No matter how long you are studying in Spain, you’re sure to experience some life-changing moments. If you will be in Spain for over 90 days, you do need a student visa. But don’t panic: ISA is here to give you all the information you could ever need on the ins-and-outs of applying for a student visa!
The Tea on Spanish Visas
All the info is on your ISA Student Portal.
After you are accepted into your program, you can find many resources in the Visa Section of your Student Portal > Forms and Documents tab, such as:
- Specific consulate and program length
- A full outline of the visa process from start to finish, including links
- A general Spain visa FAQ which gives broad info for all consulates
- The National Visa Application form and line by line instructions for it
- An 11 min video to provide a bird’s eye overview of the Spanish student visa process (which you can also watch here: Spanish Visa Process)
Additionally, ISA hosts 3 Zoom webinars where you can have your questions answered about the visa process by our Spanish visa connoisseurs!
Easy, Peasy, Lemon Squeezy
If this sounds completely overwhelming, no worries! ISA offers an optional visa service that streamlines the entire process. It was created to save students and their families time, money, and stress. ISA has been running our Visa Services for over a decade to give our students some extra support.
This service does have an additional cost; however, we recommend checking your consulate requirements as some require an in-person visit to the consulate. Many students must travel to the consulates twice—so 2 round trip visits?! Ugh, no thanks! Instead, the ISA Visa Service costs $440 and includes the $160 consulate processing fee + $250 ISA visa service charge + $30 USPS priority mail return shipping. All you have to do is mail your visa materials to the ISA office, and we go to the consulate on your behalf. Now you’re saving time, money, and the hassle!
When your passport and visa are ready, ISA mails back all of your materials prior to your program start date. We can’t give an exact date or timeline for this process, since it depends on how long the consulates take to process the visas.
Important Side Note: Typically, ISA runs a visa service for all consulates except Washington DC. Once the consulates confirm our appointment dates, ISA puts the Visa Contract in the ISA Student Portal and sends reminder emails to eligible students urging them to sign up. The ISA Visa Service deadlines are typically before the Spain program deadlines, so we encourage students to apply early to the ISA Spain programs so they don’t miss the opportunity to take part in the ISA Visa Service!
Want to sign up for the ISA Visa Service? Once the Visa Service dates are confirmed for your consulate, ISA will email students with all the info on how to sign up!
