Delay in obtaining Work visa/residence for 1 year in Majorca

Laineyrose

My son and daughter in law applied for a visa to live/work in Majorca for a year.  They applied in June and are still waiting for an appointment at the consultancy in London.  They actually went to Majorca at the end of August, as their 10 year old daughter was due to start at school.  They are becoming very frustrated as they cannot seem to get anywhere with even getting a response to say what’s happening with regard to a visa.  They contacted an ex-pat lawyer, who has tried to help with this, but still getting nowhere.  You cannot even speak to anybody on the phone at the consultancy. They have done everything they had to do with regard to health insurance, attending a medical, having savings checked etc. so the visa is the final hurdle they cannot seem to get sorted.  The deadline for them is end of November as they are on the tourist visa which allows staying for 90 days.  Can anybody help with any advice with trying to get somewhere with this issue.

Neruda

They should not waste time using dodgy "consultancies" but apply directly to the Consular section of the Spanish embassy.

Laineyrose

Thanks for this, do you mean the Spanish embassy in London or Spain?  I thought you had to go to the British Embassy and they deal with the Spanish embassy.

eDicky

Usually when you want a visa for any country you apply to the consular section of that country's Embassy or consulate in your own country. It's nothing to do any British entity.

sheramber

Neruda said:

They should not waste time using dodgy "consultancies" but apply directly to the Consular section of the Spanish embassy.

I think the OP meant the consulate, not a consultancy.

martindow

Your post reminded me of this article in the Guardian a couple of weeks ago

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/sep/01/thousands-of-british-students-in-limbo-with-post-brexit-visa-chaos

This relates to students wanting Spanish visas and it looks like a very slow process with many people waiting.

Has the ten year old been accepted by the school?  I can imagine that Priti Patel would be gleefully refusing any UK public services if the situation were reversed.

Laineyrose

Thank you for sending me the Guardian link regarding students unable to obtain visas. The problem seems to be that so many students couldn’t get visas last year because of covid so couldn’t travel and also the amount of paperwork/costs involved after Brexit. This has meant double the applications for 2021.  The school for my granddaughter is a private one so no issue there, and there isn’t any other type of school for non Spanish anyway. It looks like my son and daughter in law have no chance of getting a visa as the Spanish consulate seem to be focusing mainly on student applications. If my son had a northern address they would have got an appointment by now as they seem to have a shorter waiting list.

martindow

Fingers crossed that it gets sorted.  I must say that your son showed a lot of confidence in going to Spain before the paperwork was in place. 

I am old enough to remember pre Common Market/ EU times when my cousin went to study in France.  The permits needed arrived at the end of the year she was there as she was about to return to the UK.  At that time though things were much more casual than they are now.

I don't think that this sort of bureaucracy tends to be speedy, unfortunately.

Laineyrose

It was a difficult decision for them to go before getting a long term visa sorted, but they decided to go ahead hoping they could get it sorted before the deadline end of November.  Also they had already signed a contract for an apartment and my granddaughter had been accepted in the school. It would seem a bit harsh if they had to come back just because of the bureaucracy as they have done all the paperwork, been checked to see if they had enough savings etc. they just haven’t been able to get an appointment at the consulate!  You would think they could appoint more staff to speed things up as surely it benefits Spain to have more Brits. over there, especially with the money lost due to the travel ban with Covid last year.  Also they are not looking for a job in Majorca or getting any benefits from them.  I will certainly be keeping my fingers crossed as well, and thank you for your comments.

brianposter

If they have all the paperwork done can they not simply apply for residence in Spain ? As far as I am aware that only takes a few weeks.

Laineyrose

If only it was that simple, just spoken with my son and he has to redo paperwork as the application can’t be more than 3 months old (applied in June). They are waiting for an appointment at the consulate in London, and when they can eventually get an appointment they all have to travel to London, then my son will have to fly back again to pick up the visa.  Nothing basically can be posted so have to attend in person!