obycindy:
@obajifeanyi,do you thumbprint?

No I didn't

zendman:
OK for those who submitted objifeanyi and obycindy u people should come here and start confessing how it went... I will apply as soon as I receive my PCC from Vivian on Friday. I desperately want to submit this week because I don't want to face that woman next week. Her Wahala too much.
Obycindy did u change anything in your first application or they accepted it like that? Come and tell us what happened

Hiya may be I have a bigger confession to give.... Glory! Glory!! Glory!!! the embassy wrote me this morning that my visa has been approved. I will be picking it up tomorrow.

I wish you all the best and well done to 1andonly not only for starting this thread but still finding time to respond to some of our questions... I will try to follow suit.

All the best guys and peace out

@obycindy.. well done over your submission... how were you able to pull through the earlier challenge that you faced... can you share some of it for others who may be in a similar situation.

As per interview, do not worry to much about, i have submitted mine over a week ago and I equally was not interviewed.

obycindy:
Good day all.
Please advise me,I went to spanish embassy today to submit my application. They refuse to collect the letter my school gave me.they also state in that letter that I will pay the remaining money on my arrival.secondly I paid about 315k for one month accommodation in hotel.they refuse to collect it that they need receipt from school.

Kindly advise me on what to do.

Hiya obycindy,

Sorry about your situation

However, please contact your school and have them write to the consulate here in Lagos about your plight. Also send an email to the consulate explaining your case.

The accommodation thing is a bit cumbersome now. Can you cancel your hotel bookings with minimal penalty? If you can then get a permanent accommodation with one month rent and have the landlord courier the contract to you. Express courier will take 3days max and will cost around €50.

The other option is to write to the embassy about you paying for hotel for one month and explain in clear terms how you intend to sort out your accommodation after its expiration . Please note on the second point I did not do it and have not come across anyone from Nigeria who did, however a classmate of mine from Canada had a similar issue and she wrote to the Spanish Consulate in clear terms how she intends sorting out her accommodation after a few days in the hotel. She was granted visa. You may try it too at least by explaining on email you will get a feed back from the consulate if it will be accepted or not before you can use it for your application.

All the best and by the grace of God, it will surely end up in praise.

zendman:
Phew! I like u are going for economics, this ur analysis no be small , anyway I used about 850 to calculate, and I also have added my sponsors account statement. But ur fees is quite hight, over 12000 euros for a one year course, mine is 7500 for the whole two years.

Hahahahahaha 10 months for a Masters course in Economics.... I will jump at it bro... but most unlikely....

zendman:
It will be successful, so what and what did you submit? Like how much was in your personal account? Once again Congrat. We will celebrate the good news

Hiya zendman, this answer would have been best if I had collected my visa because the officer at the consulate does not return your statement of account if it is insufficient or the embassy give an indication of a minimum monthly expenses in euros.

In any case I had excess of N3m and I used the below logic;

I contacted my school for the minimum living expenses in a month and it totaled to 600 Eur. I added 25% more to it to make it 850 eur/month hence I had to budget 8,500 Eur for my 10 months course. On the conversion to Naira, I noticed that all the fees recently have gone up by at least 43% with visa fees going up by 47%, I used it in converting to Naira with the base as the old rate of circa (N230/Eur) and leaving me with the formular (8500*230*1.47). I left the balance as excess just in case... all in a bid to reduce my margin of error

Not sure if the money is sufficient or my conversion logic correct... I can only hope and pray that I am granted visa...

Hey one more thing, I already paid all my school fees before applying for visa and I was glad to have done that because I was able to get CBN funds for over 64% of my school fees before the devaluation and used the parallel market to sort out the balance... imagine if I have to pay 12,300 Eur in today's economics ... would seriously re think this whole PG cum Spanish visa wahalla

ManCiCi1:
It'll definitely be successful. Congrats!

