Do you need a visa?
It depends on your passport and on how long you study.
| Your situation | What you need |
|---|---|
| EU, EEA or Swiss citizen | No visa. Within 3 months of arrival, you apply for a registration certificate (€12), issued on the spot: enrolment at a school, health insurance covering all risks and a statement that you have enough money. No fixed amount is required.BOE — Real Decreto 240/2007 (ciudadanos de la UE y del EEE); Policía Nacional — Certificado de registro de ciudadano de la UE; Policía Nacional — Tasa 790, código 012 (TIE y certificado de registro) |
| Any other passport, studies longer than 90 days | A national long-stay study visa, from the Spanish consulate. It carries your stay authorisation. If you stay more than 6 months, you then apply for your TIE card at the police station within one month of arrival (€16.08).BOE — Reglamento de extranjería (Real Decreto 1155/2024); Policía Nacional — Tasa 790, código 012 (TIE y certificado de registro) |
| Studies of 90 days or less | No student visa. Depending on your passport, you may need a Schengen short-stay visa.Consulado General de España en Londres — Visado de estudios; Reglamento (UE) 2018/1806 — países exentos de visado |
| Already in Spain on another residence permit | You can apply for your study stay authorisation from inside Spain, without going back through a consulate.BOE — Reglamento de extranjería (Real Decreto 1155/2024) |
Apply for your visa at least 2 months before your studies start. The regulation accepts a shorter lead time only for a justified reason.
Since 20 May 2025, a new regulation (Real Decreto 1155/2024) has replaced the 2011 one. It has no student rule tied to a nationality: a Latin American passport follows the same route as any other.
Source: BOE — Reglamento de extranjería (Real Decreto 1155/2024)
Not verified
A bilateral agreement or a consulate practice specific to one country was not researched. ETIAS and EES rules for short stays could not be read on the official pages.
Getting a place
It all depends on the country where you finished secondary school.
- Diploma from an EU country or a country with an agreement, European or International Baccalaureate
- UNEDasiss accreditation, no entrance exam
- UNEDasiss — Acceso a la universidad según tu sistema educativo
- UNEDasiss converts your grade into a Spanish admission grade
- Diploma from any other country
- Recognition as a Bachillerato, then the PCE exams
- UNEDasiss — Acceso a la universidad según tu sistema educativo
- for a public university; UNEDasiss advises at least 4 subjects
- Master’s
- Apply to the university
- BOE — Real Decreto 822/2021, acceso al máster
- foreign degree accepted without formal recognition; from outside the European Higher Education Area, the university first checks its level
- Doctorate
- Apply to the university
- BOE — Real Decreto 99/2011, acceso al doctorado
- foreign master’s-level degree accepted without formal recognition, after a check by the university
The UNEDasiss accreditation opens every year from 4 February to 1 December. It usually takes 3 weeks, 3 months at most: send it at least 6 weeks before your university closes enrolment.
Source: UNEDasiss — Fechas clave
For the 2026 intake, applications from international students to public universities closed on 7 July 2026. With your accreditation, you pre-register in the university’s region: in Catalonia on the university access portal, in Andalusia through the single Andalusian district.
Source: UNEDasiss — Fechas clave; Study in Catalonia — Preinscripción universitaria; Junta de Andalucía — Distrito Único Andaluz, grados
A foreign secondary diploma taken online or at a distance from Spain cannot be recognised.
Not verified
The 2027 intake dates (not published yet), the time and cost of recognition by the ministry, pre-registration in Madrid, and the level of Spanish required: each university sets it, no national threshold was found. UNEDasiss prices (€70 for the admission grade, €35 to €140 for the PCE exams) appear on an undated image: nothing confirms they are the 2026 ones.
From application to visa
- Get your place and pay enrolmentThe stay authorisation requires you to be admitted and to have already paid the enrolment fees.BOE — Reglamento de extranjería (Real Decreto 1155/2024)
- Prepare your filePassport valid for at least 1 year, proof of money, health insurance, medical certificate. If you are an adult staying more than 6 months: a criminal record certificate from the countries you lived in over the last 5 years. You must be at least 17 for higher education.BOE — Reglamento de extranjería (Real Decreto 1155/2024)
- Apply at the consulateIn person or through a representative, at least 2 months before your studies start. Visa: €90 base fee.BOE — Reglamento de extranjería (Real Decreto 1155/2024)
- Wait for the decisionThe authorities have 7 days to decide on your stay authorisation; no answer means a refusal. The consulate then issues the visa within 1 month at most.BOE — Reglamento de extranjería (Real Decreto 1155/2024)
- Arrive and apply for your TIEAt the police station, within one month of arrival, if you stay more than 6 months: €16.08.Policía Nacional — Tasa 790, código 012 (TIE y certificado de registro)
- RenewAt least 2 months before your authorisation ends, from inside Spain. Your application extends your status until the decision; no answer within 2 months means a refusal. New TIE: €19.30.BOE — Reglamento de extranjería (Real Decreto 1155/2024)
€90 is the base fee. Each consulate charges in local currency and applies reciprocity: in Miami, USD 160 for a US citizen and USD 94 for other nationalities, plus USD 18 for the application centre. The visa cost €80 until September 2024.
