I'm illegal here in spain, what do i do now to get my permiso de residencia

[Patricia]

Hello

I understand that you are not divorced but separated De facto, and therefore you are still legally married. Your family realtuinship has not changed then, until a divorce has been processed.

Once you are divorced, you are granted 6 months to notify the Immigration authorities about your new situation to change you regimen to General instead of Comunitario. If you renew your card before you are divorced you won´t need to notify it, as the new card will grant you permanent right of stay and the next card renewal won’t require you to prove your relationship with the EU citizen.

If you got divorced after 3 years of marriage and you had already lived as a resident in Spain for one year, you would be given the opportunity to shift to an ordinary salaried work and residence permit, providing you have a work contract in hand, you are a self-employed individual or you have sufficient financial resources to live without the need to work. Of course the new situation has to be informed to the Immigration authorities, and you are given 6 moths to do it since the new situation takes place, that is, since the divorce sentence has been issued. If at the time your card expires, you are already divorced, you won´t be able to provide with the required marriage certificate. This means you will be able to apply for the Long Stay residence card under regimen general, showing you are no longer married to the EU citizen.

If at the time of renewal you are still a registered marriage, you will be able to get a long term residence card without a problem. I recommend you to start gathering documentation about your financial situation, as the Immigration authorities are very strict in this regard lately. Also important is to have a good relationship with your ex-partner as if she does not collaborate providing with documentation from her side, you may be in trouble to renew your card ( you need to appear together in the empadronamiento ).

You can find more information on the Extranjeria section of the Ministry of Public Administration Website: Ciudadanos No Comunitarios- Modificar una autorizacion.


Regards,

[Unregistered]

Hi Patricia,

Thanks,

If my regimen is changed to from Comunitario to General, will I be legal? As I said, I am not yet legal, and I hoped that after getting married, I would get documents. Though I am not yet divorced, and hope it wont be. Just in case she divorces me, then what would be my status? With General regimen, would I be legal and member of EU, just I am now?

Regards!

[Patricia]

Hello

Yes, regimen comunitario and general ar two different immigration names to differentiate the rules that apply for the authorizations but they are both legal in terms of being authorized to reside in Spain.

You say that you are not yet legal? But you mentioned in your message you got a 5 year residence card. I am afraid your message is confusing, so please clarify so I can give you the correct advice.

If you divorce ( and you are a legal resident with the 5 year residence card as the relative if an EU citizen ), you can shift to a residence permit under regimen general; that is, you will still have a legal status but no longer considered under the ruling for those that are relatives of EU citizens.

Regards,