Así que quieres estudiar en España
Bueno, quizás piensas que un día decidí, quiero ir a España, compré un billete de vuelo al Aeropuerto Madrid – Barajas y de repente estaba estudiando en Santander. Es una pena que no funcione como eso. He estado planeando, llenando solicitudes de pasaporte, visado, y apostillas, obteniendo papeles de mi doctor, y más por casi diez meses, y entre un mes, estaré terminado y oficial en España. Sí, hasta el martes pasado, todavía no podría quedarme en Santander más de 3 meses antes de tener que regresar a los EEUU. Ha sido una experiencia estresante, pero trataré de explicarte todo lo que es necesario para estudiar en España por un año.
1. Enero 2010. Solicita un pasaporte. Ya tenía un pasaporte, pero iba expirar durante mi estancia en Santander, que es malo. Tu pasaporte necesita estar valido hasta unos meses después de cuando planeas de salir de España.
2. Enero – Febrero 2010. Obtén reportes del buen comportamiento de policía. Necesitas reportes de cada ciudad en que vivías durante los cinco años pasados. Estos reportes necesitan ser notariada, y después el notario necesita ser notariada. El sistema es horrible, y no lo entiendo, pero es necesario, y quizás valdrá la pena. Necesitas aplicar a la Universidad de Cantabria. Necesitas recomendaciones de profesores, pues, planifica el futuro. Hice todo mi aplicación entre una semana antes de que se debía, pero no lo recomiendo que lo haces como eso también. Tenía tanto miedo que perdería el fin de plazo.
3. Febrero 2010. Envia tus reportes y los notarios al capital del estado en que los obtuviste. Por ejemplo, necesité reportes de Ithaca, Nueva York y Waukesha, Wisconsin. Tenía que enviar mis papeles de Ithaca a Albany y los de Waukesha a Madison con otras formas para obtener apostillas. Una apostilla confirma en otros países que los papeles son verdaderos, o algo así.
4. Marzo – Abril 2010. Ve a tu doctor y obtén papeles que dicen que estás sano físicamente y psicológicamente. También, tus padres necesitan escribir una carta que dice que pueden apoyarte financieramente y eso debe ser notariada.
5. Mayo o Junio 2010. Pide una cita al Consulado en Nueva York o lo más cerca de donde vives. Cada consulado tiene su propia región. Copia todo. Haz uno, dos, o tres copias para estar seguro.
6. Verano 2010. Reune todos los papeles, la carta de aceptación, tu pasaporte, información de tu seguro de sano, un sobre prepago de FedEx o UPS que puedes realizar un seguimiento, y un giro postal. Espera el mejor, y ve al consulado por la cita. Consigue tu visado en el correo después de tres semanas o más. Vuela a España.
7. Agosto o Septiembre 2010. Visita a la oficina de extranjeros. Eso es lo peor. Es peor que el DMV en los EEUU. Necesitas un número antes de entrar la oficina. Esperas hasta llaman tu número. Dile que necesitas una tarjeta de estudiante. Cuando fui para hacer eso, el programa no funcionó y no pudo darme un número, pero necesitas una forma con un número de NIE y una cita por la segunda visita a la oficina.
8. Agosto o Septiembre 2010. Otra vez visita a la oficina. Trae tu carta de aceptación, tu pasaporte, la forma con número de NIE, fotos de pasaporte, copias de pasaporte y visado, un libro para leer mientras esperar, todo. Prepaga la forma a un banco.
9. Tres semanas o más después de la segunda visita. Regresar a la oficina, recoger tu tarjeta y relájate. Eres legal ahora, ¡puedes quedarte hasta el próximo año!
So you want to study abroad in Spain
Well, you might think that one day I decided, I want to go to Spain, I bought a plane ticket to Madrid Airport – Bajaras and suddenly I was studying in Santander (not only was it a long, grueling process, but I flew into London Heathrow, not Madrid). It’s a shame that it doesn’t work like this. I have been planning, filling out applications for a passport, my visa, and apostilles, getting papers from my doctor, and more for almost ten months, and, within one month, I will be done with this and be official in Spain. Yes, up until last Tuesday, I still wasn’t able to stay in Santander longer than three months before having to return to the good ol’ US of A. It has been a stressful process, but I will try to guide you step by step through the process so you can study in Spain for a year (let me point out now, getting a 6 month visa is much easier).