Source: BOE — Orden AUC/891/2024, tasas de visado; Consulado General de España en Miami — Visado de estudios
Not verified
The regulation starts the one-month TIE deadline from your arrival in one article and from the grant of the authorisation in another: counting from your arrival is the safe choice. Real consulate appointment times are not published on any page read. A stay authorisation fee of €10.94 exists; nothing says clearly whether the consulate adds it to the €90.
Money to show
For the visa, you show at least €600 a month: 100% of the IPREM, Spain’s reference income index.
- For you
- €600 a month
- BOE — Reglamento de extranjería (Real Decreto 1155/2024)
- unless your housing is paid in advance for the whole stay
- First family member
- €450 a month
- BOE — Reglamento de extranjería (Real Decreto 1155/2024)
- 75% of the IPREM
- Each further member
- €300 a month
- BOE — Reglamento de extranjería (Real Decreto 1155/2024)
- 50% of the IPREM
What counts as money: grants and scholarships, a work contract or a firm job offer, your school covering your costs. The London consulate also asks for 6 months of bank statements.
Source: BOE — Reglamento de extranjería (Real Decreto 1155/2024); Consulado General de España en Londres — Visado de estudios
| National long-stay visa | €90 |
|---|---|
| TIE card | €16.08 |
| Tuition, 60 credits at €113.71 | €6,822.60 |
| Before rent and living costs | €6,928.68 |
At the highest price (€136.44 a credit), the total rises to €8,292.48. An EU citizen pays €16.92 to €20.68 a credit.
Source: BOE — Orden AUC/891/2024, tasas de visado; Policía Nacional — Tasa 790, código 012 (TIE y certificado de registro); BOCM — Decreto 43/2022, precios públicos universitarios de la Comunidad de Madrid
- Study visa, British passport
- €392.98
- Consulado General de España en París — Tasas consulares, 1.er trimestre 2026
- studies over 6 months; reciprocity fee, Spanish consulate in Paris list, first quarter of 2026
- Study visa, Australian passport
- €401.83
- Consulado General de España en París — Tasas consulares, 1.er trimestre 2026
- same list
Not verified
How many months to show: the regulation sets a monthly amount, not a length. For housing paid in advance, the regulation speaks of an exemption, the London and Hamburg consulates of a deduction.
Health
| Your passport | Your cover |
|---|---|
| Outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland | Health insurance from an insurer authorised in Spain, with benefits close to those of the public system, for the whole stay.BOE — Reglamento de extranjería (Real Decreto 1155/2024) |
| EU, EEA or Switzerland | To register, health insurance covering all risks in Spain. The European Health Insurance Card only covers care that cannot wait, in the public system.BOE — Real Decreto 240/2007 (ciudadanos de la UE y del EEE); Tu Europa — Tarjeta Sanitaria Europea |
The London and Hamburg consulates also require insurance with no co-payment and no waiting period, and at least €30,000 of cover. Travel insurance is refused.
Consulado General de España en Londres — Visado de estudios; Consulado General de España en Hamburgo — Visado de estudios
At the London consulate, the UK GHIC is accepted as insurance for all study visas.
Source: Consulado General de España en Londres — Visado de estudios
Not verified
Whether the European card alone is enough for an EU student doing a full degree in Spain: no official page read says so. Ask the Oficina de Extranjeros.
Working while you study
| Your situation | Work allowed |
|---|---|
| Stay authorisation for higher education | You can work, employed or self-employed, with no extra permit: 30 hours a week at most, as long as the work stays compatible with your studies.BOE — Reglamento de extranjería (Real Decreto 1155/2024) |
| Internship that is part of your course | No extra authorisation.BOE — Reglamento de extranjería (Real Decreto 1155/2024) |
| Internship outside your course | An internship residence permit, 12 months at most, renewable once (2 years in total). Decision within 30 days; no answer means it is granted.BOE — Ley 14/2013, disposiciones adicionales 17.ª y 18.ª |
Your right to work stops at the borders of the autonomous community that granted your authorisation, and its neighbouring towns. Going over 30 hours a week can cost you your stay authorisation.
The geographic limit dates from 20 May 2025; the 30 hours already existed.
Source: BOE — Reglamento de extranjería (Real Decreto 1155/2024)
Bringing your family
Your spouse, your registered partner, your stable partner (at least 1 year living together, unless you have a child together) and your children under 18 can apply for a visa for the time left on your stay, if at least 90 days are left.
