Courier blues

I used to think that as soon as my visa was approved, that would be it. No more worrying... but boy was I wrong. Yesterday, the woman in change of visas at the Consulate of Spain in Toronto explained to me that I had to set up the courier service myself if I wanted to get my visa and passport back sooner than 2-3 days (the amount of time it takes with the XpressPost envelope they normally mail them in.) So I called Purolator, and they were very helpful. They set everything up so that my visa would be in Edmonton by today (Saturday). All the woman from the consulate had to do was fill out the sender forms with my address. Apparently she did so, but then refused to put her signature on the envelope and slammed the door in the Purolator driver's face! And now I just found out that she neglected to check the 'Saturday Delivery' box, so my visa won't be here until Monday morning and I fly out Monday afternoon. Luckily, although I was supposed to fly out of Calgary (which would be fairly stressful and involve a LOT of driving on Monday), I got Aeroplan to add a connection from Edmonton to Calgary free of charge! So now I just have to pick up the passport/visa before noon on Monday and go straight to the airport. Wish me luck!

Visa status update

I think I'm still in shock from the news this morning... my visa has been approved! And I was beginning to lose all hope! The only problem now is that I'm supposed to fly out on Saturday, and the consulate is not ready for the courier to pick it up until tomorrow. Which means I have to postpone my flight yet again, although likely it will only be for one day. Which means I might get to leave as early as Sunday, unless the courier service screws up or something else unforeseeable happens. Good think I'm all packed and ready to go!

Apparently I made a mistake on the application form and put my departure date as September 30th instead of August 30th. I don't know if that is what caused the delay, but let that serve as a lesson to anyone else applying for their visas to check the application over VERY carefully, just in case!

Postponing my flight

Well, today was the last day that my visa could come in, but unfortunately it just didn't happen. I still would have had to postpone my flight for a day or so, but as it is, I had to postpone it by 10 days. So now I'm supposed to leave on September 8th (next Saturday), unless my visa still hasn't been approved. The good news is that since I'm flying straight into Madrid now, and not London, I saved about $80 on airport taxes, which Aeroplan actually refunded me! So even with the change fee ($55) I actually made some money! Not to mention I still have a few things to do, and now I have plenty of time to get ready.

Uh oh...

Two days to go till I'm SUPPOSED to leave, and I don't think it's going to happen. Unless by some miracle the consulate gets approval for my visa tomorrow, I will have to postpone my flight, probably by about a week at least. The good news is that I bought trip cancellation insurance, and this qualifies, as long as I can get the consulate to write me a letter that says that it wasn't my fault the visa was delayed. So they'll probably reimburse me for delaying my flight. It's only $55, but still... Now I just have to figure out what to do for the next week, since I don't officially live anywhere or have a job right now.

Visa troubles

Today I finally got a hold of the Consulate General of Spain, in Toronto. I was hoping to be able to get some reassurance about my visa, since I am supposed to leave in 9 days and they still haven't sent my visa! Since I had to submit my passport for the visa application, that means I don't even have my passport back yet! I'm getting a little stressed out, but the Consulate said there's still time. Basically they are waiting for final approval from the Spanish government before they can stamp my passport and mail it back to me. I definitely wasn't expecting this to happen, especially sinec I applied for the visa at the beginning of July, and the Consulate keeps reassuring me that it shouldn't take longer than a month, but I'm starting to wonder if I'll be flying out on August 30th after all...

