hey mariposita, the apt. renting without a bank account topic is a bit off topic here (actually WAY off), can you please start new thread on it in the ACCOMMODATIONS FORUM.

i for one have something to say about that but it has nothing to do with the "cheapest way to study in madrid", student visas, etc...

thanks for understanding. i await your new thread.

saludos,
jer...

no problem...makes perfect sense. No reason for your board to be as disorganized and frazzled as I feel right now!

Here's the new thread:

http://www.multimadrid.com/cgi-bin/jersbbucgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=4&t=000351


Back to the topic at hand, I'm in the process of registering for next year's Complutense program through a company called "Unispain." They charge 90 euros to handle the nitty gritty details of matriculation... They also take a deposit and will get the letter from the University for the Visa. I hope to report back on how/whether this works soon.


unispain complutense program

thanks mariposita

saludos,
jer...

quote:

originally posted by mariposita:
[qb]Back to the topic at hand, I'm in the process of registering for next year's Complutense program through a company called "Unispain." They charge 90 euros to handle the nitty gritty details of matriculation... They also take a deposit and will get the letter from the University for the Visa. I hope to report back on how/whether this works soon.[/qb]

Well, sounds great if it works! No doubt much easier than doing it all yourself and well worth it! Without this kind of help it strikes me as close to impossible to get enrolled without going to Spain and doing it yourself. Or, if you had a very, very good friend in Madrid who was prepared to do a lot of running around for you...

Went back to the comisar�a today to get my certificado and open my bank account. Perhaps Thursday is a much better day than Monday to go, because when I arrived (at about 9:01 AM) the queue was "only" along the front of the building and across the street. The whole thing took about 10 minutes, which was great.

Then off to Caja Madrid; the one between Pr�ncipe P�o and Plaza de Espa�a, and the guy who helped me, Ignacio, was incredibly helpful. Top rating for service.

Do they really ask you to have over 2000 euros in a bank account? I mean, last time i applied for a student visa, my university just gave me a pre-done letter on school letterhead saying that I had paid my tuition and was not in default on anyting. And I just a presented it with all other school-provided papers at the Spanish consulate in New York. That was 1998. Has the process changed so much?

Wow.

hey Gata, you are confusing studying via an american univ. study abroad program with just coming and doing it on your own at a spanish institution or university.

when you study via an american university program, you do not need the proof of money in the bank.

saludos,
jer...

but not to be rude, but the BEST way to learn spanish in Spain is to find a sugar-mama or sugar-daddy and learn both vertically and horizontally! (O.K. Jer' - you can call me a perve' NOW)

A question for those who have gotten their student visa in the US (not through an American program):

When you applied for the visa and they required proof of sufficient funds, how did you do this while still in the US? Like most prospective students, we won't have a Spanish bank account.

I'm heading to the Spanish Embassy tomorrow to ask this question, but I'd like to hear others' experiences (since we all know that you get a different answer depending on who you talk to...).

Maybe this is slightly off-topic but since there have been questions about student visas I will address that issue.
US citizens coming to study in Spain will be facing much more restrictions and requirements to get their visas now as compared to five years ago, or even five months ago, even if they are doing it via a US university. The reason is diplomatic reciprocity. The US has gotten snotty and nasty about the requirements for student visas and so most countries respond by demanding the exact same of US citizens wanting student visas.
That said, there are many Spanish consulates in the US, and they have different requirements, but you have to apply according to your place of residence, so for example, if you live in Seattle you need to apply at the consulate in San Francisco and if they require you to travel all the way there to apply and turn in paperwork and pick up your visa, you will have no choice at all, simply because the US Embassy in Madrid also requires Spanish students who want to study in the US to do the paperwork in person and come to Madrid or Barcelona, regardless of where they live.
The best advice I can give is find out which is your consulate and what are your requirements and get on the ball soon about fulfilling them (no matter how stupid or useless or illogical they seem), the paperwork is also taking longer now than it used to.
Good luck,
Lena

thanks so much Lena :cheers:

saludos,
jer...

So I went by the Spanish Consulate today (thank god I live in DC, since I can see already that I'll be doing this quite a bit to chip away at the process.) According to them, I'll be able to provide my American bank statement as proof of funds. No problem there.

The new problem is that I need to prove that I will have health insurance in Spain. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to figure out a way to do this remotely from the US (we would like to use Sanitas private coverage for the whole family). When I asked the woman at the Embassy about this catch 22, she told me "es asi" with a shrug and suggested that I talk to the school. The guy handling our registration with Complutense didn't seem to have any info on health insurance. Sanitas didn't return my emails.

Has anyone out there ever had to do this while still in the US? If so, did you get some kind of international coverage? I'm going to keep working on this and will post back if/when I figure this out.

Wish me luck...

quote:

When I asked the woman at the Embassy about this catch 22, she told me "es asi" with a shrug and suggested that I talk to the school

ha!!! my suspicion has been confirmed!!! it is the spaniard and not the fact that they are in spain :jeje: :jeje: :jeje:

you can take the spaniard out of spain but you can't take the spaniard out of the spaniard

saludos,
jer...

quote:

originally posted by mariposita:
[qb]The new problem is that I need to prove that I will have health insurance in Spain. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to figure out a way to do this remotely from the US[/qb]

I faced a lot of the same issues trying to get stuff done from Australia. Although it is a total pain in the butt, I found phone calls to be much more effective. They cost more, and you have to work around the time zone differences, but they are much harder to ignore than an email.

quote:

ha!!! my suspicion has been confirmed!!! it is the spaniard and not the fact that they are in spain

you can take the spaniard out of spain but you can't take the spaniard out of the spaniard

You got that right! You should see my SO's family. They have been in the US for two generations and they are still Spanish through and through (with a little cuban thrown in for good measure). Some cultures are just stronger than others, I guess...

I'm going to take Greguitos advice and make some transatlantic calls tomorrow morning to see what I can find out about the insurance....