The Medical Certificate for a Spanish Student Visa
One short sentence from a doctor, and one of the most commonly rejected documents in the file. The regulation sets no minimum stay for it — several consulates do. It is also not your insurance certificate, however often the two are confused.
What the regulation actually asks for — and what it conspicuously does not
The medical certificate for a Spanish long-stay student visa sits in Real Decreto 1155/2024, article 35(l). In the consolidated text it reads:
“Que la persona extranjera aporte certificado médico con el fin de acreditar que no padece ninguna de las enfermedades que pueden tener repercusiones de salud pública graves de conformidad con lo dispuesto en el Reglamento Sanitario Internacional de 2005.” — RD 1155/2024, art. 35(l)
In English: the applicant must produce a medical certificate confirming that they do not suffer from any of the diseases capable of having serious public health repercussions, as set out in the 2005 International Health Regulations. That is the whole requirement. It is a public-health screening statement, not a fitness-to-study report and not a medical history.
Now read article 35(j), immediately above it. The criminal-record requirement is expressly limited to applicants whose “estancia supere los seis meses” — a stay of more than six months. Article 35(l) contains no such limit. The drafter attached a duration threshold to one document and not the other, on the same page of the same article.
So when a consulate publishes a 180-day cut-off for the medical certificate, that cut-off comes from the consulate, not from the regulation. And when another consulate writes that the certificate is required regardless of how long you are staying, it is reading article 35(l) as written. Both are real; they are published by different posts; and it is your own post's wording that your file will be read against.
- ✓A medical certificate produced by the applicant
- ✓Confirming no disease with serious public health repercussions
- ✓Assessed against the 2005 International Health Regulations
- ✓No minimum length of stay is attached to it
- ✗A 180-day or 90-day threshold
- ✗A validity window (3 months, 90 days, 6 months)
- ✗An apostille or legalisation
- ✗A restriction on the country where it is issued
- ✗Screening for anything beyond public-health disease
A separate provision, RD 1155/2024 article 10, allows a health certificate or a medical examination at the border when the Ministry of the Interior so determines. That is an entry control, not part of your visa file, and it is not the document this page is about.
This is a different document from your insurance certificate
These two are mixed up more than any other pair in the student file, and the mix-up is understandable: both are one-page documents, both are about health, both are numbered items on the same consular checklist. They are not interchangeable, and submitting one in place of the other will not satisfy the other requirement.
| Medical certificate | Insurance certificate | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it comes from | RD 1155/2024, art. 35(l) | RD 1155/2024, art. 35(i) |
| Who issues it | A doctor or medical centre | Your insurer |
| What it says | You do not have a disease with serious public health repercussions under the 2005 IHR | You hold cover from an insurer authorised in Spain, with benefits similar to the SNS basic common portfolio, valid for the whole intended stay |
| What it costs | A consultation fee, where your doctor charges one | Included with the policy — the certificate is issued after acceptance and payment |
| When you can get it | Usually shortly before the appointment, because most posts date-limit it | Once the policy is contracted |
| Does one replace the other | No. Both appear as separate numbered items on every checklist we read on 23 August 2026. | |
There is one genuine overlap in practice: at several posts they are date-limited on the same clock. Chicago and Houston both require a medical certificate no older than three months, while your insurance certificate has to be valid across the authorised period, which runs from one month before your course starts to fifteen days after it ends (RD 1155/2024, art. 55.2). Two different clocks, one appointment. Get the dates on both right before you book.
If the insurance side is what you are actually trying to sort out, the detail is on what the insurance certificate contains and when it is issued and in the full student visa insurance requirements.
What each consulate publishes about the medical certificate
Seventeen consular posts and application centres, taken from their own published wording and read on 23 August 2026. Where a cell says not stated, we read the medical certificate section and it says nothing either way — it does not mean the condition never applies. Consulates revise these lists without announcing it.
| Post | Required for which stays | Who may issue it | How recent it must be | Apostille / legalisation | Translation into Spanish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | All applicants, “regardless of length of stay” | Hospital or doctor’s office letterhead, or the post’s template | Not stated | Not stated | Bilingual template offered |
| Toronto | “Required for all study visa applicants” | Your family doctor | Not stated | “Must be apostilled” | Required |
| Boston | “Every stay over 90 days”, since 20 May 2025 | Doctor’s signature and stamp or letterhead | Issued within 90 days before the application | “Medical certificates do not need to be apostilled” | Required if written in English |
| London | “All applicants must submit” | Issued in the UK or Spain only — certificates from other countries “will not be accepted” | Not stated | Legalised or apostilled | Official translation |
| Manchester | “All applicants must submit” | A registered medical practitioner; UK or Spain only | No later than 3 months before the application | Legalised or apostilled | Official translation |
| Edinburgh | Listed for all applicants; no threshold published | A registered general practitioner; UK or Spain only | 3 months from the date of issue | Hague Apostille — but a certificate issued in Spain is valid “without the need for legalisation or translation” | Sworn translator, unless issued in Spain |
| Chicago | Listed for all applicants; no threshold published | The examining physician, with stamp or medical centre letterhead | Not older than 3 months | Not stated | Bilingual template recommended |
| Houston | Listed for all applicants; no threshold published | Doctor’s stamp or medical centre letterhead | Not older than 3 months | Not stated | Bilingual template offered |
| Los Angeles | Listed for all applicants; no threshold published | A doctor, signed, with stamp or letterhead | Maximum 90 days before submission | Not stated | Required if issued in English — not required if the post’s own model is used |
| New York and its BLS checklist | Listed for all applicants; no threshold published | Medical centre stamp, doctor’s name, signature and licence number, and date of issue | 3 months before submission (BLS checklist) | Not stated | Official or certified translation — not needed if the post’s model is used |
| Ottawa | Listed for all applicants; no threshold published | Your family doctor | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| Mumbai and New Delhi | “A stay of more than 180 days” | A legal medical practitioner | Valid for 6 months | Apostilled by the Ministry of External Affairs, India | Official sworn translation |
| Manila, Bangkok, Tokyo and Dakar | “A stay of more than 180 days” | Not stated | Not stated | Legalised or apostilled, where applicable | Official translation, where applicable |
Each post links to its own published student-visa page, read on 23 August 2026. Always read your own post’s current list before your appointment, and treat what you find there as authoritative over anything you find here.