Canadian Visa Requirements

Here's what you need to apply:

1. Valid passport.
2. If you are not a Canadian citizen, you must present a valid Canadian permit. (Record of Landing, Employment authorization, student authorization).
3. Three recent passport size photos (in color, with a white background).
4. Visa application form provided by the appropriate Consulate General which must be completed, signed by the applicant and returned along with three additional photocopies.
5. Confirmation of enrolment or registration issued by the Academic Institution in which you will be studying. If you are registered in an exchange program a letter from the Canadian Institution will be also required.
6. Proof of financial assets. A minimum statement of CDN $2,650.00 will be required by means of financial statement from your banking institution. (If your parent will be covering your expenses, you must present a notarized declaration signed by them and copy of their financial statement.) This may or may not be necessary as the letter from MEC states that they will be providing us with a monthly grant, however I sent both the letter and a copy of my bank statement just in case.
7. Overseas medical insurance coverage (this is covered by MEC and it says so in the letter).
8. Proof of accommodation: Hotel reservation or confirmation letter from Academic Institution indicating the conditions of your acommodation. Private housing must be accompanied by a notarized invitation. I simply included a letter that said I would be finding housing when I arrived.
9. Letter from your Family Physician indicating the following:
   
   • Absence of quarantine diseases including cholera, pague and yellow fever, according to the regulations of the World Health Organization.
   • Absence of contagious, parasitic and infectious diseases
   • No psychological disorders, mental illnesses, psychosis, delirium or hallucinations
   • No addictions to drugs.
10. Police Record Clearance certificate, issued by the authorities of the country or countries where you have resided during the last 5 years, including Canada
11. Flight reservation. (Only for students attending a public institution).
12. Visa application form, provided by the appropriate Consulate, completed, signed and returned along with three additional photocopies.
13. Money order addressed to the Consulate General of Spain for $125 CAD.

If you are applying from another province you can submit your application by mail. In this case, please provide also a prepaid and self-addressed PRIORITY COURIER or XPRESSPOST envelope issued only by CANADA POST. Mail to:

Consulate General of Spain

2 Bloor Street East. Suite 1201

Toronto, Ontario

M4W 1A8

Contact Information:

Phone: (1) 416 977 1661

Email: cgspain.toronto@mail.mae.es
Website: http://www.mae.es

Processing Time:
In regular cases, it may vary from 20 to 30 days. The maximum time that it should take is 90 days.

What application fee???

The Spanish consulate phoned me today... to tell me that I "forgot" to enclose my $125 money order with my visa application! I knew that something like this would happen, but the lady at the Toronto consulate refused to double check my application over the phone before I mailed it! And the so-called "helpful" guy at the Winnipeg consulate is actually still under the impression that it is free to apply for this student visa, just like he told me when I asked how much it cost. I have no idea how I was expected to know about this money order, considering that it is not listed in any of the places I have found information about visas. Another girl I know from Edmonton confirmed that she didn't know that the application cost anything either. This is so frustrating! Now my application will be delayed at least a few more days, and I'm already worried that I won't get it on time to leave August 30th!

Useless Spanish consulate!

I have to say, the consulate in Toronto has so far been absolutely, completely useless! This visa application is yet another series of jumping through hoops, trying to find out what I need and how to apply. It's been very frustrating so far. And their website doesn't even work, no matter how many times they e-mail me the link to it!

Luckily I did get a hold of a nice guy at the consulate in Winnipeg. He went over everything I needed to apply and patiently answered most of my millions of questions. It doesn't help that the application itself is very confusing though. I think I'm almost ready to mail it in, and I'd better do it soon or I'm not going to get my passport back in time, since I need to mail it with the application! Good thing I had my passport extended a few months ago, and didn't have to wait too long for it in the mail, or I would have been in some serious trouble trying to apply for my student visa!

More information, finally!

Today I got another email! A lot of the visa information seems to be for the US people only, since I know that I can mail in my application, while this email says you have to make an appointment at a consulate. It's hard to get any info on applying for a visa in Canada though, because I think the Toronto Consulate's website is down. Or at the very least I am not looking at the right site! It's a little bit frustrating so far... The most useful thing I found out from this email is that the orientation for Andalucia will be October 1 and 2, which is great because it gives me a little bit more travelling time beforehand. I am planning on leaving at the beginning of September so that I can go to London, Krakow (Poland), Prague, Switzerland, and Germany. Might as well take advantage of the fact that I'm paying so much money to fly to Europe, right?