Thanks and same for all of you too... like I mentioned it will all end up in praise

ManCiCi1:
Hopefully it'll be ready and I pray no stories. Btw I thought Thursdays alone was for collection

Hiya MaCiCi1, Thursdays are for collection but the embassy could call/mail (most times mail) you to pick up your doc any day especially if you have been interacting with them on e mail.

I had same situation where I submitted for legalization on a Wednesday and was asked to pick it up Thursday the upper week, only for me to get an e mail on Friday morning (same week of submission) that it was ready and I could pick it up either that day or Monday

You suppose trust naaaa... ai pick am up sharp sharp that Friday

zendman:
Will be going to collect my legalised certificate tomorrow. Will apply for visa next week by God's grace.

Hiya @ zendman, congrats I submitted my application today... on waiting mode and praying it'll be successful

Hiya Zendman

It cost me about N2500 to do a new PCC, the pink copy only and you will have to authenticate it again in Abuja then submit all of it for legalization. I was able to do mine including legalization in less than 10 days. However in submitting for both authentication and legalization you will need to attach the previous ones along side so that the MOFA and Consulate will understand why you are only bringing a pink copy.

Please never give up... Hey just on legalization they will only legalized the new pink copy but will need to sight the expired one. If you can submit on a Monday you can get it on a Thursday same week

Hiya Zendman, very unfortunate but call them or write them an e mail explaining your plight and should your document be ready, they should send you a notification by mail. I tried it and it worked for me...

I also have not applied because I am still expecting my translated copy of my PCC from Vivian. In between I will advise you also request the originals of your documents from the school - admission letter, school fess payment, scholarship letter...etc. I will receive my Spanish translation on Friday and hopefully will apply next week.

Let us all keep faith it will all end up in praise by God's grace

zendman:
hello house, has anybody applied for visa? was disappointed today at the embassy, my certificate is not yet ready for collection felt like giving up! I was told to call a number tomorrow to see if it is ready. enrollment in school is 8th of sept, i need to be there that day. only God knows when i will get my certificate. Already sent them a mail though, they should make it available for collection tomorrow.

zendman:
You can't use birth certificate because you were probably born before 1992 I guess. So u have to get a declaration of age from National population commission which will cost u 6k that is what u take to MOF and MOE for certification then forward to the embassy for legalization. Go to ur school and take ur photocopy certificate with u so they can stamp CTC on it. Also take both the CTC stamp photocopy and ur original certificate to MOE for certification and both will be certified then forward to the embassy for legalization.
Since u are resuming Sept 5th just pray they don't investigate your certificate cos that will be two months of waiting.
@objifeanyi did the embassy tell u anything that might help us in our application?

Hiya @zendman I have not applied yet for visa as I picked up my legalized edu copies today. I also did not ask at the embassy, however I do not think it will be any different from all that was said by 1andonly and the guys who went last year, hence best to follow through... In any case my PCC expired and I will be picking it up on the 25th of Aug, I trust this time we will put faces to our names... let connect via this medium ahead of 25th Aug

I pray we all succeed in this venture because it is extremely involving.

zendman:
I think you have to have all the fees and extra for personal use in your account. Read page 3, someone was denied the visa because she only had fees for 3 yrs of her study instead of the entire period of study. You can contact @objifeanyi to give you the Spanish consulate email so you ask them directly. All the best.

For legalization please send your enquries to cog.lagos.leg@maec.es

For Visa - cog.lagos.vis@maec.es

1andonly:
@objifeanyi and @ManCiCi1 well. My certificate was never investigated but as for the timing, you might need your school to provide you with an additional letter stating that you won't miss classes even if you resume one month late or 3 weeks late.

I had similar issues and I also have another Nigerian in my school that resumed far later than me. To be sure I struggled in the first semester but made up for leeway afterwards.

So maybe it is not entirely a disaster.

Hiya @1andonly, was it the embassy that requested you get such letter or the school sent it to you out of its own volition.

