approved.

We were stunned. We booked one-way flights to Madrid on February 27.

OMG, that’s just over two months. We’ve gotta get the house ready to rent!