The application process for the Spanish NLV is enough to turn you to drink. From our home in Tasmania, Australia, we engaged a Spanish lawyer to help because we thought it was such a big move and getting it wrong would be disastrous.

Looking back, engaging the lawyer was a mistake. He couldn't answer simple questions about the process, and some of his advice was incorrect. Fixing the resulting errors cost us time and money. He did very little to help outside of completing some forms for us.

So I started writing down all the steps. It soon developed into a full-blown guide. Regrettably, it's very Australia-centric and so lots of the steps won't be the same as they are in other countries. But even if you're not from Australia you'll at least get the gist of it.

The second guide is all about what to do when you get here, so it applies to everyone.

This is not professional advice – just an account of our experience – but hopefully it will help you to decide whether the NLV is for you.