Studying in Spain: Information about changing your residence permit

Residency application and extension

The application and extension of residence for Spanish international students, exchange students or visiting scholars, and unpaid interns are based on laws other than the Spanish 2000 In addition to the corresponding provisions of Organic Law No. 4 L.O.4/2000, also known as the Aliens Act, and the Royal Decree 557/2011 promulgated last year, also known as the regulations implementing the Aliens Act, there are also EU regulations on the acceptance of international students from non-EU countries. Contents of Directive 2004/114/CE issued on December 13, 2004.

Type of license

Refers to the annual extension of the license required to study in Spain, as an exchange student or as an intern without financial income. The extension of documents required for the student’s family members (immediate family members) to stay in Spain is also included.

Specific requirements

Anyone who is not a citizen of an EU country, has no criminal record, and is not prohibited from entering Spain or Schengen Agreement countries. If you have sufficient financial conditions, the specific regulations in 2012 are the same as last year, that is, 532.51 euros per person per month, 399.38 euros per person per month for dependents, and 266.26 euros per person per month starting from the second person. There is health insurance generally available to Spanish citizens, either private or official. It must be able to prove that you have passed the examination in the previous study period to continue your original studies or internship content. What needs to be highlighted here is that anyone who comes to study in Spain should study seriously and not just focus on making money. Failure to do the minimum homework will directly affect the extension of residence.

Problems with changing residence mainly include the following aspects: date of application, financial conditions, and required documents.

According to the new regulations, students can apply for extension of residence within 60 days before expiration and 90 days after expiration. Note that it is 60 days and 90 days, not two months and three months as commonly misunderstood. You can apply for an extension through the appointment number on the website, or you can directly send the required documents through the collection points of other government departments. Since the situation varies from place to place, some places, such as Madrid, have a large number of immigrants and students, so online appointments are queued very late. Therefore, I recommend sending the required materials directly.

Pay attention to your home address. Since the approval process takes a long time, and there may be a letter asking the party to provide additional materials, the home address must be accurate to avoid not receiving the letter in time and delaying the deadline for providing additional materials. Regarding financial conditions, the requirement is remittances from overseas families, not the amount in your own bank book, let alone income from your own work. Last year, many students, especially new students, were rejected because of this.

Required documents. Recently, more emphasis has been placed on whether the person concerned is actually studying, and academic performance reports or certificates are required. If your academic performance is excellent and continuous, approval will be quick. The main purpose of many students coming to Spain is not to study, but to find a place to settle down. Therefore, they do not study seriously after arriving at school, often change schools, and fail to obtain passing grades, which will directly affect the extension of their residence. I didn’t pay much attention to this issue when extending my stay in the past, but now I pay much attention to it. Not only do you have to go to class, you also have to take various assessments seriously and get passing grades. In order to ensure that the "residence" change goes smoothly, when preparing documents, especially for students who are applying for the first time, it is best to go to an experienced law firm and ask for help. Otherwise, once you are rejected, it will be very troublesome to appeal.

If a student has a work permit and is working, the validity period of the permit is the same as the student’s residence permit. Therefore, after the student’s residence permit is extended, the work permit must be renewed in time, otherwise it will become a I'm working illegally.