Immigration form in Spain - Major SNAFU or nothing to worry about?

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rockbird
rockbird

I was in Spain for just under 3 months as a study abroad participant. When I entered the country the first time, I filled out that little form thingy (address, length of stay, etc). I took a short trip to Morocco, and when I returned, I had to fill out another form. Unfortunately, I didn't have the address of my homestay with me. I tried to explain this to the immigration officer, but there were no exceptions. I had an ID from the language school with me and this had their address, so I used the school's address (I didn't see any other options) on the form and was able to enter without further delay. Do they actually check the addresses we give? If so, could I have problems entering Spain or other Shengen/EU countries because of this? What do I need to do to fix it? I'm a US citizen, if that makes any difference.

Thanks for any advice. And yes, I know this was stupid; I learned my lesson about having that sort of information with me at all times. I just want to know if there are any consequences I should be aware of and what I need to do to fix this (if anything). I don't want to find out the hard (and expensive) way by flying to Europe and being refused entry somewhere.

Edited by: rockbird

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tony_b
tony_b

I don't want to find out the hard (and expensive) way by flying to Europe and being refused entry somewhere.
That's a very wise approach.

The thing is that nobody here will know for certain what the consequences will be so it's important to try to sort this out as soon as possible. My advice is to go to your nearest Policía Nacional Oficina de Extranjeros and ask if they can settle this mess for you. In my experience, provided that you have done nothing that's clearly illegal, and you haven't, they're very helpful. If there's no Policía Nacional Oficina de Extranjeros where you're staying, visit the town Comisaría de Policía. Don't leave it too long.

P.S. If you live in a big city such as Barcelona or Madrid, you'll find that there are different offices for different categories of passport holders. This is the Madrid list as an example of what I mean. If you're not confident about your Spanish being good enough to deal with this, take someone along with you who speaks fluent Spanish. You cannot count on finding someone in the office who speaks English well enough to understand the problem.

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rockbird
rockbird

I'm back in the US at this point - should I go to the consulate?

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tony_b
tony_b

I'd misunderstood where you are. I thought you were still in Spain. Ignore what I wrote above. If your papers have expired, I doubt very much that you need worry. The Spanish immigration officials have much bigger fish to fry.

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klaush
klaush

US citizens get visa-free entry for 3 months, so they record your data in the computer and that's it.

Nobody verifies the address because you would not be denied entry, regardless of what your address is. The only things that matter are your US citizenship, valid passport and duration of stay.

Next time you travel to any destination whatsoever, save yourself discussions at immigration by simply filling in, without hesitation, the name of a well known hostel in the city of arrival. Don' bother giving addresses of local contacts unless it is absolutely necessary (say, when applying for a visa category other than "tourist").

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gawkabout
gawkabout

You have to get all that done from home. Get a working student visa.

Working overseas is a great fun education, in itself. You have time to build real friendships and learn of their culture too.
*see profile
I'll always be glad I did it. Writing the book now. 45 years later.

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rockbird
rockbird

Thank you all very much for your answers. It's a big relief to hear all of this. I couldn't get ahold of a human when I tried calling the consulate.

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