Tips and tricks to get a Student Visa to study a master in Spain in COVID times

The first step for getting a student visa is to have an acceptance letter from a Spanish University. In my case, I applied to the 3 top universities in Computer Science and I was accepted by those. To get that you can do the following:

• A tip to be accepted by any university is to have some scientific publication in journals or conferences indexed in SCOPUS.
• Be in the upper third or fifth in your undergraduate studies.
• Extra curricular activities like participating in programming competitions or get some IT certifications.
• A CV with the european standard template.
• A good motivation letter, some universities need this.

The other requirements are listed by the Consulate web page, but there are things that are not mentioned. For example:

• “documents that justify the availability of means of subsistence" you need the documents of the last 3 months with the signature of the bank. You get this on the platform of some bank agencies. BCP doesn’t have a charge, you only need to download and print those documents and present them signed. In IBK you need to pay for that and in two weeks they will give a watermarked document without signature. You need to explain to them “the signature of someone from the bank is required” (maybe the person that attended you). Also make sure your accounts have movements in these last 3 months, and if you have a credit card, you can present the account statements. Finally, you need a minimum of 550 euros per month for your living costs. For example, if your master’s duration is 2 years you need 6600 euros in your bank account, unless you have proof of sponsorship.
• “Flight ticket reservation” there are some agencies that do it with some cost, but you can do it online and free. For example, in the Ibería webpage you can reserve 3 days before the appointment with the Consul. To avoid this situation or at least enhance your chances it is best to have your acceptance letter to the university as further proof.
• “Accommodation accreditation” you can reserve in Airbnb or Booking.com. You should make sure that the reservation is with total refund, because sometimes the date that your visa begins is different to your reservation. If staying on the University campus, make sure you have documentation showing this.
• “Proof of no criminal record” you can get online from the government website. More information in the following link
• “Official title or subjects validated with apostilles” you can apostille online your title and studies certificate. For that you need the validation by SUNEDU of your documents and then you can apostille online at the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores web page. More information in the following link
• “Proof of negative COVID test” you need the PCR negative test 3 days before your appointment, but only for that. When you go to leave and receive your passport, you don’t need it, but you must be attentive to the latest news. In my case, I took the test before leaving my passport and when I went to pick up my passport with the visa, it wasn’t necessary.

Finally, to get an appointment at the Consulate, you need to send an email with a photo of yourself with your passport and attach your acceptance letter for the university where you plan to study.