Who qualifies for Spanish student residence (estancia por estudios)?

Key rules

• Course length: A course of more than 90 days needs a student stay authorisation, usually a student visa.
• Insurance: Your policy must have no co-payments and no waiting periods, and cover the whole stay.

Who needs this permission

You need a student stay authorisation if you are a non-EU/EEA national and your course lasts more than 90 days. Most people get it as a student visa from a Spanish consulate before travelling. EU/EEA and Swiss nationals do not apply; they register instead. If you are a UK citizen with Withdrawal Agreement rights, you follow your own residence rules and not this student route.

Courses of 90 days or less (within any 180 days) need no student authorisation. If you come from a visa-exempt country, you can do a short course of up to 90 days in a 180-day period without a visa.

1. A qualifying course

You need proof of admission or enrolment from an authorised Spanish school, public or private. The letter must show:

• your name;
• the course name, its length and its schedule;
• that the course is full-time and leads to a qualification or certificate, or is an approved research, training or internship programme.

If the course is paid, the letter should also show the fees and how to pay them. Vocational training, language courses and unpaid internships can now qualify.

2. Enough money

You must show money for tuition and living costs for the whole stay. The IPREM is a public income index that the state sets each year. You must show 600 EUR for every month of the stay for yourself (100% of the 2025 IPREM), plus 450 EUR for every month (75%) for each family member who comes with you.

Accepted proof includes:

• bank statements or a bank certificate;
• a scholarship or grant letter;
• proof of a programme paid in advance;
• a sponsor's or parents' guarantee, with their bank evidence;
• proof of regular income, such as a work contract.

Some consulates also accept funds in a Spanish bank account or a credit card with a limit certified by the bank.

3. Health insurance

You need public or private health insurance from an insurer authorised in Spain. It must give full cover for the entire stay. You can buy a policy valid in Spain before you apply. You may instead join the public health system's convenio especial if you meet its conditions.

4. A clean record

If your stay is over 6 months and you are 18 or older, you need a criminal record certificate from each country where you lived in the last 5 years. It must show no convictions for offences under Spanish law. It must be issued no more than 3 months before you file. Legalisation and translation depend on where the document was issued:

• In another EU country: no apostille, and a multilingual standard form replaces the translation.
• In a non-EU country that is a Hague Convention member: an apostille and a sworn translation into Spanish.
• In a non-EU country that is not a Hague member: full legalisation through its foreign ministry and the Spanish consulate, and a sworn translation into Spanish.

For stays over 6 months, the medical certificate from a doctor must say you have no diseases with serious public-health implications. Legalise and translate it if required.

What you can do once you qualify

You may work up to 30 hours a week (working while you study). After finishing, you can use a 12-month job-search or business period, or change to a work authorisation (after your studies).

Your first authorisation lasts for the length of your course, up to 1 year at a time. If your course is longer than a year, request renewal in the 60 days before it expires, or up to 90 days after it expires, and show enrolment, progress, funds and insurance.

If you travel with family

If your stay is over 6 months, you can bring the following family members. Each one applies together with you and you must show 450 EUR a month for each of them (75% of the 2025 IPREM), on top of your own funds. Each relationship is separate:

• Spouse: proof is the marriage certificate.
• Registered partner: the partnership must be entered in a public register; proof is its registration certificate.
• Unmarried, unregistered partner: you must prove a stable relationship, either by 1 year of living together or by a child in common.
• Minor children: proof is the birth certificate.
• Dependent parent or other dependant: no route as family of a student; they need their own residence route.

Family members get no automatic work right (work rules). Fees, filing and the appeal deadlines are in Applying from abroad or from inside Spain.