Originally, I wrote the skeleton of this post last summer, when I was newly excited about getting my placement. This year’s new auxiliares should be getting their placements soon, so I decided to resurrect this topic!
I’d been checking my email every morning for way too long – the application period for this year’s Auxiliares de Conversacion program didn’t even close until April 13, but I was vigilant, just in case. I couldn’t wait to receive my regional assignment!
On May 14, it finally happened. I wasn’t even expecting it. It was the end of what had been a long Monday at work, and I absentmindedly opened my Gmail app. And there it was: “Adjucacion de plaza” was the subject line. I gasped and opened the email with shaking hands.
I’d been offered a placement in Madrid!
The rest of the email details steps for you to Accept or Reject your placement… if you’ve read this far, I’m assuming you want to accept. 🙂 You have three days from the time of receiving this email to accept your placement.
After following these steps, you’ll receive an automated email confirming your acceptance. Yay!!!! Go out for a celebratory dinner or something. You’re in!
Unfortunately, if you didn’t get one of the regions you wanted, there’s really no chance of changing it. So you’ll either have to take what you got, or reject and forfeit your placement in the program.
So… what’s next?
First of all, if you haven’t already, start joining the Facebook groups. By searching the groups, you can find tons and tons of helpful information from past, present, and future program participants. This group is for all auxiliares, and this one is for female auxes only. (Sorry guys, it’s the best group by far.) There are also regional groups, but I won’t link to all of them here.
Now the really important stuff. Though you still don’t have everything you need to officially apply for your visa – you’ll have to wait on your carta, which is your school placement – there are some things you can start preparing in advance.
To start with, you can check your regional visa application requirements. There are nine different consulates, and the one you go through depends on where you live. This means the state your driver’s license is issued through. So if you are from Texas but go to school in New York, you’ll still have to use the Houston Consulate.
Which consulate do I use?
Check out this handy map from this helpful website, or keep reading below.
New York: residents of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware
Boston: residents of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine
San Francisco: residents of Alaska, Northern California, Hawaii, Idaho, Guam, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming
Los Angeles: residents of California (counties: Imperial, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Barbara y Ventura), Arizona, Colorado, Utah.
Chicago: residents of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin
Houston: residents of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas
Miami: residents of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina
Washington D.C.: residents of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, District of Columbia, North Carolina
Puerto Rico: residents of Puerto Rico, Islas de Culebra y Vieques, Virgin Islands
What do I need for my appointment?
There’s a lot of paperwork you’ll need to prepare for your visa appointment, so start as soon as you can. The kicker is that none of the documents can be more than 90 days old at the time you present for your visa appointment, so keep that in mind when scheduling your appointment and obtaining your documents. But it’s best to get started on obtaining these items as soon as possible.
Visa appointments can be made online – check your specific consulate for the scheduling interface. I made my visa appointment for mid-July in Chicago immediately after receiving my regional placement, even though I didn’t have my carta yet. I hoped (and got lucky) that I would have it by then.
Though the requirements vary by consulate – I know it’s annoying, but I don’t make the rules – there are a few things that are necessary at all consulates.
- Your carta (school placement)
- Visa application form with passport-sized photo
- Passport
- Fingerprint background check and apostille by your secretary of state
- Medical certificate
- An extra photocopy or two of each of the above items
- Visa fee
Don’t worry too much about the medical certificate, even if you have some pre-existing conditions. It’s basically just a note from your doctor saying you don’t have any communicable diseases or infections or anything that will inhibit your participation in the program.
(And speaking of medical, don’t forget that you’ll get free health insurance through the auxiliares program! Hooray!)
If you’ve made it this far, you’re well on your way to heading to Spain for a year! It’s finally happening! For more detailed information on the process and what happens next, check out my Auxiliares de Conversacion Application Guide.
What other questions do you have? Feel free to leave me a comment!
-Cathy
Originally Published on April 22, 2019.
Hey did you have to get your medical certificate and your background check translated into Spanish?
Hi Nora!
No, I didn’t have to get anything translated. From my understanding, the requirements are different at each consulate, so in that case I was lucky because it wasn’t required by Chicago. Though I know my friend who went through the LA consulate did have to get hers translated!