No, you can't just go to any police station. There is usually one place that handles it in every town. In Madrid this place is (or at least was as of one month ago)at Plaza del Campillo del Mundo Nuevo nº 3. Here in Madrid you have to wait in line to get an appointment (which will be several weeks later). Once you have an appointment you need to bring:

• two copies of the form
  
• proof of registration in a school
  
• proof of health insurance
  
• proof of money in a Spanish bank (a copy of your bankbook, bring the original, too)
  
• your passport
  
• a copy of every page of your passport
  
• three (or maybe four?) passport photos
  

But make sure to doublecheck this before you go.

I know this is implied in mariposita's message, but just in case kangarage doesn't know and is starting from scratch, you MUST have a student visa in your passport that establishes that your stay is for 90 days. If you happen to have a student visa that says "Estudios 180 días" they will not process a student residency card for you, because that is the type of visa that they give to students who only come for one semester and they do not get the card, they only get that one visa that is valid for the duration of their semester stay. The student id card is only available for students who intend to stay the whole school year or longer studying in Spain.
Also, make sure the photos are Spanish ID size, which is different than US passport size and with the background in white, or else they wont accept them. You can get those at the photo machines in the subway or at any photography store.
Good luck.

quote:

you MUST have a student visa in your passport that establishes that your stay is for 90 days.

Good point, Lena! Going to apply for residency without the right visa pasted in would be a total waste of time. Do you know if those 180 days people can extend their student visas and get residency? Or do they have to go back to the US and apply again for the longer "estancia?"

No, the "Estudios 180 días" people cannot extend their stay. At all. We've even had cases of students getting that type of visa by mistake, and it's a real pain in the neck because we have to go to the Ministry with a copy of the visa application and the other paperwork the student originally turned in to get the visa, in order to prove that the student applied to be here for the whole year, not just one semester. Then they send that back to the Spanish embassy in the US who has to admit that they did make a mistake and gave the wrong visa, only then will the ministry here give us a certificate to allow for that student to extend their stay and get a student ID residency card. Needless to say that by the time all this gets done it's almost time for the student to go back home, but in the meantime, while the paperwork is being done they have justification for being here so they travel with all those papers and copies of the application for the certificate so they can prove they're still legal.

This is the company were using


ESTUDIO JURIDICO NESTOR RIVERO
Abogados
C/ Comandante Zorita 13
28020- Madrid
Tel: 91 534 31 50
Fax: 91 220 31 35
Web: www.nestorrivero.com

all our (my) work has gone in and it's just a matter of waiting for the bureaucratic stomp to happened. any day week month year???? now

An update: I picked up my student residency card (renewal) today at the General Pardiñas comisaría. All in all, it took about four months to process (a month to get the appointment and three months waiting after I delivered all of my papers at the appointment).

As always, to pick up the card, I had to pay the "tasa" (by ingreso at a bank). Then bring:

• the letter that I received in the mail with the date of my cita
  
• the resguardo stamped by the bank that said I had paid the tasa
  
• my passport
  

I had to wait in the line at Pardiñas, but it wasn't bad at all--I got there at 9:30 and finished by 11:00. They seem to have straightened out the chaos and craziness. One thing: the line is now broken up so that there aren't as many people crowded in front of the comisaría. Now most wait around the corner out of sight(in front of the playground) and the cops let you go to the smaller line in front of the comisaría in groups.

One thing: it seemed that many people picking up regular residency cards did not receive the form that said they needed to pay the tasa. (I have always gotten this form with the letter telling me about the cita) The cops were handing this form out in line. They won't give you the card if you don't pay the tasa, so it might be better to take care of this ahead of time. Otherwise you would have to go to a bank and then get back in line.

Hi there!
I am brand new on this message board, but it has been a great help already!

I am a Canadian student hoping to come to Madrid in May of this year. I will be studying at UAM...during the summer I will be a student researcher in the Chemistry department and will also be taking some Spanish classes to improve my espanol! I am then hoping to take some chemistry courses at UAM in the fall, as part of a "study abroad" program with my university here in Canada.

Since this time will cover roughy eight or nine mothns...I am not sure which type of student visa I will need. I have been reading the posts in this topic about the student residency...at what point do you need to get one of those cards? Will a visa be enough for my stay?

I would appreciate some help if anyone has time to answer!!
Thanks!!

Sam