study in Spain
Among the best student work rights in Europe and a genuine post-study route — reached through the heaviest document chain in this guide, and a trip to New Delhi.
Every European destination in this guide has some version of this problem. Spain's is the most definite, and it needs to shape your budget rather than surprise you.
Spain has no embassy or consulate in Nepal. The Embassy of Spain in New Delhi holds consular jurisdiction over Nepal, so the student visa is applied for there.
This is not a rumour or a probably. The Embassy of Spain in New Delhi holds consular jurisdiction over Nepal, so the student visa is lodged there — which means a passport, an Indian transit or entry arrangement, flights, accommodation and time away, on top of everything else.
What to budget for it: flights, accommodation, an Indian entry arrangement and time away — a real leg of the journey, not an administrative detail
Plan it as a real leg of the journey. Students who discover it late compress it against a term start and end up paying for expedited everything, or missing the intake. Assume Delhi from the beginning and the rest of Spain's process is manageable.
Spain reformed its immigration rules in 2025, and one change matters enormously to a self-funding student.
Students on higher-education programmes may work up to 30 hours a week, granted automatically with the study authorisation since the 2025 immigration reform — no separate work permit.
Thirty hours a week, granted automatically with the student authorisation, is more than Australia's 48 hours a fortnight, more than the UK's 20 hours in term, and far more than Cyprus's conditional twenty after six months. Only Poland and Czechia, which impose no cap at all, are more generous in this guide.
The one condition: the work must be compatible with your studies, and your studies remain the basis of your stay
The honest qualification is not legal but linguistic. Thirty hours of what? — because outside a narrow set of roles the Spanish labour market runs in Spanish, and the country's unemployment rate is well above the northern European destinations here. The entitlement is excellent; converting it into income takes Spanish.
Spain's fee structure is the closest thing in this guide to Germany's — set below the national level, and varying by more than most students expect.
At public universities: non-EU students often pay roughly €3,000–12,000 a year, though the range is wide
And the part nobody mentions: Spain's autonomous communities set their own fees, so the non-EU price for the same subject differs by region — and several universities have recently cut non-EU rates rather than raising them
At private institutions: roughly €6,000–20,000 a year, with business-school programmes running considerably higher
That second point is the actionable one. Because Spain's autonomous communities set their own fees, the non-EU price for the same subject can differ substantially between regions — and several universities have recently cut their non-EU rates rather than raised them.
Never take a national figure as your number. Look up the specific university's non-EU price list for your programme; the difference between two regions can be larger than the difference between two countries elsewhere in this guide.
✓ Up to 30 hours of work a week
Granted automatically with the student authorisation. Among the most generous regimes in Europe.
✓ A real post-study job-search permit
Twelve months, extendable further under the 2025 regulation — which Cyprus and Malta do not offer at all.
✓ Affordable public tuition
And in some regions genuinely cheap, with several universities having cut non-EU rates.
✓ A large, well-ranked system
Dozens of Spanish universities in the global rankings, plus internationally strong business schools.
✓ EU and Schengen
European travel and an EU-recognised degree.
✓ A growing English-taught catalogue
Hundreds of bachelor's and master's programmes taught in English.
✕ No Spanish mission in Nepal
The visa is lodged in New Delhi. Budget the trip, the time and the cost from the start.
✕ The heaviest document chain here
Full legalisation, because Nepal has no apostille, plus sworn Spanish translation of everything.
✕ Spanish is close to essential
For work, internships and daily life. 'English-taught' describes the classroom, not the country.
✕ A harder graduate job market
Unemployment well above northern Europe, and switching to a work permit is employer-led.
Spain is unusually well documented, and one figure here is more solid than most in this guide.
The visa requires 100% of the IPREM per month of stay — a published Spanish income index, currently €600 a month, so €7,200 for a year.
The funds requirement is 100% of the IPREM per month of stay — a published Spanish index rather than a figure someone estimated. That makes it checkable and precise, which most of the requirements on this site are not. It also makes it volatile in a specific way: a new budget law can raise the IPREM, and the requirement moves with it.
In practice consulates commonly expect more than the bare minimum, and stable funds over several months rather than a sudden deposit. Verify against the Spanish foreign ministry and the Delhi mission before assembling anything.
Nepali students currently in Spain: we could not verify one