Hi everyone!
It's been a while since I've been in here and I really want to give everyone an unpdate. Unfortunately, I don't have much new stuff of importance to add here, since I'm still playing the looong waiting game for documents and stuff.
To update the process so far, Greguito originally posted:

quote:

Just got more detail from the Spanish Embassy in Australia about what is required to get a student visa. I imagine that the Spanish Embassies in other countries around the world have a fairly similar set of requirements:



Passport (minimum validity, 120 days) and at least one blank page;

Application form duly completed and signed with four photographs (here is a link to a PDF version of the form; it doesn't look exactly like the one mailed to me by the Spanish Embassy, but it's a close match and the content is basically the same);

Flight itinerary or a copy of tickets with confirmed return flights;

Minors Parental Consent (Statutory Declaration, if applicable);

Letter from the Association/Institution detailing conditions of agreement (applicable to student exchange applicants);

Confirmation of enrolment in course, including duration and weekly hours (minimum 20 hours per week); Name & address of centre in Spain; Name of Intermediary Organisation (if applicable); Type of studies to undertake; Level of studies to undertake; Type of studies you possess; Level of studies you possess;

Details of accommodation/contract from host family;

Adequate financial support (approx. AUD$1600/901,52� per month);

Medical certificate stating the absence of infectious diseases, mental illnesses or addictions;

Health insurance cover;

For long term stay, more than 180 days, Australia wide fingerprint/national name check

I have the "official" photocopied piece of paper direct from the Cosulate General in Sydney Australia. I attached it here, somewhere ... wherever it comes up ... hopefully around here ...
It doesn't mention a fingerprint check, although I had it done anyway (go with that "too much paperwork" feelin') better to have it and produce it if needed than to stuff around later I reckon.
The stated visa fee is a "scribbled in" $86.40 and they require A$800 per month proof of funds PLUS ACCOMMODATION. Over the phone the funds stipulated was A$1400 per month, so if you can pre-arrange accommodation for less than $600 a month this should help out with the proof of funds bit! (by my reasoning anyway)

Another Greguito quote:

quote:

The "Australia wide fingerprint/national name check" that the Spanish Embassy requests is actually known to the Police as Form PD47, the "National Police Certificate". It costs AUD$47 (payable by cheque, cash or credit card), and you can get it at any Police Station with the facilities to take finger prints (not all stations can do this, so you should call first). Make sure you bring some heavy-duty ID to the station, such as a passport or birth certificate. The processing time is 7-14 days, and you collect the form from your nominated station.

The cost of the fingerprint check is now A$175 and they have supposidly mailed it to my address. They also only accepted cash at Bondi Police Station (other stations may be different). They can take your prints 24 a day, but NOT if they have someone in custody, so avoid police stations in bad neighbourhoods ... it'll never get done!!

I'm still waiting for my confirmation of enrolment with Universidad de Malaga so my application is held up, but when I was in the consulate they hinted that I may have problems entering spain in July (when I am entering spain) and staying there until October when the course starts.
I kept the stay within the 90 day visa free tourist allowed days but since it may make the process easier (and hence quicker) I booked a ferry trip from Tarifa to Tanger (Morocco) for a week and a half. So now I am entering the country (albeit again) in October!! As long as diplomats are happy. I don't care.
Anyway, I leave Australia on 2 June and am getting very worried that my visa will NOT be sorted by then

One more thing before I go, the doctor who did my medical asked me if the specified 4 photos needed to be signed by him. He is an italian consule doctor and thought it curious this was not specified. hmmm. I'd better look into that!

Phew ... you need a break after reading all that!! ...

Student_Visa.JPG (215 Kb, 1 downloads)

and Visa Application Form Page 1

(please don't print this out for your visa application) always submit an original form.

Application1.JPG (234 Kb, 0 downloads)

Visa Application Form Page 2

(please don't print this out for your visa application) always submit an original form.

Application2.JPG (268 Kb, 1 downloads)

Hey pocoloco--
About the money required for the visa... as I remember (this was in the US), the consulate asked us to prove that we had a much larger amount available than did the comisaría when we went to get our residency card. For the visa, we just showed our latest US bank statement. For the comisaría we had to show the funds in a Spanish bank account.

Also about entering the country. We got one year visas. We entered in June and classes started in October. I was also worried about this, but no one batted an eye. If you can, reserve your slots in Malaga for the full year and request a year-long visa. You definitely don't want to have to go back and renew every semester because it is a huge pena en el culo.

Good luck with everything--I'm sure it will work out fine. It just takes organization and persistence.

hey pocoloco, thanks for the update, always great when people give back to the board and keep us up on what is going on.

quote:

I booked a ferry trip from Tarifa to Tanger (Morocco) for a week and a half. So now I am entering the country (albeit again) in October!!

while that will surely do the trick, the law is not that you have to leave after 90 days and then can come back. the law, as far as i know, stipulates a max. 90 day stay over the course of 6 months so you would "technically" have to be in Morocco (orr elsewhere out of spain) for 90 days.

again, normally just leaving and coming back works and nobody says anything but they could keep you out if they wanted to.

saludos,
jer...

quote:

Originally posted by jer:
while that will surely do the trick, the law is not that you have to leave after 90 days and then can come back. the law, as far as i know, stipulates a max. 90 day stay over the course of 6 months so you would "technically" have to be in Morocco (orr elsewhere out of spain) for 90 days.

again, normally just leaving and coming back works and nobody says anything but they could keep you out if they wanted to.

