Has anyone here from the United States done a house-sit while visiting Spain? Did you need to obtain a Letter of Invitation (Carta de Invitacion)? If so, was the process easy for the host and how long did it take for the Spanish Gov to approve the Letter of Invitation for you?
I am looking to do my first international house-sit in Spain and would like to hear from someone that has gone through this process to see if it was easy or a pain in the you-know-what
Any advice you can offer or light you can shed on this process would be incredibly helpful and appreciated!
I havenât sat in Spain so canât comment on that personally but I have read about this letter.
From what I gather, like many travel ârequirementsâ that you could be subjected to in theory (proof of adequate funds, proof of accommodation,etc.), the reality is as a visa-exempt national coming from a wealthy country, you are unlikely to be asked extensive questions about your travel plans, or provide documentation about where you are staying, as you pass through immigration.
With the number of tourists that Spain gets, it wouldnât be very practical to do this.
From what I have read on forums, having this letter would only really be important for someone who requires a visa to enter Spain. I have seen accounts of many non-EU citizens â many who have gone there many times since this letter came into effectâand they were never asked anything about their accommodation arrangements.
For hosts who arenât all that concerned about this, they may not want to go through the process of obtaining it, if it is only you that would want it.
For any host who would be concerned about this, it is highly likely they would opt for sitters with EU citizenship rather than deal with the hassle of it.
Ultimately it would come down to how âby the bookâ you or a given host likes to do things.
@NatNomads The letter is ârequiredâ for people staying with friends or family who donât have a hotel booked .
Probably easier all round to arrive a day or two before the sit starts and book a hotel for at the first night or two of your stay .
If you have a letter stating your relationship to the host is to do house sitting and that you were introduced via a website ( rather than a friend or family member ) you could run into all sorts of difficulties with immigration.
Arriving in the country and staying in a hotel a day or two before the sit starts also gives your hosts reassurance that you will be turning up and builds in a buffer if there are flight cancellations.
As Silversitters says, I would at the very least indeed arrive early to build in a buffer - Iâm going housesitting in Australia (from Europe) next month and will arrive in country 4 days early.
Other than that, Spain receives lots of tourists from abroad each year. As already said, if youâre from a visa exempt country like the US I canât imagine this letter would apply to you if you just have a good story. And definitely donât go and ask the host to give you a letter and state that youâre petsitting. Thatâs just setting yourself up for trouble (refer to the long thread about trouble at the border with immigration)
I am Spanish and I agree with @Silversitters. One can never be 100% sure that youâre not going to encounter some difficulties when crossing a border but chances are you wonât even be asked anything at all and just let come through. Having a hotel or Airbnb booked and a return ticket should be enough.
But there are no guarantees.
I have just checked about the letter and it is not a good idea. It would require a lot of bureaucracy for the host, including proof of property or rent of their home and information about their relationship with the person invited. That would only be necessary to prove you have somewhere to stay if you are required to show that you can finance your holiday. Alternative options are booked accommodation, booked tours or show you have the financial means to pay for your stay.
Again, chances are you will be let through with no questions. Immigration laws even include the possibility of being let in for a shorter period if you only have financial means for a shorter holiday. I have read that but I really donât think they will apply that measure very often. If I mentioned it, itâs just because I think it shows thereâs no interest in stopping tourists.
Generally, hosts are reluctant to do this. In Sweden, I was once asked by a couchsurfing guest for such letter, and I was not prepared to do it. It was not quite clear to me what obligations I would take on me.
The situation is a bit different for an HO because they have an interest in the sitter coming to stay. But it will probably be easier for them to find a sitter that they donât need to do this for.
Iâm not American. Iâve sat all round the world and never ever had to produce a letter. I start three months sitting in Spain next week and have six sits lined up with no problems.
As others say, book a hotel or Airbnb for the first night/s. Thatâs all immigration is interested in.
Hi @NatNomads
As someone that lived on Lanzarote many years ago Iâd hate to deal with Spanish bureaucracy in that things move very slowly. Even then Iâm not sure itâll help you.
I have done a number of sits in Spain without issue. Usually the border guards just stamp my passport and off I go.
I agree touch wood Spanish border force donât seem to care too much on my last 6 sits Iâve done in Spain. I even got waved into Ibiza last year by a guard that didnât check or stamp my passport I was waving as he seemed more interested in chatting to his fellow guard!
As a US natl, Iâve done intl sits in the UK (x 4 border arrivals), Australia, S Korea, and Canada. All but 2 times, the sit started on arrival date so no hotel booked. UK, S Korea, and Australia used the automatic gates so had no contact with border agents. Canada used automatic gates and then had a brief conversation with a human - one just let me in, the other asked if I was headed to an academic conference in Halifax, it seems that most of the folks connecting in Toronto to Halifax that day were headed to the conference. I told him no, just a vacation.