1. January 2010. Apply for a Passport. I already had a passport, but it was going to expire during my stay in Santander, which is bad (unless I want to either get deported or have an interesting time at Customs). Your passport has to be valid at least a few months past when you plan on leaving Spain.
2. January – February 2010. Get police reports of good behavior. You need reports from each city that you lived in for at least 6 months within the past five years. These need to be notarized, and after that, the notarization has to be notarized. The system is horrible, I don’t understand it, but it is necessary, and hopefully will be worth the effort in the end. You also need to apply to the University of Cantabria. You need recommendations from professors, so plan ahead. I didn’t, and did my entire application within about a week. I felt terrible asking professors on such short notice, and was petrified I was going to miss deadlines (but I have a sneaking suspicion that the deadlines are pretty soft). I also needed to meet with my faculty advisor and a study abroad advisor, so schedule appointments well in advance to avoid extra stress.
3. February 2010. Send your police reports and notarizations to the capital of the state in which you got your report. For example, I needed reports from Ithaca, NY and Waukesha, WI. I had to send my papers from Ithaca to Albany and my papers from Waukesha to Madison along with papers asking for apostilles. An apostille is apparently a way of showing other countries that the papers are legal or something. I was pretty lost in all of this to be quite honest.
4. March – April 2010. Go to you doctor and get a letter that says you are physically and psychologically healthy. Also, your parents have to write a letter saying they can support you financially while you are in Spain, this too should be notarized (I believe).
5. May or June 2010. Schedule an appointment at the Spanish Consulate in New York or the consulate that is closest to where you live. Each consulate has its own region that it deals with. For example, as a resident of Wisconsin, I also could have went to the Spanish Consulate in Chicago. Copy everything. Make one, two or three copies just to be sure you have everything. You will need copies of everything, I am not lying.
6. Summer 2010. Gather all of your papers, copies, forms, your acceptance letter, your passport, information about your health insurance, an prepaid trackable envelope from FedEx or UPS, and a money order. Hope for the best and go to the consulate for your appointment (I was early, got done with appointment, despite having to run down like 40 stories to get a money order, which I also didn’t know how to do, and had some extra time to spend in New York). Get your visa in the mail (freak out at first seeing it’s good for only 3 months, realize that that is because you have more to do in Spain and calm down). Fly to Spain.
7. August or September 2010. Visit the Oficina de Extranjeros (the Foreign Affairs Office). This is probably the worst part. It is definitely worse than a DMV in the US (and that’s bad). You need a number before entering the office, get this from the computer to the right of the entrance. Wait for your number to be called. Tell them you need a student card. When I went to do this, the system on the computer didn’t work and they couldn’t give me a number. You NEED a number, you can’t prepay your form at the bank without a NIE number. Get this form and an appointment for your second visit.
8. August or September 2010. Again, go to the office. Bring your acceptance letter, your passport, your form with your NIE number that you already prepaid at a bank, and passport photos (you can get these in little photo booths, like the ones in movies, yet less romantic). Turn all of your papers in, sign and fingerprint forms that they give you.
9. Three weeks or more later. Return to the office and pick up your card and RELAX! You are legal now, and you can stay until the next year! (You can actually start to become a real person by opening a bank account in Spain and other exciting things.)
*A note about number 8. Because I didn’t get a form with a number, I didn’t really know which ticket to get, with an appointment, information, or what have you, so I ended up having 5 different numbers and took whichever was called first. I would recommend always getting the ticket you need and a ticket for information. It’s kind of cheating the system, but information usually gets called quickest, and if you go to the wrong desk they will either just bring you to the desk you need without waiting, or will call your number to the right desk within a short amount of time. It can really be a time saver if you don’t want to wait in the waiting room, and why would you? You are an American, goddamnit, and you don’t want to have to wait with other foreigners… they are downright… un-American!
