Non EU Citizens

A student visa is a residence permit that allows non-EU citizens to stay in Spain while they study in public or private educational centers. It is mandatory for everyone who is planning to stay more than 90 days in the country. All those who want to enroll in any professional training, degree, master’s, postgraduate or doctorate, must apply for a student visa.

If you are living outside your home country when you apply for a student visa, the Spanish embassy or consulate in the country where you are currently residing may require you to return to your home country to apply for the student visa.

In addition to applying for your student visa, you will have to obtain your Foreigner’s Identity Card (TIE for its acronym in Spanish) during your first month of stay in the country.

Fill out the document and sign it. In case the applicant is a minor, a parent or guardian or accredited representative must sign it.

It’s mandatory to pay the Visa fee at the same time as submitting the visa application.

Non-Spanish documents must be legalized or apostilled and, where applicable, must be submitted together with an official translation into Spanish.

All the documentation must be first presented in the consulate office from the country of the student. The consulate office will give you the information related to the process and a voucher to check the status of the visa through the Internet. One month approximately is the resolution period.

Student visa applications should be made early enough so that they do not overlap with the start of the course. In fact, applications can be started up to 90 days before the scheduled date of entry into Spain.

Passport size coloured photo with a light background, showing the  applicant’s face without any accessory or clothing covering his or her face. It can not be more than three months before. If the photo does not meet all the necessary requirements, the issuance of the visa will be annulled.

Original and photocopy of the biometric data pages. It must not expire before the return or for at least the duration of the stay and contain two blank pages.

In this case it should be the acceptance letter to an accredited school for full-time studies or to a student exchange program.You have to provide the original and a copy of the document.

An official document that certifies that the student, or the legal representative or relative that supports the person has sufficient financial means to cover the cost of the student’s stay and return. To calculate this amount, the Public Indicator of Multiple Effect Income (IPREM) in Spain is taken as a reference and, in the case of traveling alone, it would be about 600 euros per month per student.

It is important to do the accreditation of the financial support being their own responsibility or from a family member made through: Summaries of bank accounts or fixed-term deposits / salary or pension receipts or any other regular income (provided that it is received during your stay in Spain).

In the case of self-employed workers, documentation accrediting the activity or business, accompanied by bank account statements. If the financial support of the student is provided by a relative, in addition to the above documentation, the following must be provided:

– Commitment of financial support by the relative in question made before a notary public.
– Proof of the family relationship between the applicant and the guarantor by means of birth certificates, marriage certificates or civil unions duly apostilled.

Demonstrating that the applicant does not suffer from any diseases that could have serious repercussions for public health, in accordance with the International Health Regulations of 2005. Only for stays longer than 180 days, issued within the last three months by a registered doctor. Legalized by the Ministry of Health (if the registration is national). Certification of national registrations and apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Apostille.

Original and a copy of the certificate of health insurance contracted with an insurance company authorized to operate in Spain. The insurance must cover all the risks insured by the public health system in Spain. The health insurance must cover 100 % of hospital and out-of-hospital medical expenses, with no co-payments, no deductibles and no limits on coverage.

This certificate must be issued by a registered medical practitioner no later than three months prior to the date of application, it must be formulated in the following terms or similarly:

If the medical certificate is issued in English: “This health certificate states that Mr./Mrs. (…) does not suffer from any of the diseases that may have serious public health repercussions in accordance with what is stipulated by the International Health Regulations of 2005.”

Certificates issued in a language different from Spanish must be accompanied by a sworn translation into Spanish.

Students of legal age need to show whether or not they have committed criminal activities against the law during the last five years. They must submit the original and a copy of the criminal background check issued within the three months preceding the submission of the visa application.

It must be authenticated through the consular representations of the issuing country or, in the case of signatory countries to the Hague Convention of October 5, 1961, bear the Hague Apostille — except for official documents issued by a Member State of the European Union, which will not require legalization. The document must be translated into Spanish.

Show proof of legal residence in the consular district. The purpose is to verify your consular district, so please visit the relevant web section of the Consulate.

Provide documentation of legal representatives (if the student is a minor). If the applicant is a minor, they must present the original and a copy of the parents’ or guardians’ authorization for the minor’s temporary relocation to Spain, certified by a notary. This document must also name the individual who will be responsible for the minor in Spain.

Foreign documents must be legalized or apostilled and, where applicable, must be submitted together with an official translation into Spanish.