What can I do if Spain refuses my student visa?

Checked on 2026-10-25

You get a written refusal stating the grounds and the appeals available. Spain's administrative procedure law allows an optional reconsideration appeal (recurso de reposición) to the same office within one month; it must answer within one month. Consular guidance adds that you can instead go to the High Court of Justice of Madrid within two months.

Key facts

What	The source says	Source
Why a student stay is refused	Requirements not met; false or manipulated documents, inaccurate statements or bad faith; school not recognised when it must be	RD 1155/2024, art. 54.8
How you’re told	In writing, with the appeals available, where to file them and the deadlines	RD 1155/2024, art. 54.5
No answer on the authorisation	Counts as unfavourable after seven days	RD 1155/2024, art. 36.3
Reconsideration appeal (recurso de reposición)	Optional; filed with the same body that decided; one month	Ley 39/2015, arts. 123.1 and 124.1
Time to answer the appeal	One month	Ley 39/2015, art. 124.2
Court	You can go to the contentious-administrative courts instead of, or after, the reposición	Ley 39/2015, art. 123
Which court and deadline	High Court of Justice of Madrid, within two months	Washington and Los Angeles guidance

Why a refusal happens

Spain’s immigration regulation (Real Decreto 1155/2024) says a long-stay student authorisation is refused when (art. 54.8):

you don’t meet the requirements for it;
false, fraudulently obtained or manipulated documents were submitted, statements were inaccurate, or there was bad faith;
the school or institution that admitted you isn’t recognised, authorised or accredited when that is required.

Applying for a student visa also applies for the student authorisation (art. 36.1). If the immigration office doesn’t decide the authorisation within seven days of the consulate’s request, the decision counts as unfavourable (art. 36.3).

How you’re notified

The immigration office notifies the refusal in writing, and the same document must tell you which administrative and judicial appeals you can bring, before which bodies and by when. When you applied at a consulate, the consulate notifies you (art. 54.5). The Washington consular section says refusals of the visa or of the study stay permit are always notified in writing with the grounds.

Your options

Reconsideration appeal (recurso de reposición). Spain’s administrative procedure law, Ley 39/2015, says decisions that end the administrative route can be appealed, optionally, to the same body that issued them, or challenged directly in the contentious-administrative courts (art. 123.1). The deadline to file a reposición is one month from an express decision, and the body has one month to decide it (art. 124). You can’t go to court until the reposición is decided or presumed rejected (art. 123.2). A month runs from the day after notification and ends on the same day of the following month (art. 30.4).

Court. The Washington and Los Angeles consular pages say you can file for judicial review at the High Court of Justice of Madrid within two months from the day after notification of the visa refusal, or of the dismissal of your reconsideration appeal. Washington says the reconsideration appeal must be in Spanish and can be filed with the consular office or the office that refused the request.

Sources

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2026-10-25: Page created

This is general information, not legal advice, and Lumen is not a law firm. Rules change and offices differ: check the official sources above before you act. Found something wrong or out of date? Write to support@lumen.observer.