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Hi, I am Brian's wife. I replied to you yesterday with a comment, and it included a link, but it seems that CZcams didn't like that so my comment is no longer visible. Anyway, google "fbi background check" and go to the FBI site - looks like you can go and give your fingerprints at a US Post Office and then compete the process online. We didn't do our background check via the FBI so I don't have first hand experience. When we applied via the NYC consulate in 2021, a state background check was applicable if you had only lived in one state the past five years. Looks like things changed.

@@jerrycamp4723 Thanks for the question Jerry. See Jessica’s comment. Best of luck!

Thanks for watching and for the comment. That is a unique situation. My understanding is that if you get pulled over, the police will determine if you need to have the L sign based on the dates on your license. So, if your license dates state you have had a license for more than a year, the expectation would be NOT to have the L sign. We know the L helps because other drivers may be more patient with you. My suggestion is to ask your driving instructor. They will probably be able to give you some insight. If you want the L, and there is no danger of getting a fine for having it on the car after the year, then go for it! However, if your instructor says you could get a fine for having L after a year of having a license issued to you, I would think twice. Good luck!

@BrianLawrence thank you for the detailed feedback

Hello! Thanks for the comment and sorry for my delayed response. In regard to getting into the job market here in Spain, the best advice I can give is to network as much as you possibly can. The job market in IT is not great no matter where in the world you are.. so getting someone to refer to you to a possible position is the best approach. That being said, I have primarily used LinkedIn to find possible positions. Depending on your tech skills, another site you may find helpful is: www.getmanfred.com/ Welcome to Spain and I wish you the best of luck in your job search. -Brian

@@BrianLawrence thanks much for your suggestions

For sure! Thanks for the comment Edgar.

Hi Shiva! Thanks for the comment. For sure, I was able to find it. It is the intersection of Calle Corregidor Fancisco de Lujan and Calle Corregidor Antonio de Bobadilla. Link: goo.gl/maps/84xYfpj8MvgS1dNF7 Good Luck!!!

@@BrianLawrence Thank you Brian! I was actually with another student in the car the other day and she was directed to the same exact spot where she needed to turn left. I remember that it wasn't a typical turn left road configuration, a tricky one for sure. Did you know the roads in Malaga very well before your practical exam?

@@shivarahimipiano I knew the roads fairly well, but that particular spot was not one I had explored in the past with my instructor or on my own. :)

Hello Jim, Unfortunately, the consulates have different requirements (doesn't make sense to me but it is what it is). When we applied through NYC, that was not a requirement (although we didn't have a mortgage as we sold our place). I don't have much experience with that specific situation so I would highly recommend that you join this FB group. facebook.com/groups/americanexpatsinspain It is very active, and you will most likely find NLV holders who have been in a similar situation. Good luck! -Brian

Hello! Yes you can purchase a property on an NLV - you could even purchase as a tourist with no visa ( need to get a spanish id number - NIE). If you purchase a big enough property that is 500k euros or more, you can get a golden visa.

Hi, thanks for the comment. Rental income is considered passive income so that should not be a problem!

@@BrianLawrence thanks

Hi Jessica! Thanks for the comments! I spent some time this morning looking through my resources including searching the Spain Immigration FB group (Highly recommend you join!) - facebook.com/groups/americanexpatsinspain It appears the process has changed. Instead of booking online, you now must send an email using the contact information on the NYC Spain Consulate contact page: www.exteriores.gob.es/Consulados/nuevayork/en/Consulado/Paginas/Horario,-Localizacion-y-Contacto.aspx I think that is accurate but unfortunately that information is based on comments in that FB group. I couldn't find anything official - send an email, hopefully you will get a response in a reasonable amount of time! GOOD LUCK!

Hello Kwame - Thanks for the suggestion. Regarding taxes, they depend on each person's unique situation, so the BEST piece of advice here is to get legal advice from a reputable account/lawyer. I recommend Balcells Group. They are out of Barcelona and have many ex-pat clients with every situation possible. You can get a consultation for less than 100 euros, which will provide a ton of insight. balcellsgroup.com/services/ Good Luck!

Thanks for the feedback and watching Marc! much appreciated.

Hi Walid, Thanks! 1. Yes- we did have to provide a Spanish address. Funny story - we didn’t think we needed one but found out during our ‘interview’ so we had to immediately book an Airbnb. Luckily they gave us time to correct this while we were at the NYC consulate. We also had to book for an arrival date we thought was going to work considering it takes time for the visa to be approved. You could also use an address of a friend but make sure they are in the area you want to stay long term. 2. I am not sure. If the business bank statement has your name and your private address, maybe that would be ok? I would search some of those FB groups and ask that same question to see if anyone else has used a business bank account. Highly recommend this group for questions like this one. facebook.com/groups/americanexpatsinspain/?ref=share Best of luck!

@@BrianLawrence Thank you. Yes my business has my name in it and also my private address. I will join that FB group and try to get helpful information. It seems that things changed in the last two years (mainly post Brexit). I see mixed opinions on social media about the possibility of remote work with the NLV visa and mix of inputs about the proof of funds. It's a grey area.

Thank you 👍

Thanks for the comment Gaucho and for sharing those additional options for consideration! Much appreciated.

Hi Ayano - I do think that would be enough evidence. The requirement is that you have enough money to cover yourself and your family for the duration of the visa, doesn't matter if it is money in the bank or passive. That amount is more than enough for a family of four for the 1st year. It might be close for the renewal however because you renew for 2 years and need to show you have financial ability to support yourself without active work for 2 years instead of 1. Something to keep in mind. Highly recommend getting involved in FB ex-pat groups as mentioned in the video as those groups are very useful when you have questions. Hope that helps and good luck!

@@BrianLawrence Thank you so much!!✨✨✨

Thanks for the comment Sergey, glad it helped in some way.

Glad it helped- hope the speech turned out great!

Agree with you on that!

Hi Wineblood - I totally get it. It is not easy and really is a paradigm shift. When I was coding professionally for an enterprise software company, I did everything in my power to write tests first, but the reality is that doesn't always happen. The key is that you write tests for your code - period. If you are writing code without a test, you are writing legacy code! It has been a while since you commented (I apologize, I have not been paying attention to youtube until recently), but if you are still interested in TDD, one of my role models J.B. Rainsberger has a course you may want to investigate: www.jbrains.ca/training/course/worlds-best-intro-to-tdd/ Thanks for the comment and best of luck! -Brian

I've since gotten a better understanding of TDD and had people run me through it. It's a different approach and not for me, but I appreciate the reply.

Hi - yes that is how people code. TDD is about coding something to make sure when you make that function, it does what you want it to do. Then in the future, if you change it, that code (test) will run and see if it still does what it is supposed to do. This improves code quality and provides a safety net so you will know if you accidentally broke your code. When you learn how to code/program most people just write the function to do x first and may or may not write a test later. This approach forces you to write the test first.

@@BrianLawrence Hi, I'm new to TDD, that's why watching this video. Still, writing tests before the actual code is somewhat unnatural to me, because I have to focus more on tests than on my object model design or feature implementation. It's easier to write code first and cover what is crucial with tests. So tests don't go away, and there's no need to click "create object/method" all the time. I'd agree with one of your comments above - tests should be there. But the order of writing them - before the code or after it - it's a matter of preference.. In either case code may come out a mess, unstructured and hard to deal with. So why so much fuss about TDD?