Source: BOE — Reglamento de extranjería (Real Decreto 1155/2024)
You need money for the whole family (€450 a month for the first member, €300 for each further one), health insurance and, for each adult staying more than 6 months, a criminal record certificate.
Source: BOE — Reglamento de extranjería (Real Decreto 1155/2024)
Your family is not allowed to work during your study stay.
A child born in Spain during your studies: you apply for their authorisation within 6 months of the birth. After graduation, your family can stay with you only if it was already with you during your studies.
Source: BOE — Reglamento de extranjería (Real Decreto 1155/2024); BOE — Ley 14/2013, disposiciones adicionales 17.ª y 18.ª
Not verified
The visa price for each family member: consulate lists group students and families together, and no official sentence says each one pays €90.
After graduation
A residence permit gives you 24 months to find a job or start a business that matches your level of study.
- Degrees covered
- bachelor’s (grado) or higher
- BOE — Ley 14/2013, disposiciones adicionales 17.ª y 18.ª
- at least level 6 of the European Qualifications Framework
- When to apply
- from 60 days before to 90 days after your study authorisation ends
- BOE — Ley 14/2013, disposiciones adicionales 17.ª y 18.ª
- online, to the government office of your province
- Decision
- 20 days
- BOE — Ley 14/2013, disposiciones adicionales 17.ª y 18.ª
- no answer means it is granted
- Cost
- €10.94
- Administraciones Públicas — Tasa 790, código 052 (autorizaciones de estancia)
- plus the TIE card, €16.08
The office only checks your degree, your health insurance and your means, which you state in a signed declaration. Your application extends your current authorisation until the decision.
Source: BOE — Ley 14/2013, disposiciones adicionales 17.ª y 18.ª
With your degree, you can also switch straight from the study authorisation to a residence and work permit, without a new visa. This switch is closed if your studies were funded by a development-cooperation or humanitarian scholarship.
Source: BOE — Reglamento de extranjería (Real Decreto 1155/2024)
Tuition fees
In public universities, each autonomous community sets the price per credit. A full-time year is 60 credits.
- Catalonia, bachelor’s
- €17.69 a credit
- DOGC — Decreto 96/2026, precios de las universidades públicas de Cataluña 2026-2027
- 2026-2027, first enrolment; €1,061.40 for 60 credits
- Catalonia, master’s
- €19.37 a credit
- DOGC — Decreto 96/2026, precios de las universidades públicas de Cataluña 2026-2027
- €17.69 for a master’s leading to a regulated profession
- Madrid, bachelor’s
- €16.92 to €20.68 a credit
- BOCM — Decreto 43/2022, precios públicos universitarios de la Comunidad de Madrid
- depending on the field, first enrolment
- Madrid, master’s
- €45.02 a credit
- BOCM — Decreto 43/2022, precios públicos universitarios de la Comunidad de Madrid
- non-regulated master’s, except those with their own price
- Andalusia, bachelor’s
- €12.62 a credit
- BOJA — Decreto 98/2023, precios públicos universitarios de Andalucía
- first enrolment
- Andalusia, master’s
- €13.68 a credit
- BOJA — Decreto 98/2023, precios públicos universitarios de Andalucía
| Region | Non-EU student on a study visa |
|---|---|
| Madrid | The 4th-enrolment price, the top of the scale: €113.71 to €136.44 a credit for a bachelor’s, so €6,822.60 to €8,186.40 for 60 credits; €84.07 a credit for a non-regulated master’s.BOCM — Decreto 43/2022, precios públicos universitarios de la Comunidad de Madrid |
| Catalonia | Each university sets its price, up to the real cost of the studies.DOGC — Decreto 96/2026, precios de las universidades públicas de Cataluña 2026-2027 |
| Andalusia | Each university can raise the price, up to the real cost of the studies.BOJA — Decreto 98/2023, precios públicos universitarios de Andalucía |
For tuition, a study stay authorisation does not make you a resident. EU citizens are not affected: they pay the ordinary price.
Source: DOGC — Decreto 96/2026, precios de las universidades públicas de Cataluña 2026-2027; BOCM — Decreto 43/2022, precios públicos universitarios de la Comunidad de Madrid
Doctorate: academic supervision at €401.12 in Catalonia, €390 a year in Madrid.
Source: DOGC — Decreto 96/2026, precios de las universidades públicas de Cataluña 2026-2027; BOCM — Decreto 43/2022, precios públicos universitarios de la Comunidad de Madrid
Not verified
Madrid has not published a 2026-2027 list: its page still shows 2025-2026, and the 2022 decree stays in force until it is replaced. Andalusia applies a 2023 decree; no newer scale was found.