How it works
The whole journey, honestly.
Most of the visa timeline isn’t the government — it’s getting your documents right the first time. Here’s the whole journey, honestly.
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Week 0
Free assessment
The 2-minute quiz; within 24 hours I send a written assessment plus a preliminary document checklist. If your case can’t be approved as it stands, I say so here — before you pay anything.
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Weeks 1–2
Strategy
Video call, you and me. We fix your route (file from Spain for a 3-year permit vs. consulate for 1 year), your exact document map, and your full cost in writing: my fee plus every third-party expense, quoted for your case.
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Weeks 2–8
Building the file
The long-lead items start first: the FBI check with federal apostille, and for W-2 employees, the Social Security Certificate of Coverage — the one item that takes months, especially with PEOs like Justworks. I review every document myself with AI-assisted checks: validity windows, apostille types, insurance terms, income evidence.
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Filing week
We file
You’re in Spain — I plan your entry evidence with you (keep your boarding passes). I file online with the Spanish authorities. Typical resolution: about 20 business days.
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After approval
Settled
Residence card (TIE), town-hall registration, and referrals for tax setup — many clients qualify for the 24% Beckham rate. I stay your lawyer throughout.
What I do. What you do.
My side
- Strategy and route decision
- Personal review of every document
- Employer and client letters, drafted right
- Sworn-translation coordination
- The filing itself, and every response to the authorities
Your side
- Ordering the documents I map for you, when I flag them
- Signing what needs your signature
- Being in Spain on filing day
The five traps I catch.
These five mistakes cause most rejections I see. Each one is invisible until the government points at it.
- Expired background checks. The FBI check has a short validity window in Spanish practice — order it too early and it dies before filing.
- Insurance with copays or waiting periods. It looks like health insurance. Spain says it isn’t.
- The wrong apostille type. Federal documents need a federal apostille; state documents need a state one. Mixing them up restarts the clock.
- Income documented the wrong way. Spain wants gross, recurring, and provable — not a screenshot of your bank balance.
- Remote-work letters that don’t mention Spain. A generic “works remotely” letter fails. The letter has to authorize work from Spain, explicitly.