From Georgia to Spain

Mikhail lived in Georgia and worked for a Russian company as a commercial director. An attempt to obtain a French Schengen visa through the Netherlands consulate ended in rejection, which forced him to extend his residence permit in Georgia, wait for a new opportunity, and apply again. Eventually, the Schengen visa was approved for one year. After this, he decided to apply for a digital nomad residence permit and began preparing the application.

1. Document Preparation

The document package for an employed digital nomad was standard: insurance from a Spanish company with full coverage and no waiting periods, criminal record certificate from Russia, remote work letter, and other documents. Despite this, two key challenges arose during the process.

First challenge – new practice of legalizing criminal record certificates from Georgia

Previously, two steps were sufficient:

1. Translate the certificate into Spanish. This could be done at the same place where it was issued — at the Ministry of Internal Affairs Service Agency of Georgia or a branch of the House of Justice. The translation was issued as a separate document, with an apostille and a note that the translation was done by the institution’s translator.
2. Have the translation certified by the Spanish Chargé d’Affaires in Georgia, who would put their signature, round seal, and mandatory rectangular stamp. However, at the time when the applicant planned to travel to Spain, UGE changed the rules for accepting criminal record certificates: additional legalization through the Georgian Embassy and Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAEC) was now required.

How we solved the issue:

The applicant couldn’t complete the procedure independently as the Spanish Embassy only accepts Georgian citizens. Therefore, we engaged a lawyer in Madrid who arranged the translation and legalization of the document within 10 working days to have it ready for submission.

Second challenge – qualification verification

The applicant’s education, mining engineering, is regulated. In Spain, working as an engineer requires degree homologation (recognition). The procedure is lengthy, taking about a year, so standard qualification verification was impossible.

How we solved the issue:

Instead of the diploma, we attached the work record book with relevant work experience, translated by a sworn translator. This allowed us to confirm the applicant’s professional competence and avoid homologation.

2. Document Submission and Approval

The applicant flew to Spain, sent us scans of passports with arrival stamps, and paid the fees at a local ATM.

Submission date: July 5, 2024

Approval date: July 23, 2024

Documents were submitted in full, which helped avoid additional requests.

3. Fingerprinting and Receiving the Residence Card

Chosen city: Madrid

After receiving approval, Mikhail and his wife provided fingerprints at the police station and received their residence cards a month later.

Even when documents present challenges, they can be resolved quickly with the right approach.