How to handle the paperwork in Spain without dying in the process? A guide for exchange students

Going to a new country is not an easy process, at the beginning everything is confusing, tedious, and you will probably experience a little bit of jet lag. As if that were not enough, the first few days will be the hardest as you have to act like an adult and get everything sorted for the following semester/year abroad. One of the biggest problems I had was that I didn't have the sufficient documentation, so that is why I will make a detailed list of what you need to do so that you don't have any doubts about any paperwork etc.

1. Get a transport card

This is the first thing that you have to do as you will save a lot of time and money, so it is best to do it sooner rather than later. You can get transport cards for Madrid from almost anywhere, and there are cards for the Renfe (the train network connecting Madrid to surrounding cities), the bus and the metro. The best card you can get is the one for all three types of transport. During your first days here, you have to travel a lot, visiting different flats (if you haven't already found one from home), get a mobile phone contract and get to know the city. Each ticket you will pay a minimum of 1. 50€. During my first few days, I easily made five trips, so I already had spent at least 7. 50€. When you can get a transport card for 20€ a month and you can access all areas of Madrid (this has just changed on October 1, because before then it was 40€ just for zone A).

If you want to know how to get one ASAP, there is more information on this next page.

Make sure you click on "Request for public transport", then select "I want to get a public transportation card" and click "OK". Select the age range, in most cases it is between 7 and 25, and then "OK". After they ask you for identification, which is your passport because you probably have no other form of valid identification in Madrid. Once you have put your passport number in and clicked on "Accept", you then need to select "Request for Appointment". If it is urgent and you want to get it ASAP, there is an option to "Search appointment by date" which will then show you the offices and what dates are available for each (before the school year starts they often sell out in three days). If you don't need this, click "Search for appointments at management offices. " After you have chosen a date and a location, you will then receive an email confirmation. Do not forget to bring the necessary documents: passport, copy of passport, student visa and an acceptance letter from your university as proof that you are a student in Spain.

2. Get a SIM card

This is one of the most frustrating things in the world, not only because you do not know what phone contracts are available, but also because you never know how much is a "good deal" and whether it will cover everything you need it to. It is very important that before coming you make sure that your phone is not blocked abroad since this happened to many of my friends, and their phones would not accept another SIM because it was locked.

My experience

I will tell you a little about my experience, at the beginning, the contracts that I was looking at were Movistar, Jazztel and Simyo. Because I really didn't know much about the contracts I just went with the first one I found which was Simyo. I highly recommend this option because it only look an hour for the card to be activated. You still have to be prepared to make some changes in the APN on your phone, because some will not work unless you modify it using the company data but luckily they will explain everything you need to do once you buy the card so don't worry about it. Simyo offered me 100 minutes and 1 GB per month. At the start, it worked fine for me but eventually I was only using a maximum 30 minutes of the 100 available. Although the plan was not expensive (10 € a month) and the reception was good, I switched to another line that was cheaper and suited my needs more, so I switched to Tuenti (I didn't have to change number which was good). I feel that Tuenti is an excellent choice for foreign students, since you can get 50 minutes to call not only Spain, but also other European countries and South America all for 7€. These minutes are powered by the Tuenti app, and you only need to find a place with WiFi then you can call whoever you need. The only thing I did not like as much was that the signal wasn't as good as Simyo. My friends used Jazztel and said it was fine for them too.

3. Start looking for an apartment

This is one of the most boring and disappointing things I had to. In Spain, there are many apps and websites where you can look for apartments, the most common include Fotocasa, Idealista, Spotahome, Airbnb, la Latina Homes and Aluni. I think that Spotahome and Aluni are the best pages to use (they have the best design too) since they have management fees if you book accommodation through them. It might seem a waste of money although the truth is that it can be very beneficial because if within the first 24 hours you visit the place and it is not what you expected from the pictures, they promise to give you all the money back. And it is much more relaxing arriving in a new country knowing that you have a legal contract that would protect you against anything. A downside to the site is that if you want to leave the flat for some reason, there are some complications involving the management fee.

The other site I recommend is Idealista, these rooms usually don't require a contract and it is rare that they are unverified (be very careful in case they are). The nice thing about this page is that there are no management fees so you will save inbetween 70€ and 150€ compared to the other sites but not as secure because there isn't a contract, and many of them will ask for a month's deposit.

