How to get a student visa for Spain

What's here and what's in other articles

Who this visa suits and how much money you need to show is covered in a separate complete guide. What exactly to put in your document set is in a separate checklist. Here we cover the mechanics: what happens at each step, how long it takes and what to do if something goes wrong.

Step 1 — choose a programme and get enrolled

The institution must be officially accredited, and the programme must be in person or at least half in person. Many people rush this step: they sign a contract with the first school they find because they were told "it works for a visa", and then at the application stage it turns out the enrolment certificate lacks specifics — dates, hours per week, the contact details of the person responsible. It's cheaper to spend an extra day corresponding with the school now than to get a refusal a month later.

Step 2 — gather your financial and medical documents

While the school prepares your final enrolment certificate, you can gather everything else in parallel: a 3-month bank statement (not a one-off deposit — more on this below), insurance with no excess or co-payments, and proof of accommodation. If you need the visa for longer than 180 days, order your criminal record certificate and medical certificate straight away, because the apostille and translation take time, and a criminal record certificate has a shelf life.

Step 3 — legalise and translate your documents

Foreign documents (first and foremost the criminal record certificate) need to be legalised: with an apostille if the issuing country is a party to the Hague Convention, or with consular legalisation if not. Which authority is competent depends on the country and the type of document. The apostille comes before the translation, not the other way round — if you do it in reverse, you'll have to rebuild the legalisation chain from scratch. It's best to order the translation from a sworn translator registered with Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs — many work remotely from scans.

Step 4 — book an appointment and apply

You apply to the Spanish consulate responsible for the area where you legally reside. In many countries applications go through an external visa centre (BLS International or VFS Global), and appointments can only be booked through its official website. Steer clear of intermediaries offering to "get" you an appointment for a fee by bypassing the system — visa centres explicitly warn about this.

You must apply in person — no one can do it on your behalf. Biometric data is required from age 12; whether data previously given at another Schengen consulate can be reused depends on local practice, so it's safer to check directly when booking rather than relying on an article online. If you're unsure exactly which set of documents to bring to the appointment, given all these discrepancies it's more sensible to check in advance than to rebook because of one missing paper.

Step 5 — wait for the decision

By law, the consulate has one month to respond, and this period isn't extended — but visa centres often give a guideline of around 15 calendar days, which may stretch to 45 days in more complex cases. If the consulate is silent for longer than a month, under the rules on administrative silence in visa matters this counts as a refusal, not an approval, so it makes sense to check on the status rather than simply waiting indefinitely.

Build in some spare time: consulates and visa centres occasionally suspend the acceptance of documents for a few days for technical reasons, and planning your application date right up against your trip is risky.

Step 6 — collect your visa

You must collect the finished visa in person (or through a close relative with proof of relationship) no later than 2 months after approval — after that the case is archived and the process has to start again. When you collect it, check your name, passport number and dates on the spot — discrepancies are easier to fix straight away than once you're already in Spain.

What to do if you're refused

There are two official ways to appeal a refusal. The first is a recurso de reposición — an administrative appeal to the same consulate, filed within a month of receiving the refusal and usually also decided in about a month. The second, longer one is a recurso contencioso-administrativo — a court appeal through the High Court of Madrid (refusals from Spanish consulates anywhere go there), with 2 months to file and a hearing that can take from six months to a year.

There are no official statistics on the percentage of cases won, but lawyers who handle these disputes note that the court often overturns refusals related specifically to financial documents — if the applicant can prove the funds were shown convincingly enough and the consulate simply interpreted it too strictly. This isn't a guarantee but a guide: an appeal makes sense when you have something to base it on, not in every situation. Assessing the chances of a specific refusal text is usually easier from the outside than from the applicant's side — if you're unsure whether to appeal or reapply, this is a case where it's worth getting advice before losing another month.

After the visa — the TIE

A visa is permission to enter, not permission to stay in the country without limits: within a month of entering Spain you need to apply for a TIE (foreigner identity card) — by appointment (cita previa) through the police website, with fingerprints and payment of the fee using form 790, code 012. The TIE physically confirms your status, and you'll need it for almost everything — from renting a home to opening an account.

Frequently asked questions

If something in your situation doesn't fit the general pattern, that's normal — visa cases almost always have nuances. Get in touch and we'll look at it for free and suggest your next step.