Hey jer,

Yeah, I found out about the 90 days in 6 months thing back when I was still looking around for courses. The panic ferry booking (which was 48euro - return and which I might not even use) was really only to cut the beaucracy down to a minimum due to time restraints.
Milan will be the first point of entry into the Shengen region 7 July. Course (and hopefully visa) starts 2 October. This brings the time within the 90 days but the consulate wasn't quite overjoyed about it all for some reason, saying something about arrival and visa dates.
To keep it simple and hopefully expediate the process I did this just to match entry and study dates for the application.
I'm sure it could all be sorted out, but if it means the application process is more likely to be processed smoothly and quickly ...
A friend (who will be in France at the time) wants to go see Morocco anyway, so I will probably just use it anyway.

Do you reckon it may help if the application included a cake and cool refreshing beverages?? you'd get what ever you wanted out of me for a tastey lunch and a cool ale!!!

I conceed. May not be the most traditional method of obtaining travel/study authority, but what the hay! Just trying to please someone who I need to be in a good mood come time to process boring stuff written on a piece of paper.

Yipee!!! What a relief! The confirmation of my course with Universidad de Málaga finally came and I rushed my application for student visa into the consulate.
BTW.. if for any reason you find yourself in the spanish consulate in Sydney, Australia, don´t despair, they are JUST GREAT!
A couple of pointers though that I thought were interesting.
Even though the list of requirements issued by the consulate does NOT state the need for fingerprint check for long stay visas, the guy was looking for them when I handed over my police check and I had to point it out. Lucky I had it done. ASK AND MAKE CERTAIN IF FINGERPRINTS ARE REQUIRED!! if unsure, here is my advice. Get the fingerprints ... I'm glad I did.

This next bit will not apply to most people, only to those as disorganised as me
The consulate requires me to get a letter from my employer, or academic organisation, to prove that I have a job or studies to return to here in Australia. This was only stipulated for me because my confirmed return flight back to Sydney is actually before the visa period starts. My flights were booked a loooong time ago and bookings were not available past this point (although date changes are permitted, I need to change this date to June 2007 ... still unavailable). The consulate guy suggested that I change the date to the latest possible so it is within the visa period, but the booking agency is concerned that after 1 change, the airline would probably not change it again.
On top of this, my employer is happy to have me back "when" I return but does not want to put it in writing (that's business for you!).
So ... long story short. I need to show that I am returning June 2007 ... somehow ... sigh

Any suggestions?

Forgot to mention, the course I'm enrolled in is for only 15 hours a week.
The required minimum hours per week is 20, but the consulate folk didn't mind. Maybe being with a recognised academic institution helped.

Getting there!

Hi, everyone, I am hoping someone can help me find a link/webpage to the current visa requirements for student visas (For Americans). I went to the website of the Spanish consulate in Los Angeles and found the visa application. But I did not find the visa requirements (passport, medical letter, evidence of health insurance, etc). I found some links on this thread, but they are old and I am wondering if anyone has found the most current requirements?

Hi CalGirl,

There is tons o info on this board. Here are a few examples.

ex. 1

ex. 2

ex. 3

ex. 4

The first one has an entry as late as Aug 2005.

There will be a lot of reading but the people on this board are great at providing information based on their experiences.

Happy reading and good luck,

Irene

Thanks Irene for taking the time to search the threads for me. I have been reading them. Everytime I do, I find something new. The threads have been such a lifesaver! And also thank you for your encouraging words and thoughts! Everybody here is so fabulous. I can hardly wait to get to Madrid!

It's been a while since I posted here. I am now in the process of applying for my student visa. Thanks to all of you and the threads, the process hasn't been too terrible, but I did encounter some hitches that I would like people to know about.

I went to the Spanish consulate today in Los Angeles. I have to return tomorrow because now I have all of the correct docments. Although, I did not have all of the documents today, the consulate lady was kind enough to review all of my documents and tell me which ones I need or which ones need some fixing.

Orginial Letter from university - I signed up to take the Estudios Hispanicos course at the Complutense. I signed up for the course through Unispain (as suggested by Mariposita). They have been really great, except the university has been dragging their heels on sending the original letter. I demanded, and (received) a fax copy. And on the advice of Unispain, I went to the consulate to apply for the visa, using the fax copy. However, the consular lady would only accept the original copy. (She said in rare cases will they accept a fax copy, this would only be if I was applying at the very last minute for the visa). So she said I have to come back when I receive the original.

So only apply for the visa when you get your original letter.

Then I get all the way home, and there is the letter in my mailbox! So good news!

