Lucia, from Bologna, and Kenji, from Osaka, arrive in Valladolid in the same week of September for the same year-long programme. Both are invented, but the steps they take are real, and they show how one course can mean two quite different sets of papers.
Kenji’s first step was taken months earlier, in Japan. Armed with the university’s admission letter, bank statements, an insurance policy and everything else the Spanish consulate asked for, he obtained a visa for studies. It arrived in his passport with a NIE already assigned. Lucia needed nothing of the kind: her Italian identity card was enough to travel.
Each finds a room in the first days, Lucia in a shared flat in La Rondilla, Kenji in a residence near Huerta del Rey. Kenji goes straight to the Casa Consistorial, entered from the Plaza de la Rinconada, with his passport and his lease, and is entered on the padrón, the town hall’s register of residents; no appointment is needed. The volante it produces, a short note confirming his registration, will be asked for again before the month is out.
Kenji’s stay is longer than six months, so he then books the toma de huellas for his TIE with Valladolid as the province. He takes form EX-17, his passport and visa, a colour photograph, the volante from the padrón and proof of his 790-012 payment to the brigade on C/ Gerona s/n, gives his fingerprints and leaves with a resguardo, the slip he will show to collect the card a few weeks later.
Lucia’s order is the other way round. Her stay also runs past three months, so she registers as a resident on form EX-18, in the student category, with her enrolment, her European Health Insurance Card and her signed declaration of means, at the same brigade on C/ Gerona. She leaves with the green certificate, her NIE printed on it, and only then goes to the Casa Consistorial: the Ayuntamiento’s list asks Europeans for that certificate before registering them on the padrón.
By November, both are simply students. The difference returns in spring, when the programme offers a second year. Lucia has nothing to do beyond keeping her address up to date. Kenji must ask for an extension before his authorisation ends, with renewed proof of enrolment, money and insurance. The Oficina de Extranjería lists stays for studies and links to online filing, and policia.es lists students and extensions at C/ Gerona, so he books the procedure and follows the office on his confirmation.
What would they tell the next intake? Find out which comes first for your passport, the padrón or the police, keep a copy of every paper the consulate saw, and read each confirmation to the very end. One level at a time is slower than it looks on paper, and much faster than starting again.