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Oktoberfest! Prost!

The major benefit of moving to Europe, as I’m sure you can guess, is the myriad of opportunities that are now only a cheap flight away! As we were moving out of Minnesota we had lots of friends asking us what was going to be first on our list of things to do?! It really […]

So How Do You Move to Spain?

This is a VERY good question. Imagine trying to figure out a DVM process that is different depending on who you talk and what day of the week it is… and trying to do it in Spanish. Luckily, Mitch’s school program routinely accepts international students, so they give you an idea of what to do. But even then… It’s the DVM… on different days of the week… in Spanish. So this is a rough, general idea of what you need to do. First things first, in order to remain in Spain longer than 90 days you need a visa, in our case a student visa and it’s a wild ride so hold on to your skirts. 

Figure out which consulate you need to go to. There are nine around the US and you MUST go to the one that serves where you live. We were in transition out of MN so we couldn’t go to Chicago and ended going to San Fran which serves ID, where we spent the summer with Mitch’s parents. We even got ID driver’s licenses to ensure we didn’t have any problems in going to San Fran. Here’s a link to  help you figure out which consulate you need- Spanish Consulates

What kind of visa do you need? We were going on a student visa. Well, Mitch is on a student visa and I am going as a dependent on that student visa, which means there are different requirements for each of us. Find options here

Make an appointment ASAP. Appointments were 3-months out when I tried to make ours, so plan ahead! Get an appointment early, then worry about all the paperwork. Also get an appointment that’s as early in the morning as possible, you’ll see why soon. Make sure you make an appointment for EACH person requiring a visa (AKA 2 people = 2 appointments). For San Fran go here

Paperwork. This is a doosey, and again the different DVM thing. Bring extra copies of everything! For each of us we needed (remember separate appointments, separate paperwork): 

  • Visa application form. ($160 fee per person)
  • Passport and ID. Make sure the photocopy includes the ENTIRE two pages of the photo page of your passport (they didn’t like that the full top page of Mitch’s wasn’t showing).
  • Two passport sized photos. They only used one, you’ll need one in Spain too so it’s better to get two ahead of time ($30, don’t use CVS!). 
  • Acceptance letter from school.
  • Proof of intended flight itinerary. They recommend you don’t book until after your visa is approved, but we booked on points early to make sure got a decent price. 
  • Evidence of funds. You basically need to prove that you can pay your living expenses for your ENTIRE period in Spain. We printed out all our financial docs (i.e. past 3 months of bank statements and investment accounts), which met the requirement. Calculate here. In an abundance of caution we also had Mitch’s dad sign a notarized letter stating,  “I hereby certify that I… the father of Mitch Samson, will support him with a monthly allowance of $… while he is in Spain and that I am financially responsible for any emergency that may arise” (Your bank will notarize for free). Should have put both our names on that because even though we’d already met the proof without the letter, she wanted to deny the evidence because my name wasn’t also on the letter. Sigh. 
  • Evidence of public of private health insurance. Mitch’s acceptance letter to school included his coverage. I, however, needed a letter from the school saying for a fee I was also eligible to be covered under the private insurance offered by the school. I brought a copy in English and Spanish.
  • Police criminal record certificate. We used a company for this ($140). It required finger printing & an FBI background check (get two originals). We then sent those to the US State department to have them apostillized based on the Apostille of the Hague Convention. Basically, it proves that the report is legit. We did ours by mail and it took two or three weeks to get it back, be sure to include a pre-stamped return envelope ($32). Request form here.
  • Medical Certificate. This was fun. So we used the outline from this link to take to our doctors to get signed. These appointments can cost more because it’s “with forms” (mine was $60). Often your insurance won’t cover this because it’s different than a routine check-up. You can try to just show up and then in the office be like can you sign this form too? Make sure they sign & stamp it (even in blue ink if possible). Get two done! And bring the ORIGINAL. I can’t stress this enough. Mitch forgot his form when he went to the doctor (classic). So he emailed the form to the office and the doctor faxed it back signed. I TOLD him to go back and get an original signature. Did he listen? Of course not. What nearly derailed our whole visa? His medical certificate. The lady at our appointment wouldn’t except it and told us to get a new appointment. But we begged that if there was a way to get a new report if we could come back. “If you’re back by 1 pm, maybe.” So we bust out of the office, find an urgent care, get him a new physical, run back to the consulate and have to wait until all the other appointments have been seen. Hence, the advice to get an early morning appointment so if something goes wrong you may have time to fix it. That’s a REAL good lesson in do as your wife tells you ($70, including two for Mitch).
  • For dependents only- The guidelines note that you need the EX-01 and M790 forms. I printed them off, but didn’t fill them out because they were super confusing. But I was never asked for them so I still don’t know exactly what they are. I also needed a marriage license from the State of ID (no older than 3 months old from appointment date), which needed to be Apostillized by the State of ID. Bit easier than the US State Dept because I just walked from the courthouse to the recorders office for another stamp. I got two official copies, never can be too careful! ($30).
  • Here are instruction sheets for students and dependents – Student Visa Guidelines San Fran and Student Dependent Visa Guidelines San Fran

Book your travel. We used a companion pass so it could’ve been worse ($240).

Triple-check your paperwork! Mitch though I was being crazy, but I was right (duh). Other students had told us if you don’t have all the right paperwork you can submit it later and be okay. WRONG! The lady told us they stopped doing that 3 days ago. Uh huh. 3. So have your shit together. 

Appointment time. Stay calm and try not to get agitated. The Spanish will be much less helpful if you freak out. And don’t expect to be seen at your actual appointment time. Definitely bring reading material. 

Be prepared to return. The consulate website and other students said you could bring a stamped first class envelope and the consulate would mail your passport/visa. WRONG. We had to go back to San Fran IN PERSON for pick up. This can only happen between the hours of 12-1 pm. 12 hours of driving one-way and it took all of 2 mins to pick them up. Yeaaaa. Sound like fun, eh?! ($250)

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