The four things this table shows that no single consulate page will tell you
What the certificate has to say
Most posts do not want a general health report. They want one specific sentence, and several publish it verbatim so there is no room for interpretation. London, Manchester and Edinburgh all set out the same English formula:
“This health certificate states that Mr./Mrs. (…) does not suffer from any of the diseases that may have serious public health repercussions in accordance with what is stipulated by the International Health Regulations of 2005.”
And where the certificate is issued in Spain, London and Manchester publish the Spanish equivalent:
“Este certificado médico acredita que el Sr./Sra. (…) no padece ninguna de las enfermedades que pueden tener repercusiones para la salud pública graves, de conformidad con lo dispuesto en el reglamento sanitario internacional de 2005.”
Ottawa and Toronto publish near-identical formulas of their own. Manchester adds that the certificate must be worded “in the following terms or similarly” — a small allowance, but not an invitation to paraphrase freely. The safest certificate quotes the formula published by your own post.
One post asks for more than the regulation does
The BLS checklist used for New York applications describes a certificate demonstrating that the applicant “does not suffer from drug addiction, mental health issues or any diseases that could have serious repercussions for public health in accordance with the International Health Regulations of 2005”. Article 35(l) itself refers only to diseases with serious public health repercussions under the 2005 IHR. That additional wording concerning drug addiction and mental-health issues does not appear in the same form in article 35(l) of RD 1155/2024. We record the difference because it is a real discrepancy between an application centre’s checklist and the regulation it sits under — not as a statement of Spanish law, and not as guidance from us about what any applicant should disclose or expect. It is the checklist a New York file is assembled against, so it is worth knowing it says something the regulation does not.
What else has to be on the page
- Your full name, matching your passport exactly
- The date of issue — most posts date-limit the certificate
- The doctor’s signature
- The doctor’s stamp, or the medical centre’s letterhead
- The doctor’s licence number, where the post asks for it
- Original and a copy — almost every post asks for both
- A Spanish translation unless the certificate is bilingual or the post’s own model is used
- An apostille where your post requires one
The common reasons a medical certificate is rejected
Every reason below is drawn from a condition a post publishes on its own student-visa page. None of them are about your health.
The wording is a paraphrase
A letter saying “I confirm this patient is in good health” does not say what article 35(l) asks. The certificate has to address diseases with serious public health repercussions under the 2005 International Health Regulations, and several posts publish the exact sentence to use.
It is out of date by the time of the appointment
Three months at Chicago, Houston, Manchester and Edinburgh. Ninety days at Boston and Los Angeles. Three months before submission on the BLS New York checklist. Six months at Mumbai and New Delhi. A certificate obtained early in the planning, while you were still assembling the rest of the file, can expire before you sit down at the appointment.
It was issued in the wrong country
London, Manchester and Edinburgh accept certificates issued only in the United Kingdom or Spain. Edinburgh goes further and says the post cannot even advise which medical centres issue them.
The apostille certifies the wrong signature
London and Edinburgh both publish the same warning: the legalisation or Hague Apostille must legalise the signature of the person who signed the certificate — the registered medical practitioner — and not the signature of a notary or solicitor who did not issue it. Ottawa publishes the same rule for the criminal record certificate. It is an easy and expensive mistake, because the document comes back apostilled and looks correct.
The stamp, signature or licence number is missing
Boston asks for a doctor’s signature and stamp or letterhead. Chicago and Houston ask for the stamp or the medical centre’s letterhead. The BLS New York checklist asks additionally for the doctor’s licence number and the date of issue. A certificate printed on plain paper satisfies none of them.
The insurance certificate was submitted instead
They are separate numbered items on every checklist we read. A policy certificate proves cover under article 35(i); it says nothing about public health under article 35(l), and it cannot stand in for it.
Several posts return an incomplete file rather than assess it. Boston states that incomplete or incorrect applications are returned automatically and a new appointment is required; Chicago says the same of files rejected at the application centre. A missing or wrongly worded medical certificate is not usually a refusal — it is a lost appointment slot, which at busy posts in the summer can be worse.
Sorting the other certificate
Your insurance certificate is the article 35(i) document, and it exists only once a policy is contracted. See the price for the Sanitas International Students plan — zero copayments, no waiting periods, and a certificate in Spanish for your visa file.
Medical certificate for a Spanish student visa — FAQs
Consulate wording on this page was read from each post’s own published student-visa page and application-centre checklist, and last verified on 23 August 2026. Regulation text quoted from the consolidated version of RD 1155/2024 on the BOE. Consulates change their published requirements without notice; always confirm against your own post before your appointment.