Greetings,

I’m interested in moving to Spain for a year (or longer) with my kids (8 and 10 yrs) to improve our Spanish.  I’ve been hoping/planning to do this for years and so have saved money that will cover us for at least a year.  How difficult is it to obtain a visa when your only purpose is to learn Spanish (either formally or informally)?  Of course I’ll have to enroll the kids is school.  Do the kids need visas to attend school (public or private)?  Are there ways to get around the visa issue by exiting and re-entering the country every three months?  Can you rent without a visa?  Do foreigners have to register at the local police station like they do in other countries I’ve visited in Europe?

Obviously, I have a ton of other questions but I thought I’d start with these.  I’m sure there’s a lot of you out there with some great ideas…I can’t wait to get them.

Cheers, Camino

Hi Camino,

A lot of the answers to your questions are to be found in the information pages of this site.

See this page for answers about getting a visa. You should be able to qualify for a non-lucrative visa or student visa. You may be able to get a reagrupacion de familia to bring the rest of your family into the country if they don’t get the other visas themselves.

See this page about Schools in Spain or run a search using the box at the top right for “schools” and you’ll see lots of great questions and answers posted in the forum about enrolling your kids. You’ll need a fixed address before you can enroll them.

There are no visa runs like in Asian countries. You get 90 days (if you’re American) every six months… in theory (without getting a visa).

Yes you have to register at the police station to get your NIE (see this page about NIEs and ID numbers) and you’ll need to empadronar yourself. Search for empadronamiento on this site.

Hope that all helps!

Thanks for your response.  I will continue to look through all the sites and hopefully not be as intimidated as I am now.

Wishing it were easier, Camino

If you have the money, a Gestor will make things a LOT easier for you…