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RD 1155/2024, art. 55Apply in the two months before expiryLast verified 23 August 2026

Renewing your student stay in Spain — the prórroga and your insurance

Staying on for a second year is an extension of the authorisation you already hold, not a new visa, and it is applied for from inside Spain. Insurance is one of the three article 35 conditions you have to prove all over again — and the regulation asks not just whether you have cover now, but whether you have had it throughout.

The window opens two months before your current authorisation expires
Article 55.3 re-proves article 35 letters b, h and i — insurance among them
Article 55.2 asks for continuity, not a snapshot on two application dates
Price the next insured periodWhat the new certificate must show
What is actually being renewed

A prórroga, applied for in Spain — not a second visa

The word people use is "renewal". The word in Real Decreto 1155/2024 is prórroga — an extension of the long-stay authorisation you already hold. You do not go back to a consulate for it. Under article 55.4 it is applied for electronically, on the official form, by you or through a representative, and it is addressed to the oficina de extranjería of the province where the original authorisation was granted.

Three timing rules from the same article are worth writing on a calendar now rather than discovering later:

The windowArticle 55.3 — the application may be made during the two months before the visa or authorisation expires. It is available for the cases in art. 52.1 letters a), b), d) and e); pupil-mobility programmes under letter c) are not among them
Filing in time protects youArticle 55.4 — an application filed inside that window extends the validity of the previous authorisation until the procedure is resolved
Filing late is not fatal, but it is not freeArticle 55.4 — an application filed within the three months after expiry also extends validity pending resolution, but expressly without prejudice to a sanctioning procedure for the infringement in art. 52.b) of Ley Orgánica 4/2000
Silence goes against youArticle 55.4 — if a month passes with no decision notified, the application is understood to have been refused by administrative silence

The practical reading of that last pair: the two-month window exists to be used. Late filing has a remedy, but it comes with an infringement attached, and administrative silence is negative rather than positive.

What changes at renewal

Article 55.3 sends you back to three of the article 35 conditions

A prórroga is not a formality and it is not a rubber stamp on last year's file. Article 55.3 requires the applicant to evidence the requirements of article 53.1 for the case the authorisation was granted under, the requirement in article 53.2, and — the part that concerns us — the requirements in letters b), h) and i) of article 35.

Letter b — the passportA valid passport or travel document recognised in Spain, with a minimum validity of one year. A passport that was comfortably in date at the consulate may not clear this a year later
Letter h — the meansSufficient resources for maintenance and the return journey without recourse to social assistance: monthly, an amount representing 100% of the IPREM, plus 75% for a first dependent family member and 50% for each further one. The IPREM is set each year, so the figure moves
Letter i — the insuranceA health insurance policy with an insurer authorised to operate in Spain, with benefits similar to the basic common portfolio of the Sistema Nacional de Salud, valid for the duration of the intended stay — evidenced again, for the new period

Articles 55.1 and 55.5 set the shape of what you get. For higher education under article 52.1(a) the authorisation runs with the official duration of the studies; otherwise it runs with the activity, capped at a year. A prórroga runs with the course you are enrolled on, to a maximum of one year. And there is a ceiling on how many: for higher education and post-compulsory secondary — letters a) and b) of article 52.1 — up to two prórrogas per authorisation. For volunteering and training activities, letters d) and e), only one.

One more condition that catches second-year students: article 55.2 provides that where the authorisation was granted for more than a year, keeping it in force requires the student or the institution to produce, annually at the start of each academic year, the enrolment or registration document showing that the studies are continuing.

The sentence that changes how you buy

Article 55.2: cover has to be continuous, not present on two dates

Most people assume the insurance test is a snapshot — a certificate at the consulate, a certificate at the extension, and the months in between are nobody's business. Article 55.2 says otherwise, twice.

"Durante la vigencia de la autorización, la persona extranjera deberá mantener los requisitos que dieron lugar a su concesión." — throughout the currency of the authorisation, the holder must maintain the requirements that gave rise to its grant.
"La Administración... podrá, en el ejercicio de sus competencias de control, requerir a la persona extranjera en cualquier momento durante la vigencia de la autorización que acredite seguir reuniendo los requisitos generales y específicos exigidos." — the Administration may, at any moment during the authorisation, require proof that the requirements are still met.

Put together: a policy that lapsed in March and was replaced in September satisfies neither sentence, even if a certificate happens to exist on both application dates. The obligation is a continuing one, and it is enforceable at a time of the Administration's choosing rather than yours.

That is why the single most useful thing on this page is a scheduling instruction rather than a legal one. Arrange the next insured period before the current one ends. Not in the week the prórroga is filed — before the cover stops.

What this means for your policy

Renewing the cover so there is no gap, and a certificate that says so

If we arranged your Sanitas International Students cover, the mechanics are straightforward, and a few of them need a decision from you rather than from us.