Hiya Guys,

I just got info from the consulate that I can pick up my document on Thursday... Hopefully I will apply for visa next week...

mcobex:
Good day gurus in the house, pls am new here. I intend goin for a 7weeks training in Barcelona this year and will like to know the requirements.thanks

You will have to use VFS, not sure you need to visit the Spanish Consulate since it is a short term stay (less than 3 months)

zendman:
Ewo! They should not border looking for me ooo cos I am already in kano for official reasons. beside my primary school certificate can't be found now.
I guess you can even apply now if your doc are complete. Congrat!
Vision #spain2016

Not sure I can submit because my BSc. Certificate is not legalized.

Info for all, incase your PCC has expired as a result of investigation the Spanish embassy allows for renewal of the pink copy only. You don't need to do fresh finger prints however you will have to legalize and translate the pink copy again. Please be mindful about that and incorporate in your time line so you can apply for visa max the next working day after investigation

zendman:
Oh really, that will be great if only they can adopt the U.S.A style.

Hiya all I was able to confirm with the Spanish consulate here that you need no appointment for visa application, you just need to turn up... see extract of the e mail.

'For student visa you dont need an appointment. You can come form 8 to 10 hours everyday'

Also the Spanish consulate gave me a call yesterday evening for the purpose of verifying my credentials. I had the lawyer visit my home and he requested my academic history starting from Primary to University as evidenced by my certificates. He also requested evidence of my admission... so please for guys who are under investigation, try to keep copies of the these documents.

As for your admission letter, I know the embassy will make do with the Spanish version, but it will be ok you have an English translation just to enable the lawyer who may visit for investigation read through easily and quickly form an opinion...

This process is very involving but please let us all keep faith with God having gone this far...

zendman:
Not at all, I don't even want them to anyway. Have you discussed with your school on the possibility of shifting your resumption date? It seems most schools there are on summer break now.

Unfortunately not sure the resumption date can be shifted because most of the students have arrived campus. I just heard from someone that you need an appointment for visa application. I have dropped the consulate an email to authenticate this. May be this is a new requirement as I learnt there is a new Consulate General

Hiya,

Please has anyone gotten any info from the embassy regarding the investigation of their docs. I have tried calling relentlessly in recent weeks but no response.

I did drop them an e mail though, I hope they respond this time....

obycindy:
Hello house,please how long does it take to legalise documents at spanish embassy. Can someone do dat for me? Kindly assist as my school is resuming by September. @Tinkagi, I seems we are attending the same school in Barcelona. Please I need your assistance. How will I go about legallization of documents at spanish embassy and translation. Kindly assist me.

Usually it take max of 2 weeks if your documents are not going to be investigated, and 2 months if they will carry out any investigation... best thing to do quickly spot out the gaps in your documentation and make sure you address them asap... After which you will apply for visa that takes max of one month (note these are most times it is ready before then)...

Just pray that your docs are not subjected to investigation, because this was the most frustrating part for me, since I had no idea about it earlier.

obycindy:
Hello house,please how long does it take to legalise documents at spanish embassy. Can someone do dat for me? Kindly assist as my school is resuming by September. @Tinkagi, I seems we are attending the same school in Barcelona. Please I need your assistance. How will I go about legallization of documents at spanish embassy and translation. Kindly assist me.

Hiya @obycindy, again please go through the thread by 1andonly and follow religiously...

See extract of his communication at that time, you can leave out the WAEC thing, because the consulate returns it back each time you submit.

1) Send your documents- WAEC (photocopy), School Certificate (Photocopy) and Transcript (depending on your school and what you are applying for) to the Ministry of Education for authentication. Should not cost more than 5K I have a post on the cost above.

2) Take all these documents along with Birth Certificate (original) and Police Character Certificate (no medical certificate needed PCC should be original) to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for authentication. They will place a seal on your documents.

3) Go to WAEC centre at Yaba and request your result to be sent to the embassy. Do not use an agent!!! Do this like two weeks before booking an appointment with the embassy or consulate.

