He Consulate of Spain in San Francisco (California) takes two years to process urgent and necessary requests eg Registration of marriage or birth of a newbornAccording to Spaniards living there, who speak of an “unsustainable administrative situation” due to the collapse of the department. Its only connection with Spain For all types of procedures. He doesn’t even answer her emails. Residents in the capital of Silicon ValleyThe ABC, the world’s cradle of technology companies, reports that the waiting list extends to all sorts of procedures, including getting a passport.
Miguel Alejandro Williams Last Wednesday it took her from March 2022 to January 2024 to register her marriage and the birth of her two children born on January 22, 2020 and September 22, 2021. There was no other reason. Uncertainty of Spanish servicehang up
As this newspaper has been able to verify in the requests sent by the complainant and his mother – from Seville and who intervened thinking that her Spanish, which is more fluent than her son’s, would help – the consulate did not give them a solution. for 24 months. On March 3, 2022, he went to the consulate and delivered the documents in person. Since then, they have sent various emails to know the status of the process without receiving any response, although an employee confirmed that the documentation was there.
The family, desperate for silence after six consultations, wrote to the Washington Embassy, from which they responded on August 4, 2023, with the following acknowledgment of the situation: “We have forwarded your letter to the Consulate General in San Francisco. We are sorry that you feel neglected. Unfortunately , along with the human resources that the said consulate has It is not possible to answer citizen phone callsTherefore communication – as with other consulates – is done by email, except in cases of consular emergency.
Lost job offer
Alex too It took some time to register his daughter A newborn year and a half, due to which she lost the job offer in our country. To come to Spain with a girl who was not only American but had dual nationality, the mother needed a consulate to register the birth. “I called the emergency number everyday and it didn’t even ring. I had no way to communicate with my country. They only listened to me because I was there in person. I used to live nearby, but not all people can do that because California is a very large state», he explains in a telephone conversation.
Many Other families are still waiting. That is the case broughtThat since 16 months ago, when their Twins, is not able to register his birth. For that, the consulate workers themselves admitted that the lack of technology and workers – there is only one person in charge of the civil registry – caused a bottleneck at the San Francisco consulate, which is an example of the “unstoppable deterioration” of the consular network. This week condemned the association of Spanish diplomats.
“Good morning, Leia. As we told you two months ago, We are still without staff at the consulate, nor help. The single person in charge of the civil registry is overwhelmed with births, marriages, deaths, birth certificate requests, residence registrations for nine states in the United States and even (changing departments) because a lack of staff means he has to turn around. The absence of new technology does not help us either (in the civil registry everything is done by hand). We are very sorry, but we have no help. We will contact you again as soon as it is ready. Yours,” they replied.
Tax problems
Other compatriots consulted by the ABC explain that whenever they travel to Spain, they go to police stations in their cities. Renew passport. Another victim, Alberto, who has lived in the United States for 20 years, explained that if they had not resolved a request for which he had been waiting for months, he would have “messed with the tax agency” because he was looking for a power of attorney. An appointment to sign with whom you can comply with your tax obligations.
His mother wanted to send him a donation And she needed to give him a power of attorney to manage the gift and inheritance tax settlement. All he wanted to do was contact someone at the consulate to find out how to proceed, and he had to write three emails over three consecutive months to get an answer.
Finally, an activist confirmed that he had done the procedures correctly after consulting with a Spanish notary.
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