My experience

Although the photos of Spotahome and Aluni are incredibly good and they even upload videos showing the whole flat, I think there are things that can not be seen in the videos or photos despite the quality of the images (cleanliness, noise, transport etc. and I always thought it was better to meet the people you were going to be living with before agreeing to do so. Before arriving in Madrid, I booked an Airbnb for the first seven days (which worked out much better than getting a hostel or a hotel). For the first three days, I spent the time looking for a SIM card, getting a transport card and looking for a room because student rents were getting booked up very quickly. I decided to use the website Idealista and search for a room using the mmap option. If you're looking to save a little, I recommend you stay at least 4 metro stations away from your university area, especially if you're going to the Ciudad Universitaria. The apartment where I am now is a minute's walk away and the metro is only 4 stations away from my university. I only have to walk 20 minutes to class and in the process I have saved more than 100 €. If I had chosen to live in Moncloa and Argüelles, I know the cheapest apartments are in terrible condition, dark, old and often shared with 8 other people. Whereas I lived in a super modern flat with two other girls with a street view of the Royal Palace! (How about that, eh? )

4. Make sure you have a valid student card

When I arrived in Madrid and I decided three things; that it was a good time to clear my head, to get to know the city and to especially enjoy the last few days I had of holiday. I decided to find some parks, museums, attractions etc. But one of the first cultural shocks that I had as a student was the price of things (costs were double what I usually paid in my country) such as arts, culture and entertainment activities.

I remember the first thing was I wanted to do was go to the Prado Museum, but my school card in Mexico (per semester) was no longer valid so I would have to pay the full entrance fee which was 14€! I decided not to go that day but instead go and get an international ISIC card (ISIC) which is an international youth card that you can buy online. You can get some great discounts with it so I highly recommend you get it. Best of all it only costs 9 € (less than the entrance to the Prado Museum) and you can get free entry to many museums around the world or at least get a good discount. If you want you can wait for the school to get one and you can save 9 €, but it has been two months since the school ordered them and they still haven't arrived so I think it is best to get one on your own. There is also another young person's card which is like ISIC and also gives you preferential access to promotions and discounts.

5. Register (If you stay longer than six months)

Not everyone knows this, but once you arrive in Spain – no matter what type of visa you have – you have to register yourself as a resident. This specific document is called a “Empadronamiento” and its really easy to get! It is a procedure so that the Madrid council know where you are living. Registering for this process is essential, firstly, because if you happen to need medical attention, you cannot have it unless your residence has been registered as paperwork.

How do I do it?

1. 1. First, you have to make an appointment online or call 010 for free.
2. 2. If you are reserving an apportionment online, click on "Citizen Care" under the "Service" section.
3. 3. Under "Management", select "Register".
4. 4. Select the office and the date that suits you best and you're done!

Honestly, it is a mess trying to figure out what papers you need because that depends on whether you have a contract or not, and often, the information they put online is not correct or it is very limited.

If you are renting floor with a contract (Spotahome or Aluni, for example) all you have to do is bring copies of your original contract, your acceptance letter, your passport and visa, and the registration form that must be signed by the landlord.

If you don't have a contract then the procedure is a bit complicated because you have to bring all of the above, plus a piece of paper signed by your landlord saying that you are renting an apartment (original and copy), a copy of your ID (DNI) and you also have to fill out another form with your signature. If the person renting you is cool / cool could accompany herself and would facilitate the process.

6. Foreign Registration Card (if you stay more than six months)

This is the most important legal procedure you have to do (and honestly the most tedious). I recommend making this appointment and an appointment to get your DNI number (the famous TIE or NIE) at the same time, because the chances are that you get an appointment for the first in less two weeks but you have to wait over a month for the second. (You only have three months to sort it out from when you arrive before you get in trouble. )

First of all, you have to request your appointment by phone or Internet on this website. Select the province "Madrid", then you click on "OK", then "Extended study stay" and again click "OK". Then you have to put your personal information in and it asks for your "NIE" which is strange because you don't have it yet. Instead, you can enter the number that comes with your student visa, that is stapled to your passport. Once you have filled it all in, select the date and then you will receive a confirmation email. You must know that the office is located in Aluche (you can't make an appointment until a few weeks beforehand). To get there, the bus that drops you off closest to the office is the 31. The metro station is called "Aluche" and so is the Renfe station.

Do not forget to take a printed version of the data that can be printed from the website itself. Do not forget to bring photographs (there are places you can take them in the metro stations) and your passport, acceptance letter from your college, VISA, your letter of proof of registration, the receipt from the payment of the NIE (costs €16. 81) and the completed form, but most importantly do not forget that you must have your own copy of each document so be sure to make a few copies (including your VISA because depending on the person who you meet with, they could force you to make copies and bring it back later).

One problem I had was paying in the bank because I didn't know that if you used your passport number as your registration number for the NIE, you cannot pay this way.

7. Get a Spanish credit card (Highly recommended, but not required)

This is not obligatory but is very important if you want to save a lot of money and make your life a lot easier. For each transaction you make, you will be charged $50 Mexican pesos (approximately €3. 50) and at some banks even more with the exchange rate, which can sometimes be close to $200 pesos (about 14€). Doing this every month can be tedious, as well as the fact that everywhere you go you have to carry your passport so that you can use a card from your country and that's risky. I opened a bank account with Santander which didn't cost me anything because you can use it as much as you want without being charged!

I hope these tips are helpful and if you need anything else, you can write and I will gladly help you.