4) Send the photocopy of your certificate to your university so they can stamp it (Certified True Copy Stamp). Fail to do this, like me, and you will set your application back by like 1 week.

5) Send an e-mail to cog.lagos.leg@maec.es requesting an appointment to legalize your documents.

6) Photocopy all your documents including your passport.

7) Go to the consulate by 8:20am. They will open by 8:30am. Struggle to be in front of the queue and submit your stuff on time to the security. Ignore the number thingy the consulate does not recognize that. Pray that no person legalizing marriage documents is ahead of you if not your name na sorry. The process is pretty slow like government bureaucracy. You will understand that even writing your name and details down could be a long thing (of course it is the security guy that will be doing the writing. At some point I felt like collecting the biro from him and writing it myself)

Make sure you know how many documents you are legalizing and have the exact figure. They don't give change at the consulate and would send you back if it comes to that and don't think you will form Don Jazzy and leave the change, they won't take it. They charge N1,600 per page.

Do all these and your legalization will take you approximately 1 week. Thursdays are only for collections.

obycindy:
Good evening all,
Please am done with ministry of foreign affairs, what next will I do, is it at spanish embassy that I will do legallization of documents? If yes,do I need to book appointment?
Kindly assist me on what next to do because am confuse.

Please go through the earlier thread by 1andonly you will see the email you need to send to book your appointment... And yes you need to book an appointment with consulate for legalization. Also photocopy all your docs as per original format i.e if your doc has a front and back page make sure the photocopy is same

Damola89:
Hi guys. I have been following this forum for a while. I am trying to apply for a student visa to pursue a PhD programme at UAB. Since I am been sponsored by TETfund through my university (especially since I have the approval) do I still need to log some money into my account? Also, I have not been issued an original masters certicate, for the main time, I use an attestation of result. Can I legalize the attestation and will it be considered during the visa application process?

.

Hiya I am not a visa sage but I reckon you follow through with 1andonly's suggestion/advice in earlier threads... Since you are sponsored by Tetfund, I am sure you will have a letter to that effect and you will be fine. Regarding having some money in your account, I think it is not out of place to have some money in your account, besides you are submitting a statement (not the money ) and if the visa officer does not deem it fit, it will be returned to you (bottom line make your margin of error to be low from a docs perspective...

More importantly, please send an e mail to the Spanish embassy requesting information on any of your doubts... Embassies do not always release full visa information to public and with no disrespect, the Spanish Consulate here in Lagos is no better (I am sure following the thread by 1andonly, none of their educational materials were investigated, but it is different this year) however if you probe, you will get information that may affect your timeline.

Lastly ensure you submit your docs for legalization 3.5 months before your intended date of resumption, this will give you enough time in case there is an error (can't emphasize this enough). Do not worry too much about the PCC as long as you can submit your visa application before it expires (i.e. if it will expire two weeks before resumption, just make sure that you submit your application before it is expires)

May God grant us the needed favor on this visa application.

ManCiCi1:
@objifeanyi to my own understanding, the law firm would go to your institution probably without you knowing and at the same time they'll contact you to visit your home. The woman at the embassy told me I could plead with the lawyer to help expedite the whole process so I could get my documents before the scheduled date.

Hiya ManCiCi1,

Thanks for the sharing the info, just to get what you mentioned, did the embassy give you permission to speak to the investigators? thought it should be confidential...Nways in my own case I paid the investigation fee into the law firm - Consolex and I believe they are the ones carrying out the investigation... just hope they could speed it up because various factors may affect this (I guess) which includes getting a sizeable number for a particular location...

ManCiCi1:
I am in the same exact predicament as you but worse. It's very annoying. I'm scheduled to collect my documents after investigation on September 1st when school resumes Sept 6th. Could you do us a favour? Could you let us know when the Lawyer contacts you for investigation and visitation so we'll know how long it takes to be contacted after submission for legalization. I'd do the same. Thanks.

