How to get a student visa

NOTE: Complete this process AFTER you have been accepted to your school/program of choice.

If you are studying abroad in a country for more than 90 days, you may be required to have a student visa. Some countries differ–check with their consulate web pages. The UK only requires a visa from U.S. citizens if they stay longer than 6 months. If your program is less than 90 days (usually summer programs), don’t worry about the visa; just make sure you have a passport! You can find all the information about applying for a passport here. It contains everything you need to know and application forms. You will need a valid passport in order to apply for a visa!!! 

If you’re participating in semester-long programs that require a visa, this is the post for you! I’m not sure what documents you need for a year-long program, so I won’t pretend to know.

First things first

Locate the consulate office of your choice of country. The consulate office is where visas are assigned. Go to Google, type in:

“[your chosen country] consulate U.S. locations”

There are consulate offices assigned to different regions of the U.S. and they are located in major cities. Example: you would like to study in Lyon, France and you live in Oregon. You’d hop on Google and type, “French consulate U.S. locations.” My first option is this site containing a map of the U.S. and the French consulates that service each state. If you hover over Oregon, you’ll see that the French consulate for Oregon is located in San Francisco, CA. Simply click on Oregon and it will link you to the San Francisco consulate’s website. Become very well acquainted with your region’s consulate website.

Next

Make certain that you DO need a visa. On your country’s consulate website, there is information about requirements regarding visas. The British and French consulates both feature a little quiz to guide you through whether or not you need a visa for your stay. Spain’s is a little harder to navigate, but lays out the requirements in bullet points. If you find that you do need a visa, move on to the application process.

Applying

***I want to let you know that if you are studying abroad on your own (not through your school) that you will MOST LIKELY have to make trip to the consulate for your chosen country that is in your region. For example, I live in the midwest and am traveling to Spain. The Spanish consulate for the midwest region is located in Chicago. I had to travel to Chicago to submit all of the required documents and application IN PERSON.***

1. Fill out the application for a student visa. Type your answers if possible. If you must write, use your best, most legible handwriting. I can only speak from my experience of filling out an application for Spain, but I needed to know my passport number, date of entry into Spain, date of exit, and the address of my school in Spain and its phone numbers and e-mail. Make sure you know this information before filling out your application.
2. When you get to the box where it asks you how many entries you’re requesting (one, two, or multiple), select multiple. The consulate will automatically consider you for multiple entries, but check the box to be safe. This will allow you to re-enter the country if you choose to travel to other countries during your stay.
3. Once you’re done with the application, make sure you have AT LEAST two copies. The Spanish consulate required two copies of the application; if your country’s consulate does not, it’s better to have an extra just in case.
4. You will need two passport-sized photos to submit with your application. These can be done very quickly at Walgreens or CVS for about $16.
5. IMPORTANT: make sure you read (and re-read several times) the required documents that you must bring to your consulate appointment. Here’s the breakdown of what the Spanish consulate requires:
   • Visa application form
   • Passport and ID (this can be driver’s license, voter registration card, student ID, etc.)
   • Passport-sized photo
   • Copy of acceptance letter into a Spanish school/program including: name, address, contact person, telephone, and e-mail of the school, full payment of tuition, dates of the program, subjects of study, and hours of study* per week (at least 20). *When they say study, they don’t mean credit hours. They mean literally how much time you’ll spend outside of class studying material.
   • Evidence of funds. You must provide one of the following:
     • Letter from your U.S. college saying that they assume full financial cost
     • Proof of scholarship/financial aid that equals to at least €532/month
     • Notarized letter from parent/guardian claiming financial responsibility for room and board in the amount of €532/month
   • Proof of health insurance that covers your time in Spain and amounts to €30,000 and includes Repatriation coverage
   • Express mail envelope addressed to self  with pre-paid stamps from the U.S. postal service. This is so the consulate can mail you your passport once it has been affixed with your visa.
   • Money order of the current amount for student visas. Check with your consulate’s website for current fees. Mine was $160. The consulate only accepts money orders. You can obtain this at Walmart’s money center.

Whew!

Got all that? I know it is a LOT to do and keep track of.

 

The consulate will see you now…

Once you’ve collected all the required documents and have checked the requirement list hundreds of times to make sure you haven’t missed anything, schedule an appointment with your consulate. There will be a link online in the visa section of your consulate’s website to do this.  The Spanish consulate requires an in-person appointment, as well as the French. Make sure your country does or does not require an in-person appointment. I suggest arriving to your appointment 15 minutes early. You’ll be in a waiting room and your name will be called when they are ready to see you. You’ll bring all of your documents and copies to the counter and hand them to the clerk. They’ll double-check that you have everything and have completed the documents correctly. You’ll leave your passport with them and that’s it! My appointment only took five minutes. It was ridiculous that I had to fly to Chicago for such a short meeting, but I got some deep-dish pizza out of the deal.

Common theme: The Waiting Game

The visa process takes about four (4) weeks to receive confirmation and your passport back, so do not put this off until the last minute. I can’t imagine how stressful it would be to wait for your visa to arrive as your departure date becomes increasingly close.

Closing tip: do not purchase airline tickets until you receive your visa. 

If you have questions about my own visa process or need help finding your consulate, do not hesitate to comment!