1. Apply for background check, must be notarized. Get apostille certificate for background check (in Tallahassee).
2. Go to physician and get certificate of health signed, stamped and certified with apostle certificate.
3. Get both forms translated by an official translator.
4. Buy international health insurance with minimum $50,000 coverage. Have insurance company write you a letter proving you have coverage.
5. Find housing in Spain. Get a letter proving you have somewhere to live in Spain.
6. Prove you have enough money to not be a financial burden. (If you want to go for a year on a non-lucrative visa you have to have at least $70,000 in the bank before you go and $15,000 for every additional person in your family).
7. Fill out visa application. Make sure EVERYTHING is correct.
8. Get passport sized photos done (you need two).
9. Gather information about the study program.
10. Make an appointment with the Spanish embassy.
11. Meet with Spanish embassy (in Miami).
Now, just to look at all of this, it does not seem like much. However, everything listed has a cost. Not to mention that there is a LOT of travel involved (Miami and Tallahassee). There is a lot of waiting for things to be mailed back to you. The appointments with the embassy have to be done 3-5 months in advanced (I learned of the requirements about two months in advanced). I am still waiting on my background check to be sent to me so I can drive to Tallahassee for the apostille certificate. I have to wait on the ONE translator in the area to translate my documents. And on top of all of that, I still don’t have an appointment with the embassy. I have emailed and called and checked the website every day. I am probably on the wall as “Most Annoying Person of the Year.” I will gladly claim that title if it will grant me a visa. Once I have completed the meeting, I have to wait four weeks for my visa to be mailed to me. I leave August 31st. It is crunch time. The real kicker is that it is possible that I will have done all of this and be denied a visa (it’s a small chance, but it still exists)!