Something is odd, here. My experiences with students studying abroad with approved programs, is that the student vise for the duration of the program are always obtained in the US prior to departure. And it came be a lengthy process taking several weeks. And April 4th is kind of an odd time for a university related program to begin.

What is the program that he is enrolled in? There are a number of marginal, if not illegal, programs that try to act like study abroad programs and one of the characteristics is that they will help you to obtain the necessary permits after you arrive. These are generally some type of work related program or work exchange program. So this raises a big red flag for me. What exactly is the program?

He HAS to have his visa before leaving home. There is something fishy about this, can't say exactly what.

> And April 4th is kind of an odd time for a university related program to begin.

Not necessarily. He might have some introductory course before the summer semester starts at april, 15. At my university, also in Bavaria, students from abroad will arrive by 3d of April for the summer semester 2017.

Thank you for the quick responses. His program is a long established one with Wayne State University and fully approved by his college, there is nothing fishy about it (although I'm sure there are some out there that are not legit). My experience is that each country is different for how student visa and/or residency permits are done; I know France is before you go, but Germany is different. We will double check that though, appreciate the caution... I know you typically get a student residency permit for stays exceeding 90 days after you get there, but I may have misspoken about a student visa. And the German academic calendar is very different from the US; the spring/summer semester is late April-July, but yes, he does start earlier for orientation. The trip in March is 100% as a tourist. He got some good advice from the program yesterday so I think we might be ok, but if anyone else has experienced something similar I'd be interested to hear how they handled it.

There are no issues at all w/ the travel before he goes to school.

>>My experience is that each country is different for how student visa and/or residency permits are done; I know France is before you go, but Germany is different. We will double check that though<<

Germany is in Schengen -- A student visa must be obtained before entering the country for a course - usually while in one's home country.

There are no issues at all w/ the travel before he goes to school.

Just FYI: dealing with another student visa for a Schengen country (Norway) and surprised at the short time frame between when a visa is issued when it must be used. You can't get it 3 months in advance or it expires, it has to be issued shortly before it's needed.

Hi! I am a citizen of Turkey residing in the Kurdish Region of Iraq. I got accepted into Jaume I University's master's program. Can someone go to Spain with a tourist visa and -while in Spain- change her/his visa into a study visa?

You should probably start all over again with another thread, so somebody will notice your post.

Consulate are good places to ask.