hello all,

i am considering studying spanish in spain (Euskal Herriko Unibertsitea-San Sebastian) in about a year. i went to the spanish consulates site just out of curiosity to find info about visas. it lists all these requirements which are normal for such a thing.
but one requirement is that i have enough money in a SPANISH bank! the only way to bypass this is to have the university say it will provide money for me, or failing that my parents. but im 30 and neither a university nor my parents are going to support me. so HOW would i set up a spanish bank account?! it seems absurd that i couldnt just show them a statement from my own bank here. and if memory serves me correctly, foreigners cant just open an account in spain that easily.

also, another question, anyone know what the government considers to be 'fulltime' ?
and are these student visas issued for a year at a time?

ok, i know it was long, but thanks for reading and let me know if any of you have any ideas on this.

thanks,
brian

I understand you, that doens't make any sense (about the bank) but that is a world wide thing. When I was getting my American Visa my husband had to prove that he had enough money to support me, he had to bring a letter from his employer and he had to show taxes of the last 3 years. The money thing is the most important, what a surprise!!! Anyway I don't think you have to have the money in Caja Madrid or something like that, try to open an account in CityBank here in the States and then go to a CityBank in Spain and ask them for a Statement, the bank is the same so they have to accept it.
A fulltime student is a person that study the whole time...oops, I don't think that is a real nice explanation. Let's see if I can find a way to express myself. The full time student is the one whose primary activity is studing, so he doesn't work or have a part time job.
Well, I hope I didn't confuse you a lot.

Hi, brianvc!

I think Nuria's idea of opening an account with Citibank is a good idea (but once you're there you may want to change - They made a ton of mistakes with my account the few months I had one with them in Madrid). Some of the Spanish banks have offices in the US - Banco Santander Central Hispano (BSCH) and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) have offices in Miami and New York. But that may be a hassle for you if you don't live in one of those cities.

I opened bank accounts in Madrid with no problem. They just needed to see my residency/work permit. I would think in your case the student visa would be the necessary document. Like banks anywhere, they are more than happy to take your money! My father opened an account in Madrid with Barclay's Bank, and he never lived there - he just visited now and then. He didn't have any special visa or papers. It was called a tourist account. It was no problem.

Could your parents write the letter, and you all know amongst yourselves that you'll open an account with your own money once you're there?

Hope it all works out!

[Diana, Banco Santander and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya have merged other banks. I have updated their names]

[This message has been edited by Antonio (edited 08-15-2000).]