Passport to Madrid

Hi!

Bonus points to people who can catch what I'm referencing in my blog title :)

So I promised that this blog would partly be dedicated to helping future auxiliares out on their own journeys. Part of that journey is, unfortunately, the visa process. Something perhaps even more tedious than a History of Magic lesson.

[Side note: I make A LOT of Harry Potter references, so please get off this and educate yourself I apologize in advance if you aren't a fan of the series.]

If you are not a future auxiliar, this post might be kind of boring for you. But maybe you're curious as to how much of a pain this is.

To apply for an EU visa, you have to visit the consulate of the specific country you're going to (in my case, Spain). For the EU in particular, you do not need a visa if you will be in Europe for less than 90 days; you can enter on a tourist visa. However, I will be staying for way over 90 days (too many to count!), so I actually need one.

I got lucky: I just applied for a visa last summer to go abroad last fall, so the process is still relatively fresh in my mind. Granted, I'm going for twice as long this time, so I need a couple of more forms, but in general it's basically the same thing.

For your visa, you have to apply to the consulate that serves your jurisdiction. I'm outrageously lucky that there's a Spanish consulate a mere 20-30 minute drive from my house. The Miami consulate serves everyone with a permanent address in either Florida, Georgia, or South Carolina. The process I'm going to outline applies specifically to the Miami consulate. Other consulates have generally the same process, but it may be slightly different.

The Miami consulate requires:

1. the visa application form 
2. two passport pictures
3. a valid passport 
4. ID
5. your program's acceptance letter (in my case, a letter from CIEE stating what I'll be doing in Spain. This letter will also outline program dates, location, payment, etc. So nosy.)
6. health insurance
7. a health certificate that essentially says I have no diseases and that I'm not mentally unstable
8. a background check 
9. money order to pay for the visa
10. a copy of everything listed. Miami asked for two last year and only ended up using and needing one, but it's beter to be safe than sorry.

For the most part, this is exactly what I had to do last year. Some of the things I obviously already have (#3, 4, 6, 9). The visa application form can be downloaded for free directly from the consulate's website (http://www.vfsglobal.com/Spain/usa/Miami/index.html)(other side note: auxiliares will need the Long-Stay 90 Day visa, so make sure you pick the right one!). Passport photos can be taken pretty much at any photo center (Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, etc). Item #5 requires a letter directly from Madrid and CIEE, so not much I can do there. However, both #7 and #8 have to be obtained on my own AND have to be translated. They don't ask for much, do they?

For the health certificate, all I have to do is go to my doctor. Since I have to go get CIEE's medical certificate signed anyway, it's no big whoop. Make sure your doctor writes the note on his letterhead and with his/her stamp. You may also request to have him/her write the certificate in Spanish (on letterhead and with a stamp) and save yourself the translation costs. The background check was a little trickier since I've never had to get one and therefore had no idea how to go about getting one. I did some Google searching ("background check in Florida") to see how I could go about getting one. Miami's consulate specifically mentions that they accept a Florida state background check OR an FBI one. Check your consulate requirements to see what's accepted there. Because the check then has to be sent to be apostilled (essentially verified as a true document), it is a much shorter process to get it done at the state level. Plus, while I went to school in another state, I never changed my permanent address from my FL one. Make sure that when you send the form to the FDLE, include a note saying you need the check certified, or you'll end up in the mess I had to fix. [*Note, you apparently may also request your background check in Spanish and save yourself the translation service. I did not do this and chose to go through an official translation and it worked as well.]

I've set my visa appointment for the end of June, and hopefully I'll be able to get it moved to early or mid July to allow more time for all my documents to get here (Miami allows one free appointment change). I am requesting my background check this week, and once I get it I'll have to send it back to Tallahassee to get it signed with the Apostille. However, to shorten the process even more, I am going to make a copy of it, so then I can get it translated AND apostilled at the same time. For translation, well, let's just say I'm lucky I live here, because there are seriously so many places that have official translation services. I stumbled upon one right by my house the other day while out to dinner with some friends.  But if you aren't as lucky, a quick Google search should do the trick! There are quite a lot of places that have offices, but there are also online services available. The background check and the medical certificate are the only things that require official translations; my acceptance letter, because it's coming directly from Madrid, should already be in Spanish. 

So of course, the ultimate question: how much does all this cost? Brief outline of the basics here:

• passport photos: $7.44 at Walmart (the cheapest I've seen so far unless you get them done yourself)
• translation of documents: so far, the cheapest I've heard is $30/page
• Florida background check: $24
• Apostille of Hague: $10
• visa: $160

Total: $236.44

*Note: I already have a current passport and I live near the consulate, so I didn't include that in my costs.

My wallet is actually crying y'all. And we haven't even gotten to airfare and bag fees.

I just keep telling myself it'll all be worth it. I've got so many ideas on how I can go about teaching English to these little ones, and I love daydreaming about how it'll be like to live in a foreign city for a year. This may not be the conventional postgrad path, but each day I'm getting more and more convinced it's right for me.

Toodles for now! - Nic

Oh, this is a really random P.S., but if anyone is an elementary school teacher in the states and you're looking to introduce your students to a new culture, please get in touch with me! I have an idea I've been fine tuning that I'd love to shoot your way! :)