Police letter with "Apostille of the Hague" -
However, I am glad I went today, because my police certificate letter lacked an Apostille of the Hague. Since I am staying for two semesters, I had to have a police letter (certificate) from my local authorities saying I am not a criminal. I brought the letter today, and I had it notarized by the sheriff's department, but it also needs a notary authentication (which is obtained at the county clerk's office) and an Apostille of the Hague (which was issued by the Department of State, of the State of California, not to be confused with the State Department (federal branch). So that was another cool $28, that I had to pay. And two more government offices to visit.

Note: I noticed PocoLoco had mentioned that Australians must have the fingerprints. At this time, the Spanish Consulate in Los Angeles, wasn't asking for them, just the police letter issued by the local authorities. That may change, but as of today, fingerprints were not necessary (for Americans in the LA consulate jursidiction)

it really pays to do your homework and to know what the visa requirements are. The consular lady was looking at my insurance card and letter from the insurance agent, and wanted to see the insurance policy. Of course, I didn't have the whole policy on me at the time, so I asked her why. She said that she needed proof that the insurance is valid in Spain and is worth
30, 000 euros (37,000 USD). I told her that on the letter it stated that the policy was good in the Schengen countries and that the policy was worth $50, 000 euros. I also pointed out that the company is a Spanish company (BUPA), and was purchased through David Harris, (also suggested by Mariposita).

When she heard the words "Schengen countries" and "BUPA", she said ok. Then she confessed that she had forgotten her glasses so she couldn't read the small print too well. So two lessons learned: Do your homework and beware of consular officers who can't see!

Lastly, I want to thank Mariposita for all of her great posts on her visa process. Those posts helped me so much, so I felt very prepared when I went to the consulate.

Luckily, I had time to do it all today, and can return tomorrow. Please think HAPPY visa thougts for me!!!

Mariposita, you ROCK!

hey CaliforniaGirl, awesome update, thanks.

glad all is progressing for ya

quote:

I also pointed out that the company is a Spanish company (BUPA),

woops! not that is really matters but bupa is a u.k. company (british united provident association) www.bupa.co.uk but they are multinational in that they offer coverage services in many countries ( www.bupa-intl.com ). their presence in spain is mostly geared towards ex-pats.

besides, the consular officer obviously had no idea since she did not correct you on that and they normally love to be sticklers about that stuff.

saludos,
jer...

Hi everyone. I know this thread has been useful for me so I just want to make sure and put in a bit of my experience so people can learn as well.

The visa in the US was much the same process (more or less) for me as it was for CaliforniaGirl (up above), seeing as how I went to the same embassy a month after she did.

They gave me one copy of the Schengen Visa application that they stamped, along with my doctor's note and my police clearance - both stamped - and told me to take those to the comisaria in Madrid within my first month.

In my case however, things worked out differently. I came over to Spain in August and my visa didn't begin until October 2nd. I was using some of my "3-months-without-a-visa" time as an American here before having my visa begin. In LA they said this was fine. Today at the comisaria, it caused a bit of a hiccup and the lady had to go in the back to talk to someone else. She didn't seem to understand how they postdated my visa. Then the fact that I had two entry stamps into Spain (one when I came over in August and then one when I returned from a week in Switzerland). Anyway, she decided to use the most recent entry stamp and things seemed fine.

I went with everything I've read on here: passport (with photocopies of both the first page, the temporary visa, and the entry stamp into Spain), doctor's note, police clearance, Schengen visa application with embassy stamp, note from complutense saying that I've been admitted (but I still haven't paid - they don't want my money yet), my Spanish bank account balance (they gave me an "extracto" which was stamped and signed), 3 carnet photos, and the two identical pieces of paper they give you in line at the comisaria which I filled out.

The woman only wanted: the copies of my passport, visa, and entry, the papers I filled out there, my 3 carnet photos, and my letter from the complutense. That's all. She didn't even ask to see anything else!!! I thought that was hilarious. She also didn't care that I gave her a copy of the letter from the complutense as opposed to the original (I told her that the embassy in LA kept the original - which is true). She then made me sign a piece of paper twice right next to where she fingerprinted my right index finger. She took that paper along with the others she wanted (and the photos), stuffed them in an envelope and said, "2 months." She was actually very nice and said she was tired but knew that I had to wait outside for a long time so I must be tired too. This surprised me a bit. =)

I went there today (Thursday) a little before noon. I waited outside for about 40 minutes and then inside for over an hour. I thought inside would be shorter - wrong. I looked outside at about one and the line outside was maybe 10 minutes long.

When I go back to pick up the card I am going to walk straight to the front and very politely say that I just have to pick up a card. It's weird - some people the woman let right in to pick up their cards and others she made wait in line. I have no clue what her criteria was.

Anyway, I hope this helps someone in the future. As everyone has said, be prepared and have EVERYTHING with copies of EVERYTHING just in case. It depends on the person behind the counter (the guy next to me had to give the woman a ton of stuff).

Good luck!
Ryan