Applying for a non lucrative Spain visa at Hong Kong’s Spanish consulate

Hong Kong Consulate – non lucrative Spain visa

Hi all! Just submitted my non lucrative Spain visa application through the Consulate in Hong Kong.

Background

I’m an Indonesian national living in Hong Kong under Employment Visa for the past five (5) years. I’m in my early 30s. I quit my job in October 2022 and have been practically travelling ever since.

General Timeline

Preparing documents in Hong Kong is a relatively straightforward process so I started preparing my documents in the first week of February 2023.
I submitted my application in on 12 May 2023. Was told to wait for “a couple of months” until I hear back from their “Head Office.” The entire appointment took 20 minutes from the moment I went into the Consulate to the moment I stepped out with a receipt in hand.

Required Documents

For the Consulate in Hong Kong, the following documents are required:

NATIONAL VISA APPLICATION FORM
Duly filled national visa application form. For the Applicant’s Address in Spain box, the Officer simply told me to fill in the City and Province of where I intend to live in.

EX-01 FORM
Duly filled EX-01 form. In Section 1 and 3, for the Domicilio en España boxes, the Officer told me to simply put my full home address in Hong Kong.

PHOTOGRAPH
The standard 35x45mm biometric photos.

PASSPORT
A valid passport issued within the previous 10 years, with a minimum validity of at least 1 additional year after the date of application, and at least two (2) blank pages (side-to-side, not back-and-front).
I provided the Consulate with a copy (coloured photocopy) of my entire passport, including the front and back covers, of which the Officer happily accepted.
The passport copy DOES NOT have to be notarised, legalised, or apostilled.

PROOF OF FINANCIAL MEANS
As of 12 May 2023, the Consulate of Hong Kong uses €28,800 as the 400% IPREM mark. To meet this requirement, I use a combination of both passive income and personal savings (in liquid assets form).
I provided the following documents:
Official letters from the Branch Managers of my banks, complete with official stamps and signatures, stating my current balance and assets. These letters MUST be translated into Spanish.
Twelve (12) months of bank statements that act as “appendix” to the official letters above. As the official letters are already translated, the bank statements no longer need to be translated.

HEALTH INSURANCE
I signed up for the SegurCaixa Adeslas insurance through an agent named Carlos, who was extremely helpful in the process. As the documents are already in Spanish, there’s no need for translation.

CRIMINAL RECORD CHECK CERTIFICATE
As I’ve lived only in Hong Kong for the past five (5) years, I only need one certificate. The process is rather lengthy (took almost 2 months to get it) as the hardest part is to get an appointment at the Hong Kong Police Headquarters (due to massive demand from people who want to move out of Hong Kong as well).
Criminal Record Check Certificate should be apostilled first and then translated second.

MEDICAL CERTIFICATE
Due to the high demand of visa medical check-up in Hong Kong, every single major clinic in Hong Kong seems to offer one. It was very easy for me to do one for Spain. The hardest part was to get the appointment.
Came to the clinic with the exact template from the Los Angeles Consulate, presented it to the clinic, and had the clinic rewrote the exact template, including the Spanish part, on their own paper with the official header, stamps, and signature.
The certificate DOES NOT have to be translated because there’s already a Spanish translation signed by the doctor.

PROOF OF RESIDENCE IN THE CONSULAR DISTRICT
I provided a proof that I’m indeed a Hong Kong expat resident by presenting the original and copies of my Hong Kong ID Card (HKID) and Hong Kong Employment Visa.

MODELO 790-052
The Officer understood my confusion as I was unable to fill in this form electronically, so I was told to just fill the forms by hands.
I was told to leave the NIE box empty.
The following boxes have to be filled in:
Ejercicio: Write the year of the application is made
Apellidos y nombre o razón social: MUST be written in last name, a comma, then first name. For example, I wrote mine as “Tjokrosaputro, Adriel”
Nacionalidad: Your nationality
Autoliquidación: Tick “PRINCIPAL”
Tick the following box: TARIFA SEGUNDA: AUTORIZACIONES –> 1. Permanencia y residencia de extranjeros: –> c) Autorización inicial de residencia temporal
Location, date, and signature: Next to the “En”, you can simply fill it up with the location of your application and then the date in Spanish along with signature below it
Each of the three (3) pages the form is unique, so you MUST print all of them, duly fill all of them, and sign all of them.

LETTER OF INTENT
For letter of intent, I simply wrote a personal statement in Spanish (using mostly Google Translate) of why I want to live in Spain and why I’m applying for non lucrative Spain visa instead of other visas. The Officer happily accepted it.

PROOF OF UNEMPLOYMENT
As I’m still of working age, I had to provide a personal declaration in Spanish that I will not be working under this visa, be it in-person or remotely.
Additionally, I had to provide an official letter from my previous employer with official signature of the Head of HR and company stamp stating that I quit my job already. This letter MUST be translated into Spanish.
I also presented my IR56F form (similar to P45 in the UK), but the Officer said they don’t need it.

Cost

The following are the breakdown of costs of my application:

  • HKD 675: To print all documents in colours
  • HKD 2,400: For medical visa check
  • HKD 2,500: To translate five (5) pages of documents
  • HKD 94: To request for Consulate letter for criminal record check application
  • HKD 250: To apply for Hong Kong criminal record check
  • HKD 120: To have the criminal record check apostilled
  • EUR 586.95: For health insurance
  • HKD 861: Visa application fee, including the Consulate’s legalisation of each translation

So the total for everything for me is around EUR 1,370. That’s roughly USD 1,500 or GBP 1,200.
Hope this helps!

Author: Adriel Tjokrosaputro