If you hate waiting in lines as much as I do and you are looking to create a Plan B living/travel option for yourself, perhaps this is for you. Upon my travels throughout Jalisco, Mexico I’ve noticed on several occasions the extreme lines to simply apply for a tourist visa for entry to the US. It’s often the dream for Mexicans to ‘make it’ in the United States. I’ve seen people juggling pages, folders, their bag with a look of nervousness on their face that they may be rejected after all that work and money spent. I know for a fact that this nervousness and hassle to play by the rules has elected some to cross illegally.
For Mexicans or Latin Americans alike who are interested in spending some time in the United States, perhaps because they enjoy it, to see family, to carry on financial activities there may be another route available to you.
It’s possible for citizens of Ibero-America (Latin America) to apply for Spanish citizenship after 2 years of legal residency in Spain. This may be a more comfortable experience for you without having the burdens on having to know lots of English & perhaps a more unique experience having a European-way of life. There are many ways to obtain residency in Spain. Some are:
- Work Permit; through employment with a Spanish company
- Student Visa; Acceptance to university/college
- Business Visa; through starting a business in Spain
- Nomad Visa; through having remote employment/income
- Golden Visa; invest at least 500,000 Euros into Spanish real estate
- Family member of EU citizen; If your family member who holds EU citizenship
- Research Residency; for researchers/scientists employed by public/private instituations or university for research purposes
- Non-lucrative Visa; Proving funds of ~29,000 Euros in a bank account
Each one of these have their own requirements and terms, so be sure to consider them in more depth to see if you qualify.
It’s my understanding that it is possible to become resident in Spain and not become tax resident depending on your purpose & time stayed in the territory, but for sake of simplicity this will often involve paying taxes in Spain (for the 2 years). Spain, like Mexico is absolutely terrible for taxes, so that’s a whole other conversation. You’re allowed to have temporary travel outside of the country and still not disturb your time counted towards the 24 months; but this has its limitations as well.
This is especially interesting if your intent was to go to the United States for work purposes anyway. You can work to obtain Euros and at the same time work towards a second passport which grants you access to live/work all throughout the European Union (and European Economic Area with exceptions) PLUS visa free entry to the United States for 90 days. It’s a great deal because most citizenships-by-naturalization are 5-20 years in duration and you’re narrowing it down just to 24 months. You get to call yourself a Spaniard too!
I should note that Spain is known for their bureaucracy, endless details on procedures and are subject to tremendous regulations from the European Union. Also as a reminder, Spain do not have low taxes either, so if you’re going to take this offer, please pay attention to your days spent in the country and where (what) you owe taxes (on). Nevertheless, this may be an interesting experience to live anywhere in Spain, travel Europe, a way to make some more money (in case of employment/investment) & moving towards a Plan B citizenship in times of crisis.
Please spend the time to go over my site and feel free to get in touch, anytime!
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