Hello all! Last summer I took a class in teaching English as a second language through Oxford Seminars (awesome class!) and once you finish the class and are certified to teach they will place you anywhere in the world you want to go and teach. I was looking into going to Japan for awhile, but decided on Spain instead (since I have a BA in Spanish). I had a Skype interview and was hired by CAPS (Conversation Assistant Program for Schools, http://www.hometohome.es/caps/eng/assistants5.html). My start date is September 26th, 2014 and the program goes until June 20th, 2015.
Ok, so to start off this adventure I'll need a visa. I've already been hired by CAPs in Spain and have all my documents to prove it. I discovered that since I live in Minnesota, I have to travel to Chicago for a 20 minute appointment to get my visa. Luckily, there is an airport in my home town of St. Cloud that goes to Chicago for about $200 round trip. Not terrible. The fee for the application is $160 as well.
Before I can go, however, I need a FBI criminal background check which must be apostilled (authenticated). I went and got fingerprinted and sent in the paperwork to the FBI last week. Their website says that at the moment it takes 25 days to process it and up to 10 more days to mail the documents back ($18 charge for that). Then I need to get it apostilled by the US Department of State, which is another $8 and 10-15 days(ish... it doesn't specify on the website) to get that back.
I can get all my other documents together in the meantime, such as my doctor visit and documentation that I have no illnesses I could bring into Spain with me. Plus I need to make copies of all the documents. Don't worry, I have a folder to keep all this stuff together ;)
Once I have my appointment (which I have tentatively set for July 18th) it will take 4 weeks to process the application and another 10 days to mail it back. So, it will be early September before I get my visa, assuming nothing is delayed. This is freaking me out, since my start date is Sep 26th. I'm going to hunt around and try and find an airline ticket that I can buy now and has no cancelation fees, just in case all my documents aren't ready in time. There isn't really all that much I need to do, but man oh man does this take a long time! I figured it'd be done in about a month, but it's going to be nearly three months! Bah!
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