Visas

Who needs a visa? And how do you apply for it?

Depending on your nationality, you might need a visa for coming to Spain. Even though requirements are frequently changed, this article will help you to find out whether you need a visa and how to apply for it.

We recommend that you ensure you remain legal while resident in Spain and do not try to enter the country without the required paperwork. There is a large population of illegal immigrants and this is a politically sensitive issue so there are efforts being made to prevent entry and to find and deport people living illegally in the country.

Citizens of the European Union are not required to get a visa for Spain since they already have the right to residency. In order to officially remain resident in Spain you are meant to apply for a NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero) and a residency card ( Tarjeta de Residente Comunitario). In practice this is not an urgent thing to get done, but you will need it eventually for some things.

Non-EU citizens visiting Spain need a visa ( visado) in order to enter and visit Spain, unless there exists a special agreement between Spain and your home country; these countries are those of North & South America in addition to:

Andorra, Australia, Brunei, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Gibraltar, Grenada, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia and Switzerland.

If you are one of these nationalities, you can enter Spain without a visa and stay for up to 90 days in any 6-month period.

Non-EU citizens coming to work, study or live in Spain are required to obtain a visa - note that this also includes non-EU spouses and dependents. Even if you are not required to have get a visa, in order to officially stay resident in Spain everyone needs to apply for a NIE ( Número de Identidad de Extranjero) and a residency card ( Tarjeta de Residente Comunitario).

Getting a visa

Visas are managed by the Spanish Ministerio de Asuntos Extranjeros (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) through its consulates and embassies around the world.

You apply for and obtain a visa through the Spanish consulate nearest to your residence before you travel. Honorary consuls generally cannot issue visas but may provide application forms.

Since visas are never issued in Spain, you must apply for them before you leave your country of residency. Do not attempt to enter Spain without a visa if you need one. There is no emergency procedure, you can't bribe the police, your embassy in Spain can't help and you will probably be refused entry.

Generally, you should apply for your visa about 8-12 weeks before the date of your arrival in Spain. You must first have a valid passport with at least three months until expiry in order to apply, so be sure to allow adequate time to obtain or renew both the passport and get the visa application processed. Don?t leave this to the last minute or you put your travel plans at risk.

Procedures and documents

Each Spanish consulate has different visa application procedures. You must call the consulate that has jurisdiction over your state of permanent residence (refer to list of consulates) to find out which procedure applies. You should address all questions concerning requirements and procedures for visa applications to your designated Spanish Consulate.

Visa types

Visas are valid for the length of time stated on them, starting on the date of arrival in Spain. There are different types of visas, which can be divided into the following categories:

Student visas
Tourist visas
Business visas
Residency visas
Transit visas

You cannot enter Spain with a tourist visa and then apply to stay as something else, eg, a student, without first returning to your country of residence and obtaining the new visa. Also, it is generally not possible to ask a friend at home to obtain a visa for you once you're in Spain. In any case, you have to get out of the Schengen Area in order to apply for a new type of visa, so plan accordingly.

Residency visas

There are different types of residency visas, some of them included below:

Visa de Reagrupacion Familiar: You can obtain this type of visa if you're married or related to a Spanish citizen.
Visa de Jubilados: This visa is issued if you plan to retire in Spain. Note: On arrival in Spain, you may be asked to get medical insurance. If you can't extend the health insurance you had in your country of origin (EU and some other citizens qualify) you will need private insurance.
If neither of the above, then it gets more complicated. You can come for three months, then try to find a company to sponsor you, or try to get residence in another EU country first (do you have Italian family members?).

Once you have the residence visa in your passport, you have to apply for your Residencia within three months after arrival in Spain in order to become a legal resident in Spain.

The Schengen Area

Spain is a signatory to the Schengen Agreement, which enables free circulation of residents within countries in the Schengen Area. A visa granted by one of these countries (for example, Spain) is valid in the whole Schengen Area. Travelling within the Schengen Area is legally the same as travelling within Spain. If you enter Spain with a tourist visa, you will be able to stay in Spain and/or any other country in the Schengen Area for up to 90 days during any 6-month period.

In addition to Spain, the other parties to the Schengen Agreement are: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Sweden.
Although you can leave the Schengen Area and come back in as many times as you need during its 6-month validity, the total amount of time you can stay in the Schengen area cannot exceed 90 days.
A visa granted by one of the Schengen countries is valid in all other member countries.
Countries outside the Schengen Area include Switzerland, United Kingdom & the Channel Islands, Ireland, Morocco, and Gibraltar.

Trivia: Schengen is a place in Luxembourg where the original treaty was signed in 1985.

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