The Spanish student visa, step by step
If you are studying in Spain for more than 90 days you need a student visa, and for more than 180 days you need the long-stay type D. This is what the process actually looks like, what the consulate will ask for, and where applications usually go wrong.
Last reviewed: August 18, 2026
Requirements depend on your nationality. Everything below applies to a Spanish student visa in general, but the exact documents, the fees, whether an interview is held and how long a decision takes are all set by the consulate that handles your country — and some nationalities need a visa for a stay under 90 days where others do not. Check your own consulate's page before you rely on any list, including this one.
The four steps
Book the appointment
Apply at the Spanish consulate or embassy responsible for where you live — not where you are travelling from. Appointments are the bottleneck in most countries: check availability before you fix your course dates, not after.
Prepare the documents
The list below is what consulates ask for. Everything issued outside Spain generally needs the Hague Apostille and a sworn translation into Spanish. Start with the apostille — it is the slowest item on the list.
Attend the appointment
Some consulates interview you, some simply take the file and ask a few questions at the counter. Know what is in your own application: your motivation letter, your study programme, your school and its city, and the address of your accommodation. Make sure the application is filed as a language course (curso de idiomas) at an accredited language school, not as a university course.
Wait for the decision
The legal window is one month from the day after you apply. In practice consulate workloads mean four to eight weeks, and sometimes up to three months. Do not book an unchangeable flight before you have the visa.
What the consulate will ask for
Three of these come from the school and are prepared for you as part of your enrolment: the letter of acceptance, the academic programme, and proof of accommodation if you book it with us.
Visa application form
Issued by the consulate when you book the appointment, or downloadable from their site. Fill it in exactly as your passport reads.
Passport and a copy
Your passport must not expire during your stay. Schengen rules ask for three months beyond your stay, but long-stay type D visas often require twelve to fifteen months of validity from your entry date.
Two passport photographs
Recent, in colour, on a white background.
Visa fee
Proof that the application fee has been paid, in the form the consulate specifies.
Flight itinerary
A verifiable reservation with a booking reference is enough — you do not need to buy a ticket you cannot change. If you have no reservation at all, you must show funds sufficient to buy a return ticket.
Letter of acceptance
Provided by the schoolConfirms the course you have booked. It must come from an Instituto Cervantes accredited school and the course must be at least 20 hours a week, aimed at an official certificate such as DELE or SIELE.
Academic programme
Provided by the schoolA detailed description of the course you will follow, issued by the school.
Academic degree or diploma
Certificates of your previous studies, and of any Spanish you have already studied. These must be apostilled and translated by a sworn translator. Bring the originals, the translation and a photocopy of the translation.
Proof of accommodation
Provided by the schoolA reservation covering at least the first four weeks, with a note that it can be extended. If you book accommodation through the school, this is stated in the letter of acceptance.
Spanish health insurance
A policy from a Spanish insurer with no co-payment and no waiting period. Allow several weeks between requesting the policy and receiving it.
Medical certificate
Required for type D visas over 180 days. Signed by a doctor, apostilled by the competent health authority, and issued within the last three months.
Criminal record certificate
Required if you are 18 or over and applying for a type D visa over 180 days. It must cover every country you have lived in for the past five years, and be apostilled.
Proof of financial means
The benchmark is the IPREM, currently around €600 a month, met from your own funds or through a close family sponsor. In practice consulates expect comfortably more than the minimum. If accommodation is paid for the whole stay in advance, roughly half the benchmark is normally accepted.
Motivation letter
Write it yourself, in your own language with a Spanish translation, and be able to repeat its contents from memory.
Writing the motivation letter
This is the document applicants get wrong most often, and it is the one entirely within your control.
Be clear about why you want to study Spanish in Spain rather than at home: immersion in the language and the culture, and what that will let you do afterwards.
Avoid anything that reads as a plan to stay. Do not mention long-term residency, looking for work, or changing your status to a work permit later. Even where those are legal routes, raising them suggests your real purpose is immigration rather than study.
Explain concretely why you will return home: a career path, further study you are already accepted onto, or a professional licence that requires this specific Spanish certification.
The four possible outcomes
Granted
Tell us immediately and send a copy of the visa in your passport, so we can make sure everything is ready for your arrival.
Requerimiento
A formal notice that something is missing or wrong. You have exactly seven calendar days — weekends and holidays included — to respond, or the application is cancelled automatically. Check your email and the Sede Electrónica frequently, including during holidays, and send us a copy the moment it arrives.
Denied
You normally have one month to file an administrative appeal, a Recurso de Reposición. The official notice explains your options. Send us a clear copy of the denial straight away.
No answer
After two months with no reply you are likely facing negative administrative silence. Check the status through the consular tracker, write a polite enquiry to the consulate after eight weeks, and only then consider an appeal. Filing too early can trigger a rushed rejection; waiting a little longer often ends in approval.
Where we come in
We prepare the school-issued documents, check your file against the list above before you go to the consulate, and tell you what a requerimiento actually means when one arrives. The visa is granted by the consulate, not by us — but a complete, consistent file is the part we can control.
Start your applicationThis guide is written from experience and from official sources, but rules change and consulates interpret them differently. It is not legal advice. Always check the requirements of the consulate handling your application, and tell us if you are given different information — it helps the next student.