It's a long story, but my sons and I are eligible for Spanish citizenship through my Dad's side of the family.
I will share the hoops and traps I've stumbled across during the citizenship process at some point, and will let you know where I am currently (almost done, with one BIG hoop to jump).
The truth is that as we've been sharing this news, most folks don't really care about the hows though, they're interested in why we are making this move.
The short answer is because we have the opportunity to work from Spain, and we are jumping on it.
The longer answer is that it seems to make sense for our family as parents and financially and medically.
Our oldest is graduating from high school in May 2018. For years he has wanted to pursue a career in the military and has decided to enlist in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) once he graduates. Although there is nothing to stop him from being deployed elsewhere, there is a strong likelihood that he will be living in Israel for the foreseeable future. He will also be getting his Israeli citizenship, and foresees (at least as much as an 18 year old can) staying in Israel after his service.
Our second has been planning on attending university in Europe for some time now. In July 2016, we took him to Scotland, England & France to look at schools, and it only served to strengthened his desire to pursue school in Europe.
With Spanish citizenship comes EU passports so #2 will be able to attend university in Europe at much lower cost than he could in the United States. By way of comparison, in-state tuition at a public GA college costs about $34,000/yr including room & board. The tuition at the school that #2 is looking at in Spain is about $3,600/year.
If you're keeping track, that means that 2 of my 3 kids will be on that side of the world within 3 years, and the other one wants to go to Australia for university. So, it looks like the eastern hemisphere is more centralized to where all my boys will be.
The last is that with citizenship, I am guaranteed Spanish healthcare. I'm 8 years on from cancer treatment, and I'm starting to have issues with my insurance company approving tests and meds. My last MRI was declined, and I'm still waiting to hear if they're going to allow some of the other things that I've had as part of my care for the last 8 years.
We will carry private insurance while we are there anyway, but the quotes that I'm getting for my family of 4 (#1 will be getting insurance with his Israeli citizenship and service), is about $300/month. This is the platinum insurance level where the doctor comes to your home if you are sick. We currently pay about $1k/month and then an additional $6-10k/annually on top depending upon how many out-of-network doctors my family sees in a year.
So, there you have it. All the reasons that it's the Griswalds Take Spain.