  • The plan is renewable. It is issued for an insured period of three to fourteen months, and a further period can follow it. Ages 14 to 35 still apply, and so does proof of studies — the enrolment or matriculation certificate for the new course year, with its start and end dates.
  • Policies start on the 1st of a month. If your current insured period ends mid-month, decide deliberately which 1st the next one begins on. Cover that starts on the 1st after the old one lapsed leaves a gap of exactly the kind article 55.2 is written about.
  • You can contract up to six months ahead. That is wider than the two-month prórroga window, so the insurance can be settled well before the immigration paperwork opens rather than in the same fortnight.
  • Renewing generates a new certificate. The old one shows the old insured period; it cannot evidence cover for a period it does not name. Ask for the new one and file it with the prórroga documents.
  • A course longer than fourteen months does not stretch the policy. It either renews into a further insured period or moves onto a residents policy instead. Tell us the course length and we will tell you which applies.
  • Age is measured against the policy start. If you turn 36 before the next insured period begins, the student plan is no longer the right one and the route runs through the residents options — the over-35 page sets that out.
Two dates to line up, not one. The authorisation runs from a month before the activity starts to fifteen days after it ends (art. 55.2). Cover that stops on the last day of teaching stops short of the stay it is meant to cover — and the extension file is exactly where that gets noticed.

Durations of 4, 5 and 7 months are not currently selectable in our calculator pending confirmation from Sanitas. If your next course year lands on one of those lengths, ask us before you plan around it.

Two things that change the answer

If you are working, and if you are not sure what you hold

If you have been working and are registered with Spanish Social Security, article 57.5 provides that the article 35 insurance requirement is understood to be satisfied by that registration. Since article 55.3 sends the extension straight back to article 35(i), that provision is squarely relevant here in a way it was not at the consulate. What evidence of an alta a given oficina de extranjería will accept in place of a certificate is not specified in the regulation, and we are not going to guess at it — working on a student visa sets out the provision, the timing and that open question in full.

If you are not certain the cover you hold satisfies article 35(i) — because you switched to something cheaper mid-year, or a family policy from home was renewed on different terms — check it before the window opens rather than after. Is my policy valid runs the four statutory conditions as a checklist, and the insurance certificate explains what the document itself has to show.

Eligibility, premium and policy terms are confirmed before a policy is issued. We arrange insurance; the decision on your prórroga rests with the Spanish immigration authorities, and nothing here promises an outcome.

Price the next insured period before the current one runs out

Enter your date of birth, your province and the length of the new course period. The calculator returns the exact monthly premium and the total, so you can set the new start date against the day your current cover ends rather than against the prórroga deadline.

Policies start on the 1st of a month, contractable six months aheadA new insured period means a new certificateBuilt from the official Sanitas rate tables
Get the price →
How this page is sourced

Last verified 23 August 2026

Extension rules are among the first things to move when immigration policy changes. Everything above is taken from the primary text, read in full on the date shown, so a later reader can judge how stale it has become.

Real Decreto 1155/2024Arts. 55.1 to 55.5 on duration, extension and lapse; art. 35 letters b, h and i; art. 57.5 on Social Security registration — consolidated text read at BOE-A-2024-24099 on 23 August 2026
Quoted verbatimThe two sentences of art. 55.2 that make the insurance obligation a continuing one, because paraphrases of them consistently lose the point
Not published hereThe IPREM figure for the current year. It is set annually and a stale multiplier is a factual error, not a rounding one — take the year's figure from the official source when you prepare the file
Repealed, not authorityReal Decreto 557/2011 was repealed on 20 May 2025. Renewal guidance still citing it is describing a procedure that no longer applies
Frequently asked questions

Extending your stay — insurance questions

Yes. RD 1155/2024 art. 55.3 requires the prórroga application to evidence the requirements of art. 53.1 and 53.2 and the requirements in letters b), h) and i) of art. 35. Letter i is the health insurance condition, so it is proved again for the new period — with a certificate covering that period, not the one that covered last year.
Article 55.3 opens the window during the two months before your current visa or authorisation expires — for the cases in art. 52.1 letters a), b), d) and e) — and filing in it extends the old authorisation's validity until the application is resolved. Article 55.4 also extends validity where the application is filed within three months after expiry — but expressly without prejudice to a sanctioning procedure for the infringement in art. 52.b) of Ley Orgánica 4/2000. And if a month passes with no decision notified, the application is deemed refused by administrative silence.
Article 55.2 sets a continuing obligation, not a snapshot: throughout the authorisation the holder must maintain the requirements that gave rise to it, and the Administration may require proof at any moment that they are still met. A gap is therefore a gap even where a certificate exists on both application dates. Arranging the next insured period before the current one ends is the way to avoid the question arising.
Not if it names an insured period that has ended or is about to. Article 35(i) requires cover valid for the duration of the intended stay, and the intended stay at a prórroga is the new period. Renewing the policy produces a new certificate showing the new dates — that is the document to file.
Article 55.5 sets the duration of a prórroga at the length of the course you are enrolled on, to a maximum of one year. On the number: for higher education and post-compulsory secondary studies — letters a) and b) of art. 52.1 — up to two prórrogas per authorisation. For volunteering and training activities, letters d) and e), only one.
The Sanitas International Students plan is issued for an insured period of three to fourteen months and is renewable, so a longer course either continues into a further insured period or moves onto a residents policy instead. Age matters here too: the student plan covers 14 to 35, measured at the policy start date. Tell us the course length and your date of birth and we will tell you which route applies.

This page describes the regulation and how our cover fits around it. The decision on your extension rests with the Spanish immigration authorities.

Related

Living in Spain

The TIE after arriving in SpainWorking on a student visa

The whole process

The Spanish student visa, start to finish

Your cover

The insurance certificateWhat the plan covers