Spain Student Visa 2026: Funds, Insurance and Work Rules

You need a student visa for any study stay of more than 90 days. To get one you show admission and paid enrollment at a recognized school, funds equal to 100% of the IPREM (€600) for each month you stay, and a Spanish health insurance policy with no deductible or copay. A full-time higher education student may work up to 30 hours a week without applying for a separate work permit.

The visa is a long-stay study visa (arts. 34–36). If you stay more than six months you also apply for a TIE foreigner card within one month of arriving (art. 34.3).

Who qualifies

The regulation covers several activities (art. 52.1): higher education, post-compulsory secondary education, student exchange programs, volunteering and other training activities. The Los Angeles consulate lists full-time studies of at least 20 hours a week, doctoral studies, Spanish language courses at an Instituto Cervantes accredited center, internships and teaching assistant programs among them.

You must be older than 17 for higher education and older than 18 for secondary studies and training (art. 35.f). Studies for a degree must be full time and lead to a recognized qualification (art. 52.1.a). Admission and payment of enrollment fees are conditions (art. 53.1); partial payment is enough, according to the consulate.

How much money you need

The regulation requires funds for your living costs and your return trip (art. 35.h). The monthly reference amounts, using the 2026 IPREM of €600 a month:

Person	Share of IPREM	Per month
You	100%	€600
First family member	75%	€450
Each additional family member	50%	€300

Tuition does not count toward this. The text says the amounts used to pay for your studies are not counted (art. 35.h). The requirement drops if you can prove you have prepaid accommodation for the whole stay.

Scholarships, grants and a school’s statement that it takes financial responsibility for you also count as resources (art. 35.h.1).

A few examples, with the arithmetic shown (my calculation from the monthly figure, not a number the regulation prints):

Stay	Single student	Student + spouse
9 months	€5,400	€9,450
12 months	€7,200	€12,600

The Los Angeles consulate states the 2026 minimum for a student traveling alone as “600 USD per month (or the equivalent in US dollars)”, while the regulation sets the amount as a percentage of the euro IPREM. Ask your consulate which figure it applies. It accepts your last three monthly bank statements, a school statement, proof of a scholarship or loan, or a notarized letter from a parent or guardian plus their bank statements.

Health insurance

The regulation asks for a policy with an insurer authorized in Spain, with benefits similar to the public system’s basic services, valid for your whole stay (art. 35.i). The consulate is more specific:

• no deductible, no copayment, no waiting period and no coverage limit,
• coverage of at least €30,000 ($50,000),
• cover starting a month before the program and ending 15 days after it, and
• not travel insurance, and not just an insurance card.

If you take a job under your study permit, enrolling in Spanish Social Security counts as meeting the insurance requirement (art. 57.5). For policy details, see our guide on health insurance for the non-lucrative visa, which follows similar consulate rules, and healthcare in Spain.

The application at the Los Angeles consulate

You apply in person at the consulate’s visa center for your area. The consulate says to apply between six months and two months before the program starts. The regulation sets two months as the minimum lead time (art. 36.1). The application also asks for the initial stay authorization, and the immigration office has seven days to decide on it; if it is silent, that counts as a refusal (art. 36.3).

The consulate asks for:

1. The national visa form with a photo.
2. A passport valid at least one year with two blank pages.
3. Proof you live in the consular district.
4. The admission letter and proof of paid enrollment.
5. Proof of funds and the health insurance certificate.
6. A medical certificate issued no more than 90 days before applying.
7. For stays over 180 days, an FBI check with a federal apostille, no older than six months, translated into Spanish.
8. The fee: from 1 January 2026, $160 for US citizens and $106 for other nationalities (the page notes different rates for the UK and some other countries).

Allow at least four weeks from a complete submission to collecting the visa. The legal decision period is one month from the day after you apply. Other consulates publish their own lists, so use the one for where you live; UK residents should also read applying from the UK.

Work while you study

A permit for higher education (art. 52.1.a) lets you work as an employee or self-employed “automatically and without an additional procedure”, as long as the job is compatible with your studies (art. 57.1). Other study permit holders can ask for a work authorization instead.

The limits:

• Hours: generally no more than 30 hours a week. Going over is a ground for ending your stay permit (art. 57.2). Intensive vocational training follows its own sector rules.
• Place: the permit is limited to the autonomous community that issued it, plus bordering towns in a neighboring community (art. 57.3).
• Internships: curricular internships that are part of your degree need no extra authorization (art. 57.1).

Family members

Family members of higher education students can get their own stay visas for the rest of your permit, if at least 90 days remain (art. 56.1). That covers a spouse, registered or stable partner, and minor children, and adult children with disabilities (art. 56.2). You must show the relationship, enough funds for the household, health insurance, and clean records for adults. They cannot work while on this status (art. 56.6).

The consulate adds that family members each submit the passport, residence, insurance and medical documents, plus apostilled marriage or birth certificates.

Staying after you graduate

Students in higher education or post-compulsory secondary studies (and certain training activities) can switch from a stay permit to a residence and work permit without going home for a visa, once they have their degree or certificate (art. 190.1). The options are:

• Employee: your employer meets the usual work permit conditions and pays the fee (art. 190.2).
• Self-employed: you meet the self-employment requirements (art. 190.3).
• Search for work or start a business: available if you finished higher education at level 6 of the European Qualifications Framework or above (art. 190.10).

You can apply in the two months before or three months after your study permit ends or you get your degree. Filing in time keeps you legal until the decision, and while the application is pending the stay permit works as a provisional work permit (art. 190.6–7). The first permit lasts one year (art. 190.9). Anyone funded by a Spanish or home-country development cooperation scholarship is excluded (art. 190.1).

If your studies run longer, the permit can be extended up to two times, each for up to one year, for degree and secondary programs (art. 55.5). You keep proving enrollment each year.