Visa application could be nerve-wracking, but with proper knowledge and preparation, Visa processing can be smooth sailing. As an auxiliar de conversación or language assistant (LA), even after I passed the education adviser's interview, submitted my application via PROFEX, and was given a school placement, I still had to apply for the visa. It’s one of the last steps I had to take to enter Spain. In this blog, I’d like to share the requirements I submitted as a visa applicant under the Ministry of Education’s auxiliares de conversación program.

What visa type

I had to apply for a long-stay visa (a.k.a. student visa and type D visa) at the Consulate of Spain in the Philippines. The visa is valid for 90 days. As a general rule, all long-stay visas require that the applicant to physically appear and submit the requirements at the consulate, located at 5F ACT Tower, 135 Senator Gil J. Puyat Avenue, Makati City. 

When to apply the visa

Visa may be applied at least 3 months before the intended date of travel to Spain. Usually, LAs fly to Spain during the 4th week of September (the program states you cannot arrive in Spain 10 days earlier than the program start date on October 1). With that, you may apply as early as the 4th week of June.

Visa processing and issuance may take 10 business days (or more). As a general rule, apply the visa as early as possible. You’ll never know what might happen. In our batch, a lot of visa appointments were canceled due to the lockdown / pandemic. We were in the middle of completing our visa requirements when Manila went on a 2-week lockdown from August 4 to 18. Mine was supposedly on August 6, but I had no choice but to cancel it on the website. It was so stressful while waiting for the elusive slots, but eventually the consulate opened more slots and I was able to book an August 27 appointment. Thankfully, the rest went smoothly, and my visa was issued on September 10. 

How to book an appointment

All long-stay visas are processed by the Consulate alone, but booking the appointment is done via BLS Spain’s website. BLS Spain is a third party agency that helps out in short-stay visa issuance (which includes the tourist Schengen visa). Having said that, it means all communication (visa requirements questions, visa application followup, etc.) should be done with the consulate, not to BLS Spain. The consulate's work email is [email protected].

Visa requirements in general

- Just follow exactly what the Ministry listed for the requirements. There are certain visa requirements that don’t apply to Ministry auxiliars anymore (i.e. the requirement for medical insurance and the Spanish translation of apostilled documents), so just follow the said list to be less overwhelming.

- When you submit the requirements, make sure to bring both the original documents and its photocopies.

- Make sure the photocopies are in A4 size paper as it’s the preferred size of the Consulate. 

- The Consulate looks at the original documents, but will only get the photocopies (except for the visa form). To be organized, sort them in 2 long brown envelopes, one for the original and the other for photocopies. Use paper clips instead of staplers. 

Visa requirements in detail

Here’s the list of requirements I submitted, arranged in the following order:

1. Filled up national visa application form. You can download the form here. I will write a separate blog on how to fill up soon. After filling up the form (either handwritten or computerized), produce at least 2 photocopies. The Consulate will get the original form and one photocopy, then give you the other copy with the receipt.

2. One passport size photo with white background. I glued this at the top right of the visa form. I wrote my name at the back of the picture (just in case my photo accidentally gets detached from the form).

3. Valid passport. To be considered as ”valid” by the Consulate, it has to be valid until September of the following year. For example, since I applied in 2020, I made sure my passport is valid until September 2021. Tip: If your passport will expire soon, better renew it in the Philippines than in Spain. Why? Renewing means your passport number will change. This lessens the hassle of updating the records. Also, remember that your visa and NIE are printed on your passport.

Photocopies of previous passports’ bio page, visas, stamps. At the last minute, I didn’t submit my old passport (nor photocopies of the pages) and just presented the current one. Why? Well, I was just paranoid the Consulate might look into the old records. Apparently, I used that old passport when I applied for a tourist Schengen visa to Spain in 2017 and got denied. The following year, however, I applied for the same visa at the French Embassy and was granted a visa. 

4. Acceptance letter. In Spanish, it’s called the carta de nombramiento. I printed mine in colored format, A4 size.

I received the acceptance letter via AuxMadrid, a portal for auxiliars assigned in the Madrid region. The attachment was posted on July 3, which is 2 days after I received an email notification to register at the AuxMadrid portal. There’s no exact date on when acceptance letters are sent, and it varies per region. Madrid usually sends out much later than other regions. 

5. Proof of economic means. Since I'm in my 30s, I can confidently say (with a heart, LOL) that I'm not financially dependent on my parents anymore, so I didn’t present any affidavit of support. Here are the proof of economic means I presented:

   5.1 Bank certificate. This certificate proves I have an account with a certain bank. The said certificate contains the account type, current balance, account opening date, and average daily balance (ADB). In my case, I presented 2 savings accounts from BDO and EastWest Bank. I requested them at the branch of my account (for BPI, I think it can be requested at any branch) at least 2 weeks before the visa appointment day. It’s better to request as late as possible so that the records are more recent. A bank certificate request costs 100 PHP. 

   How much should be in the bank account? While I presented bank accounts that contain more than 500,000 PHP combined, there’s really no exact amount bracket stated by the Consulate. In fact, I have batchmates whose accounts contain 150,000 PHP and were granted the visa. What’s more important is the maturity of the account. Meaning, avoid presenting a bank account that’s too recent. When you show a very new account, it may ring a bell to the Consulate that you might just be doing show money.

   Is the bank statement also needed? Not really, but it can help prove your financial capacity. A bank statement shows the debit-credit of your money in the bank. In my case, I didn’t submit a bank statement anymore since I feel like my bank certificates were enough to prove financial capacity since they’re 2 anyway. Generally speaking, the consulate needs to see if you can afford at least one month’s expenses in Spain (since a delay in the stipend may happen) and the travel expenses to Spain (estimated at 2500 € combined). 

   5.2 Income Tax Return (ITR). For employed individuals, the corresponding form needed is the BIR 2316. Since I applied in August 2020, the only available ITR is for 2019. It’s totally fine if you can’t present the same year’s ITR. More so, my BIR 2316 only had a January-May 2019 tax declaration (I was unemployed from June-December 2019), but it wasn’t a problem at all.

   5.3 Credit card statement of account (SOA). Since the SOA shows the credit limit of my credit card, I thought of presenting it too to prove financial capacity. I presented 2 SOAs (Citibank and Metrobank). To get it, I simply printed the latest SOA from the credit card’s portal. 

   5.4 Certificate of Employment (COE). Luckily, I was still employed when I applied for the visa, thus I was able to present a COE that shows my monthly salary and duration in the company. However, since I had been in that company for 8 months only, I also presented a COE from my previous company where I worked for 8 years. 

   5.5 Certificate of land title. I know this isn’t necessary, but I just thought of presenting too since it’s also a strong proof of financial capacity and ties with the Philippines. 

6. Medical certificate. Make sure it's authenticated by the Department of Health (DOH), apostilled by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), and issued in the last 3 months upon visa appointment. I wrote a blog on the medical test I took. Also, I blogged about how I apostilled my documents. 

7. NBI clearance. Make sure it's issued 3 months upon visa appointment. Here's a guide on how to apply the NBI clearance. 

8. Transcript of records (TOR). As proof of studies, I only presented my TOR. I wasn’t able to give my diploma, but it was fine.

9. Visa fee. The long-stay visa fee costs 3,380 PHP (non-refundable). You can only pay in cash and make sure to pay the exact amount. The Consulate can't give a change.

Do you have other questions about the visa requirements? Feel free to ask below!