With the help of a neighbor Faith visited several offices to sift through what was needed to complete her Dad's visa. The process so far has been so typically 'Spanish' that I thought it would be good blog fodder.
Everything here requires a mountain of paperwork, and it's often not very clear why exactly any of it is necessary. You can guess, but are never sure. In this case, Faith and her friend visited the police office that the visa requirements specified, only to find out that that office was for Spaniards only. The office for foreigners (extranjeros) was the one that could help her with this particular letter. After arriving at the correct office, they discovered that in order to receive one simple letter of invitation from the government for her Dad to visit for 3 weeks she needed to provide the following:
1) photocopy of Faith's Spanish ID card
2) photocopy of her passport
3) photocopy of our rental contract
4) Certified copy of our registration with the local government
5) photocopy of Faith's birth certificate
6) photocopy of her dad's passport (since he is the one we are inviting)
7) 101 euros.
And the reward for jumping through all of these hoops? We would be awarded said requested letter of invitation from the police for Faith's dad in 1 month!! ("more or less")
Obviously Faith and our friend were sent into a panic at this. Which led to something else very Spanish - a way around all of this rediculousness...
In the original visa application, if you are visiting Spain as a tourist and staying at a hotel, all you need is a hotel reservation - no letter of invitation needed. It's only people who are visiting someone they know in Spain that need all the other stuff. So - instead of going through all that hassle for something that couldn't possibly be done in 8 days, we are just reserving a hotel, and that should be approved by the consulate, no problem.
Stay tuned :- ) And I know I said this would be short in the title - but like seemingly most everything else here in Spain, things just take longer to get done than you think they will :- )
Hasta Luego
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Through many people's prayers (I believe), I finally got my visa the day before the departure date. I did not take out the hotel reservation confirmation e-mail, and the visa supervisor agreed to give me visa, but warned there was no guarantee I will not get trouble. I think the requirement is nonsense--while people with the US passport do not need visa to enter Schengen Countries (EU) , those people even with green card (US permanent residence) are required either hotel reservation or invitation from the police station-a ridiculous requirement. Anyway, thank the Lord, they granted me visa. Next time, the best way is to book a hotel.
Thank Faith and Nate's efforts. I have copies down Nate's descriptions for future reference.
Faith's Dad
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