Pareja de hecho

Hi Angela,
I am also American and now starting the process of Pareja de Hecho.  I came to Spain in 1999 (Bilbo) on a student visa first, then a temporary residency visa, then a work visa.  Since the beginning I tried to get normal residency as my father was a Spanish national.  Now 14 years later I still have nothing.  The process of pareja de hecho seems to be the quickest way.  Unlike marriage, it is a union that needs to renewed every 5 years and without the risks (financial). If you have the option to do this then I would recommend it. 
Nikane

Hi Nikane!

I found this post while searching Google for, what else, "pareja de hecho."  I'm also an American with no recent ties to the EU beyond renewing my student visa every year since 2010.  I'd like to find a more stable job, but every employer wants a work visa first, which I can only get with a job first...classic Catch-22.

My Spanish partner is willing to do the pareja de hecho so that I can have more job options for the next 5 years.  Would you mind sharing how you started the process?  I figured we'd have to go the ayuntamiento and prove that we live together (rental contract, bank accounts - things like that?) and then the actual visa would be issued in the U.S.  Is that how it goes?  I have no idea where to start!

I have my residency due to being in a Pareja de Hecho relationship with a spanish partner.  It took about three months for us to do all the paperwork.  Depending on where you live the rules are a bit different, but basically at the local town hall you have to show a history that proves you have been living together for one year and neither of you is already married, then we had to go to another office with those papers, another government office, that was something like family social services (sorry I do not remember what they are called in Spanish, someone else can help me out with the proper names?) and get the Pareja de hecho. Next we went to another office (immigration maybe) to apply for a residency card.  They asked that I proved I had my own health insurance and then I had to wait to see if I was approved. Once I was approved I took that letter to the police office to apply for the actual NIE card.  They took my finger prints and we filled out some more forms. I think it was about 10 days later that I was able to return to pick up the card. At no time in the process did I have to return to my county of citizenship (for me Canada).  Hope that helps a wee bit, good luck.

That is definitely helpful, especially as you're residing in Valencia; thanks so much!

Maybe the office was related to arraigo social/familiar?  That term seems to pop up a lot.

One question, if you don't mind me asking - did you have the health insurance through your job, or did you contract it independently?  I've only had medical insurance through this student internship, which will end in May 2014.  The end of my job and medical insurance is why we were considering doing the pareja de hecho - basically to make finding a job (and thus insurance) easier.