Hiya @ ManCiCi1, please help me understand here, will the law firm contact you for the investigation, I thought they will go straight to whatever institution or place they have to carry out the investigation behind your back and report back to the consulate. I spoke to the consulate on the phone last week and they mentioned that I have to be contacted by the firm carrying out the investigation but I did not understand it

Mine is even worse as I now need a miracle!!! School starts in a month's time and my investigation is to be concluded on the 25th of Aug. despite asking specifically if any thing will impact my timeline and nothing like investigation was mentioned until when I went for legalization about a month ago.

@zendman, Please may I ask if you submitted your WAEC Certificate for legalization

zendman:
Went for legalization today at the consulate in kofo but walahi I just dey cry now can u imagine those people said they will investigate my bsc. I paid 80k and another 8k for the other documents. Was told to come for the other documents on Thursday while my bsc will take two whole months so I will have to collect it on 25th August. No matter what sha "vision madrid" still dey clear. For those who are yet to do theirs just pray hard. May God bless you all and most especially 1andonly.

zendman:
I have a feeling that those people don't investigate anything. What are they investigating for two whole months. They just dey chop our 80k. Beside which sane individual will pay 80k for a fake certificate I was even surprise to see they are Nigerians.

Anyways we will make here a repository of information for students wishing to study in Spain. At least they will be better informed and assess their chances early on

Hiya Everyone,

Just some heads up in addition to steps prescribed by 1andonly, please also make sure your University stamps a CTC on your transcript. This set me back like over a week when I went to submit documents for legalization.

Also in the light of the investigation thingy with the embassy, please try to be at the embassy for legalization 3 months before resumption date in school. I know this may sound odd because PCC is valid for 3 months, but as long as you submit your visa before it expires, it will be honored, instead of having to be in a similar predicament as mine...

The reason is that in case your documents need to be investigated, you will not loose out entirely because at the expiration of the investigation period, you still have a month to submit your visa (and you are still OK since you have to apply for your visa six weeks before resumption)

Spanish visa is painfully slow and more often the investigation could even finish before two months , however they will not reach out to you until the date written on your receipt when you have to physically show up to pick it up.

We wish all of us God's favour!

Hiya @zendman, not sure if we are allowed to post pictures of faces here, else we would have put a face to the names. I was also at the consulate yesterday and they gave me the same reason. This is very painful for me because school starts 8th of August with Orientation and I risk loosing the admission.

In any case I have informed the school of my predicaments, but loosing close to a month in a 10 months M.Eng course... not sure how the school will greet it

zendman:
Went for legalization today at the consulate in kofo but walahi I just dey cry now can u imagine those people said they will investigate my bsc. I paid 80k and another 8k for the other documents. Was told to come for the other documents on Thursday while my bsc will take two whole months so I will have to collect it on 25th August. No matter what sha "vision madrid" still dey clear. For those who are yet to do theirs just pray hard. May God bless you all and most especially 1andonly.

zendman:

I have my police report(2) copies, birth attestation, bsc certificate including the one with CTC stamp from my school, health report. Should I take all these to ministry of education for authentication and also take them to ministry of foreign affairs to also get it authenticated? How did you do yours

@zendman, yes you will have to take them to the Min of Education & F. Affairs for authentication. All the docs you mentioned must be authenticated by the Min of Foreign Affairs, while Birth Cert and Transcript must be authenticated by both ministries

zendman:
Pleae help! I laminated my b.sc certificate and I need to go to abuja and from there to Spanish embassy for authentication and legalization respectively. Will they accept the laminated copy because I am finding I difficult to remove the lamination.

@zendman, not sure if it will be a problem because I laminated mine also, however for Abuja, you authenticate the photocopies not the original. The original is for sighting.

As for the embassy I am blank on this one as I am yet to legalize my docs, but following the previous thread on this topic, you will most likely legalize the photocopies also and should the originals be needed, it will be for sighting purpose only... also go easy on trying to remove the lamination least you destroy your hard earned certificate.


Guys who have gone through this, please let us have your inputs and also correct me if I am wrong