If you entered Spain with a 90-day visa because you plan on spending the entire academic year in Madrid with us, then you need to apply for a Student Residency Card (Tarjeta de Estudiante). A Residency Card is your Spanish National Document card, which will list your Immigration Identity Number (NIE). The residency card is what authorizes you to reside legally in Spain after your 90-day visa expires.
NYU Madrid, in collaboration with APUNE, will help you apply for the residency card as Spanish bureaucracy can prove to be rather complicated.
Before you being the process, it´s best to take a deep breath and understand that the process can be tedious, slow, annoying…and the requirements can change without any prior notice.
How do I get my Residency Card?
Please go to the “Steps to Take” page to know what you need to do to process your Student Residency Card in Madrid.
What is the 90-day visa?
The 90-day visa that you have in your passport, allows you to spend 90-days in Spain as a student and to travel in and out of the Schengen countries during that time, as long as your 90-day visa is for MULTIPLE entries (*Check your visa to make sure that it says: MULTI on it). This is also the visa that allows you to be able to apply for a Residency Card. If you have a 180-day visa, then you only have permission to stay in Spain as a student for 180 days and you do not have the possibility of processing a student residency card or of extending your stay past 180 days.
What if my 90-day visa expires and I don’t have my Residency Card?
If 90 days pass and you still have not yet received your Student Residency Card but you would like to leave the Schengen territories, then it is recommended that you request an “Authorization to Return” (Autorizacón de regreso), which will ensure that you are not stopped at the Spanish border control even if your visa is expired. Please go to this page to find out how to request this authorization.