If you are a Foreigner and seek to have Spain accept Tourist or Personal Relatives for residence in Spain, an Invitation Letter is necessary. Spain, a member of the European Union and signatory to the Schengen Agreement of June 1985, has an obligation to uphold the Schengen Border Code by controlling foreigners who wish to enter into other countries who are party to this Agreement.
- A Citizen of a Country who is a member of the European Union or beneficiary of the
Community Regime
- A Spanish Legal Foreign resident
In the letter of invitation, the Sponsor must affirm their understanding of the information contained in Art. 318 of the Penal Code listing illegal trafficking of people as a crime punishable by prison for infractions in article 54.1 b), 55.2 c), and 57.1 of the LO 4/2000, there is a fine with a minimum of 6001 and maximum of 60,000 Euros or banishment from Spanish territory for a period of 3 to 10 years and finally all Personal Information such as Passport Number, Nationality and Residence will be flagged to alert both the Police and Civil Guard.
MARLA BOJORGE
Corporate and Immigration Lawyer.
Valencia- SPAIN
marla@icav.es
1 comments:
When trying to apply for a visa recently the embassy stated I needed an "Official Letter from the Spanish Police" inviting me to stay in Spain (so that I could renew a six month visa to continue seeing my girlfriend who lives in Spain).
When she went to enquire about this they began saying they needed proof of ownership of the house she lives in, bank statements, utility bills, and that they needed to do a character check on her background (all quite invasive for a visit of just one week) and then said this process would take between one and two months.
This is an awful lot of red tape to visit my girlfriend for a few days, quite frankly I'm tired of being treated like a criminal just because I have a South African passport. Anyone from any European country can pass freely through the state, regardless of their background etc. I don't agree with these rules and would love to see these policies changed. It is not fair that we should have to pay €60 application fees every time we want to visit a country and spend money there, when our borders are open to any European.
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