Question
What are the considerations for applying for a non lucrative Spain visa from the Spanish Consulate in relation to the Schengen period?
Can the consulate reject the application until I am within the Schengen period again, potentially causing significant delays?
Answers
These are the answers of some Facebook group members:
”I understand that as long as you’re not over your stay in Schengen area you can apply”
”As I know, if you are in Spain on a visit you can’t apply NLV, but if you leave Spain then you can apply NLV”
”You must apply for an NLV in your home country or country of residence. You can’t apply for NLV in Spain”
”I don’t think this matters really. It can take up to 3 months anyway to get your NLV visa – ask at Canadian Consulate – it may be all different depending g on the country – but I don’t think so”
”You have to be in your home country. If you jump on it asap you may be able to get it done in 6 to 8 weeks”
”I think I might have misread your post and given an answer that was factually correct but didn’t answer your question. If you’re asking if you would spend your Schengen limit of 90/180 days in Spain or Europe and then go back to Canada and have to wait until you had your Schengen days back before you can apply or even return to Spain with the NLV, then I believe the answer is no because the NLV gives you 90 days separate from the Schengen Visa 90/180. So you should be able to come to Spain with the NLV whether or not you have any Schengen days left. If you didn’t have any then you would need to fly directly into Spain and not enter any other Schengen country first”
”I just spent 88 days in Spain returning to the US in early March. I started getting my paperwork for NLV ready then and just submitted the application to the San Francisco consulate last week. It is pretty unlikely that I could get back to Spain within 90 days of leaving. So I would start getting your stuff together now, it takes a while. Good luck”
So according to Spainguru Facebook group members, you must apply for a non lucrative Spain visa from the Spanish Consulate in your home country and you can do thi regardless of how many days you have left from your Schengen tourist visa. You should also expect a months-long application process, and note that the NLV allows a separate 90-day stay in Spain. If you have no Schengen days left, you can enter Spain directly with your approved non lucrative Spain visa. But you should always plan ahead to avoid delays.
