You want r/AskSpain
Rental law in Spain says that once you live somewhere for 6 months you can break the lease, but before that you’re at the whim of the landlord and whatever penalty they have for a broken lease. The law now also limits deposits to one month’s rent. It sounds like you signed a lease written to take advantage of foreigners who don’t know any better. You could speak to a lawyer (ask for recs in a Spanish sub) but not sure what can really be done now.
There’s zero chance. TEFL certificates are meaningless in real schools, they’re for working in language academies and teaching privately, neither of which you’ll get a visa for in Europe. You need a teaching license and experience in your own country in order to get a job at an international school (an MA in TESOL is helpful), or you need to meet the requirements to work as a teacher in your target country (which is often a profession restricted to citizens, as teaching in some countries is a civil service position).
There are some teaching exchange programs if you just want a change in scenery for a year or two, where you’d just be working as a classroom assistant. The Spanish ministry of education runs one (I’ve worked in it for years), and there’s TAPIF in France. There’s also the Fulbright ELA program, which is highly competitive, and an extremely small program in Italy called SITE, though it’s very limited. You can also apply for a freelance visa and teach in academies and as a private tutor in Germany, though that option requires some commitment due to how much work it is getting set up, finding clients, taking care of taxes, etc. But lots of people do it, so it’s definitely an option.
But the cost prevents many people from experiencing good and fast service. What good is high quality, efficient care if it’s only available to those who have money? Those who aren’t part of the “vast majority” (and we’re not talking a handful of people here and there – this is tens of millions of America’s most vulnerable citizens) are excluded from quality care.
I would assume it’s be obvious that the staples had ripped out or become unattached and then were restapled, but again, check with whoever you’re giving the background check to.
Not everyone is comfortable having a total stranger attend intimate medical appointments with them (ever been to the gynecologist while someone you don’t know interprets for you?), and interpreters usually only exist in large hospitals where there’s a significant population of minority language speakers. You’re not going to find an interpreter for standard medical appointments at small clinics or with your family doctor in small towns.
There’s a doctor in Madrid that all the English-speaking students and immigrants use bc he used to practice in Texas and speaks English essentially like a native, and he gets so much business from this community. I always thought there’d be a real market in popular destinations for “expat” medical services (docs practicing on the local/national system who speak native-like English). I had C1 German in Germany and now am in Spain with C1 Spanish and it was still a struggle to have medical conversations with local doctors. Sometimes it’s really nice to not have to translate every word in your head when you have a distressing medical issue.
Every consulate I’ve dealt with for visa purposes has said that am apostille is invalid of it becomes detached from the background check. Talk to the consulate you’re using if this is for a visa, or with the organization you’re submitting the background check to if it’s for something else. Technically altering an apostille in any way, including restapling it, renders it invalid.
Germany is massively inefficient and bureaucratic. Makes Spain look amazing in comparison (and Spain is pretty frustrating at times itself). Had wonderful experiences in Denmark and Ireland, however.
Not fact checking all of these, but at the very least Spain is 5 years after achieving permanent residency, which takes five years. So it’s 10 years total living in Spain on a non-temporary visa (years spent on temp visas, like a student visa, only count for half a year when it comes to achieving permanent residency).
For electronic prints no, but you can get your prints taken anywhere you want if you’re submitting physical prints via mail. You can print out a print form on the FBI website. It’ll take longer by mail, of course.
Germany - Germany seems to be THE place people mention when it comes to self employment. But it also seems to be the most difficult to get, which is why I’m iffy. It’s one of thode visas that seems really simple but we all know it’s not.
Germany has a freelance visa for people who do work for clients in Germany. It is not a self-employment visa and it is not a digital nomad visa. You cannot get a visa to live in Germany and run a blog unless your work involves invoicing German clients and there is a strong business reason why you need to be in Germany for this work. Otherwise your application will be rejected. Germany is *not* one of the countries where you can just come and work online. You’d need to submit a detailed business plan (in German) proving your business requires you to be in Germany, and no more than 60% of your income can come from a single source. I’d cross this one off your list, unless you’d actually be doing invoiceable work for clients who are physically in Germany. If you manage to be approved for a freelance visa, German freelance taxes are stiff. I worked freelance in Germany and the taxes and deductions (you pay for your own health insurance, your complete social security contributions, etc., – things your employer would normally pay half of if you worked for a German employer) came to a little over 40% of my earnings. I was better off in a lower-paying salaried job when all was said and done.
Spain’s visas are teletrabajo (digital nomad) and autonomo (freelance). Teletrabajo is for people who have a salaried job with an employer outside of Spain. Autonomo visas require a business plan written in Spanish and allow you to work for clients physically located in Spain. It’s the visa used by freelance teachers, designers, and so forth.
It also depends on whether you’re renting through an immobilaria or through a private landlord. If you’re renting privately you’ll have a far easier time of it, most landlords are pretty flexible. Renting through agencies can be a pain in the ass.
Not at all difficult as long as you can show the landlord you can afford the rent. Bank statements, etc will suffice for this.
If you have a house to sell then you’ll probably have no trouble meeting the income requirements for a Spanish non-lucrative visa. Lets you live in Spain for a year (and renew for as long as you like as long as you have funds), you just can’t work (though no one is ever going to know or care about casual cash-only work like babysitting or doing a few projects for people back home and so on). Gives you a lot of freedom to travel, take language classes, and experience the culture. Plus the cost of living is low and the pace of life here in Spain is nice and slow. It’s a great place to spend a few years.
Eh, you’re an adult, who cares what they think? It’s your life, not theirs. Do what you want and don’t worry so much about what people who aren’t you say about it. You are not obligated to stop living your life (or to live a worse version of it) bc mom and dad might disapprove. They’re going to disapprove of a lot of things over the course of your life. They’ll be ok. Their feelings aren’t your responsibility.
Has your kid been recruited to train at this academy? You can’t just turn up at these places and jump in so presumably you’ve been in touch with recruiters or coaches, and high-level sports academies have offices that deal with these sorts of issues. Have you spoken to them about what visa they’re sponsoring your son on?
Otherwise, if you’re just moving to Spain and hoping your son can play football somewhere while you’re there, then yes, your family could go on an NLV, providing you have the cash upfront in savings (about 32k per year plus additional sums for each dependent) to qualify. NLVs are for one year, and when you renew in Spain at the end of the year the renewal period is 2 years, so your spouse would need further proof of 2 additional years worth of savings at the end of the first year.
You want northern Spain. Look into Bilbao, Santander, Gijón, Santiago de Compostela, some of the smaller cities in Galicia, Asturias, etc. Maybe La Rioja.
Barcelona is very expensive, though some of the smaller cities in Catalunya are nice (but will be more densely Catalan-speaking than Spanish). Girona is beautiful.
You’re probably better off in r/AskSpain or r/GoingtoSpain for detailed responses.
Does your US bank not offer online check deposits? Through my US bank app I can simply scan the front and back of a check and deposit it. I can also mail the check to my bank and deposit it that way. If your bank doesn’t offer this you should consider opening an account with one that does, because this is a very convenient option to have. I bank with Ally back home and online check deposit has been a lifesaver.