Okay, I am confused. A few questions:

My current plan is to go to Madrid and study Spanish at International House for a maximum of 6 months (because then I will be officially poor). Does 20 hours of study per week qualify as "full time study?" I called the consulate to ask and they just plugged me into the recording which does not tell you what "full time student" means.

Now, let's say it does count as full time study and I get a student visa for 6 months. If I then receive a job offer in spain OR decide to study elsewhere, do I have to return to the states to process my new visa? Because in reading the info on the consulate website it seems all visas must be processed in the states. Any ideas?

Thanks for entertaining another visa question.

Here's what I found out:

To call the consulates in the US you need to speak Spanish to speak with a "human" there. It's funny how many more options they give you when you speak the language. Otherwise you'll deal with recordings. I studied at the International House and I highly reccomend it. I'm not sure if the 20 hours of study constitutes full time. If you called the IH i'm sure they would know that if they've offered student visa's in the past to people from the states.

As far as the work visa you would need to be offered a job by a company in Spain and that company would have to file a "employment offer" with the ministry of labor. Once you receive an official offer from the MOS (i've heard anywhere from 16 weeks to 2 years) fly back to the states and present your documents to the US consulate and they "stamp" ya.

Hope this helps!

Pura vida!

20 hours a week is considered full-time, but you have to make sure that the school you choose can give you the proper official paperwork that the consulate needs to process your student visa application (not all schools can).

I'm not sure what consulate you'll be going to in the US... but it really is hard to get info over the phone. Go in person, if it's feasible. If not, try calling the main embassy/consulate in DC.

Once in Spain, if you get a work offer from a company that is willing to make you legal (not an easy feat, honestly), then you would have to go back to the US and present your paperwork at the consolate. They will hold onto your passport while they are processing it, so you'll have to plan to stay in the US during this period (usually two weeks, depending on the consulate).

Remember, a visa is only a document for entering the country. Once you are here, you will need to apply for residency (with a student visa, you apply for student residency; with a work visa, you get a work permit).

thanks for the tips. i didn't know they would hold your passport for a few weeks. this could be costly if you had a return flight.

so you have to apply for residency while in Spain if your non-EU? not at the consulate?

You apply for the visa at the Spanish consulate of your country of residence (in the US, there are multiple consulates and you apply at the one in your region).

Once you enter Spain with the visa, you have 60-90 days (different consulates give different instructions) to apply for residency. You apply for residency at the "comisaria" in your locality.

In the case of a big city (like Madrid) where there are lots of comisarias, you apply at the one designated for processing foreigners (in Madrid it is on Calle General Pardiñas). Your residency will override the visa--in other words, if you keep studying, you can extend your residency, but they will not issue another visa. Once you get your residency, you also receive your NIF--which will be your official identification number.

sweet! i'm going to work in malaga so i take it i would apply for residency there. i heard that things work smoother outside of madrid, less crowds, no big city, and clean air.

how can you expedite things with the ministry of labor???

I here that on entering Spain, that an American passort holder has only 90 days. Is it possible to go on to Morrocco and stay a few days, then come back to Spain for another 90 days?

Any suggestions out there?

No, it's 90 days within a period. I can't remember what length the period is but if you do a search on this section of the forum you'll find it.

It's 90 days in a 180 day period, so taking a trip to Morrocco won't give you any more days in Spain--unless you stay in Morrocco for 90 days also (to total the 180).