When you apply for Spain’s Non-Lucrative Visa (NLV), timing is everything: there can be no more than 90 days between the date you get your first required document and the date you present your entire portfolio of documents to the Spanish Consulate.

So when my husband Michael and I our started our process in May of 2021, I documented every date for two reasons:

1. To be sure we “beat the clock” and
2. so that, perhaps, when this process was finished, I could post it and it might help someone else.

As of June 18, 2022, I was successful on both counts.

---

“Are you Rebecca?” she asked.

“I am,” I said, smiling, looking at her a little quizzically.

“I’m Lisa. We moved here from Asheville. I used your blog to get our NLV,” she said. “That’s my husband Matt over there.” She pointed to a guy in a salmon-colored shirt seated at the sidewalk cafe talking to others. “He retired on December 30th and we flew here on January 1.”

“Oh my gosh! Really?”

I had hoped my post about our NLV process would help someone. But I knew the chances were slim. Why? Because the Spanish consulates in the US change the rules more often than Michael and I change our sheets.

Okay. Maybe not that often.

The other problem?

Every consulate has their own rules.

Where you live determines which consulate you have to use and therefore which rules you have to follow. So my information would only help those living in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and DC (the places served by the consulate in Washington, DC).

Regardless, I documented every step of our process. I had no idea if it would help anyone else.

“I printed out your post and followed your list step-by-step,” Lisa told me as we stood chatting on Avenida de Francia.

She and her husband also got help finding an apartment from Margarita, thanks to my blog.

And now?

They live around the corner from me.

In the same building as my landlords.

I was at their apartment on Sunday where they served me fresh orange juice, homemade blueberry pancakes, and actual bacon. (Yes, Spain loves their ham. But bacon? Good luck finding that here. . . unless you are Lisa and Matt.)

Yesterday they stopped by–homemade banana bread in hand–to test out the recliner chairs Michael purchased for our apartment last year. They’re in the market for more comfortable seating themselves.

They are super nice people. And the fact that they live around the corner? And they feed me delicious food? Well, that’s only icing on the cake.