I am Canadian. I had applied for my Study Visa as I had been accepted to earn my Master's Degree at Universidad de Alcala. The documents required for the university weren't the problem. The problem was the lengthy process of the Global Affairs Canada Apostille process. I sent my documents to be apostilled on July 5, 2026. I sent an email requesting my visa appointment that day as well. On July 23 I received the email advising that my Visa appointment was Aug 6 in Toronto. So I sent an email to Global Affairs Canada advising of my appointment date, hoping to receive my apostilled documents back in time. I didn't, but still attended my visa appointment on Aug 6, 2026 in Toronto. The woman at the consulate eased my nerves, indicating that many people attend their visa appointment and don't have their documents back from Global Affairs. She advised the most important things for the visa meeting are your passport, passport photo, visa application and the payment. I had all these items. She took all the documents that I had with me. About 20 minutes later, she returned with a 'receipt' that I signed to indicate that I received my passport back. Then she gave me a paper and told me I had 10 business days to submit my missing documents by mail from Global Affairs Canada and how to track the status of my visa application. She told me when the visa has been approved the status would be changed to 'Resuelto' and that i don't need an appointment to pick up my visa, but it needs to be collected in person, only on Fridays between 10 a.m and 1 p.m. My documents' due date would be Aug 20, 2026. She said she didn't care if the documents came after that date, but she cautioned that after that date the Spain Government could cancel my visa application. I asked if that happens often. She said no, only if applicants abandon the process. I finally received the documents from Global Affairs Canada on Aug 20, the date that they were due at the consulate. I still needed to get them translated. The translation was completed by Aug 24. I picked them up in person within an hour of receiving the email that they were ready.

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