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I immigrated to Spain in July. I could have done it myself without help but I was going through a divorce and decided I wanted help in getting through the immigration process as the divorce process was far messier than I thought it was going to be.

To support me in the process of immigration, I chose a lawyer's office in the city I was moving to - for me it was Santander, Cantabria. I am so glad I did. First, they reviewed all the documents I had compiled but more importantly told me I didn't need something that would have cost me hundred of dollars to get. That was worth the cost. But they also completed the forms I needed to complete and sent them to me to print and sign. In one place in particular, I wasn't sure the box to check so I'm glad they did it.

Everything was accepted without problem.

Then when I arrived in Santander, they met me and went with me to the two offices to submit my residency. Here again, they completed all the forms and I just signed them. This was especially helpful as my Spanish is not great and I have a difficult time understanding spoken Spanish. So I was glad to have a person with me to guide me to the offices and through the offices.

When it came time to get my residency card, I coordinated with them to go to the immigration office on a day and time when they expected me. This made it easier. If someone was fluent in Spanish this wouldn't be an as much of an issue but still helpful getting through the offices.

So my recommendation is to find a lawyer in the area you are moving to that will support you in the process of completing the paperwork and once you arrive to support you in registering with the local government and the immigration office.

I paid just over 500 euros for what I have described and feel it was money well spent.

I’m leaning toward hiring an immigration lawyer as well, but I’ve heard through several blogs that (not sure if I’m allowed to mention the name on this site but I’ll try it) a company called Atlys basically walks you through everything for a fraction of what a lawyer would.

@tomwins

Thanks, tomwins! I thought a lawyer would cost much more than 500 euros. If I can find one like yours who can help me with moving to Valencia, that will be great  :-)

@rdruby699

Thanks for the suggestion, Ruby. I looked at their site and it appears they only deal with short-term visas, not the NLV. But they are cheap - just $50.

Not sure why you want to waste your money, when you can do all the paperwork yourself.

@tomwins Thanks for the info! It's amazing how much cheaper the lawyer fees are there compared to the US, and everything that they've done for you.

@tomwins Thanks for the info! It's amazing how much cheaper the lawyer fees are there compared to the US, and everything that they've done for you.
-@gdikel

Lawyer fees are just as high in Europe as they are in the USA. But you DON'T need them, all the information you ned can be found online for free. So, save your money.

@rdruby699 read the reviews of Atlys on the Apple App store and decide if you want to deal with that level of risk.

You can do all the work yourself according to the instructions on the consular website and save yourself money!