With an EU, EEA or Swiss passport
For a stay of up to three months, your passport or identity card is enough. For a full semester, a year or a degree, you register as a resident on form EX-18, showing your enrolment, health cover, public or private, and a declaration that your means are sufficient. The green certificate you are given shows your NIE.
With any other passport
A stay for studies beyond 90 days begins abroad: the Spanish consulate in your home country issues the student visa, on the strength of your admission letter. After you arrive, register on the padrón (municipal register), then book the toma de huellas (fingerprint appointment) for your TIE, the residence card, which shows your NIE.
A second year, or a master’s
Extending a study stay is a request to the immigration authorities, made while the current one is still running; the Delegación del Gobierno counts studies among the files of the Oficina de Extranjería in Murcia. On the police side, students appear on policia.es only at the provincial brigade at Cabezo Cortado, in Murcia, not at the Cartagena comisaría. Check the trámite (procedure) before you book.
The university’s international office
The UPCT’s international relations service runs an Info Point for incoming students and staff, in the Edificio ELDI, Calle Ángel 32, first floor (968 17 77 76). Its pages for incoming students cover mobility, arrival guides, and questions on visas and accommodation; ask it what your faculty needs on top of the official papers.
Working while you study
EU students may work freely. Non-EU students on a study stay may work under conditions set by the rules, compatible with their studies; check them before you sign a contract.
Your first month
- An address, and your name on the padrón (municipal register) of the Ayuntamiento de Cartagena
- The green certificate, or the fingerprint appointment for your TIE
- A Spanish bank account, if you need one
- An enrolment certificate from your faculty, in Spanish
In Cartagena
For students in Cartagena, two steps are local and one is not: policia.es lists the green certificate and TIE issue at the comisaría on Menéndez y Pelayo 6, while students and stay extensions appear only at the brigade at Cabezo Cortado, in Murcia. The padrón is kept by the Ayuntamiento de Cartagena.
Questions
I am on Erasmus for one term. Do I register?
Only when the stay passes three months: then the EX-18 and the green certificate apply. A shorter stay needs nothing beyond your identity card or passport.
Where do non-EU students give their fingerprints?
TIE issue appears on policia.es at Menéndez y Pelayo 6 and at the brigade in Murcia. Book for the province of Murcia; the confirmation gives the office.
Can my family join me while I study?
Close family members can ask to accompany a student, through the consulate. Check the conditions before you plan it.
Official sources
- policia.es: the Policía Nacional’s directory of foreigners’ units for the Región de Murcia (entry 30), Cartagena among them
- Delegación del Gobierno: the one Oficina de Extranjería of the region, at Cabezo Cortado, with its list of procedures and its appointment instructions
- UPCT international relations: the Info Point for incoming students and staff
- sede.administracionespublicas.gob.es: the State’s online booking of foreigners’ appointments
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