"They don't take mastercard in Spain?"

...which was the first thing my boyfriend's father said to me when I was complaining about how much work it is to apply for a visa.  Get it? Mastercard? Visa? haha.

But in any case, it really isn't a straightforward or easy task.  I wouldn't be surprised if there were a lot of people who live illegally in Europe, especially students, because of how many hoops you have to jump through to get a visa.  The previous Canadian au pair that worked for the family I will be working for didn't get a visa for when she went over.  She said it was too much work and not worth the cost.  She was OK with the prospect of potentially getting kicked out of Spain if the authorities found out.  The family was OK with it too.  The reason I decided to get one is because I plan on finding another source of income while I am over there, and thought it would be easier to do so if I had a Spanish Visa.

I am in the process of applying for the Youth Mobility Program, which allows young people to enter Spain more easily... but it doesn't seem that easy.  First thing I did was get my passport pictures taken, apparently they need a few copies when you apply for a visa.  Luckily my actual passport is up to date.  I will need to present photo ID, proof from my bank statements that I have enough money to fly home if needed, and I had to get a doctors note from my family doctor saying I wouldn't pose any health threats to the Spanish population... which triggered a very long story from my doctor about how all her Spanish male patients have lots of sexually transmitted diseases and I need to be careful while I'm over there.

I needed to get my host family to mail me a letter of information and an au pair contract.  It was pretty cool getting mail from Spain! That was definitely a first.  I also had to get a criminal background check from the RCMP.  This process included getting fingerprints taken (another first!), where I learned my fingerprints are "not very easy to get prints on".  They wrote that I had a skin condition on the ones that didn't print properly.  Hopefully they do not think I will pass this 'health issue' onto the Spanish population.

And then I have to fill out a form from the Spanish consulate, which is very confusing.  It's one of those situations where none of the options seem to fit the reason you are filling out the form, and you feel like an idiot for not knowing how to fill it out properly.  And the individuals at the Spanish consulate haven't been very helpful.  I am going to go in person, with a big smile and my rudimentary Spanish to ask them kindly to help.

Then there is the health insurance debacle... Of course, I have the kind of health insurance coverage that runs out when I stop being a student, so next year I am not covered.  And OHIP is a very confusing thing to figure out when you are out of the country for most of the year.  So I went to visit Service Ontario (a lovely little government hub filled with homeless people, immigrant families, and people who look like they genuinely hate their jobs).  They helped me figure out the OHIP coverage while I am away (aka they suspended it while I am overseas...).  Now, without private or public coverage, I need to prove to the Spanish consulate that I will be covered by some sort of health plan over there.  I am in the throes of travel health care insurance companies, trying to figure out if I am getting decent quotes.  This is the last thing I need to get done before applying for this visa, and it is the thing that costs the most money (Oh, I didn't mention, the fingerprints and police check cost $80, the passport photos cost $20, and the damn visa application costs $150).

I better be in a situation next year where I think "oh, thank God I was so proactive and got a visa! all that work has paid off!".  Grrrrr visa applications.