Book your flight and complete the arrival form. All students must arrive in Madrid no later than one day before their first Welcome Session is scheduled, in order to settle in with their host family or student residence and to participate in the mandatory Welcome Sessions. You can find the Academic Calendar with all the important dates here.

If you change your travel plans after you have entered your arrival information, please e-mail Student Affairs at studentlife-madrid@slu.edu with the updates. 

Spring 2023

Book your flight to arrive in Madrid no later than Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, to be in SLU-Madrid for the Welcome Sessions that will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 11, and the start of classes on Thursday, Jan. 12. 

Students staying with host families may not move in with their host family prior to 8 a.m. on move-in day. If you arrive early, you are responsible for your own accommodations. If you need to store your belongings while you travel, you may use a storage company. Students in the past have had positive experiences with Bluespace.

Housing placement follows the chronological order of the date on which the applications are received. Spring housing assignments start in October. If you do not receive the contact information for your university-arranged housing assignment one week before the official move-in day, contact housing-madrid@slu.edu.

Summer 2023

Book your flight to arrive in Madrid no later than Sunday, May 21, 2023, to be in SLU-Madrid for the Welcome Sessions that will take place on Monday, May 22, and the start of classes that same day, right after the Welcome Sessions. 

Students staying with host families may not move in with their host family prior to 8 a.m. on move-in day. If you arrive early, you are responsible for your own accommodations. If you need to store your belongings while you travel, you may use a storage company. Students in the past have had positive experiences with Bluespace.

Housing placement follows the chronological order of the date on which the applications are received. Summer housing assignments start in March. If you do not receive the contact information for your university-arranged housing assignment one week before the official move-in day, contact housing-madrid@slu.edu. 

Summer M.A. in Spanish Session

Book your flight to arrive in Madrid no later than Sunday, June 25, 2023, to be in SLU-Madrid for the Welcome Sessions that will take place on Monday, June 26, and the start of classes that same day, right after the Welcome Sessions. 

Students staying with host families may not move in with their host family prior to 8 a.m. on move-in day. If you arrive early, you are responsible for your own accommodations. If you need to store your belongings while you travel, you may use a storage company. Students in the past have had positive experiences with Bluespace.

Housing placement follows the chronological order of the date on which the applications are received. Summer housing assignments start in March. If you do not receive the contact information for your university-arranged housing assignment one week before the official move-in day, contact housing-madrid@slu.edu. 

All students must check whether they need a visa or any other documents to study in Spain, as this varies depending on the country of origin. This applies to degree-seeking students and one-semester study-abroad students alike. 

Please check with your Spanish Consulate and the SLU-Madrid Office of Admissions about this matter, as well as anything related to documents for the visa application process and/or to study in SLU-Madrid. 

Read the Pre-departure Information, including all the communications you will receive via email prior to arrival and our guide to Madrid. 

All students entering Spain with a visa and all EU citizens must come to the Office of Student Affairs with their passport within the first 30 days of arriving to Spain to start the process of applying for residence in Spain as a student. 

To review the documents you will need and familiarize yourself with the process, click here.

You do not need to do this if you are only coming for one semester. This only applies to students who will be in Spain for longer than 6 months.

We recommend that you exchange currency so that you have at least 50 euros in cash before coming to Spain to cover immediate costs, such as taxi fares and other incidentals. Bring more than one card, preferably Visa or Mastercard, in case you encounter a problem with one of them. American Express is not widely accepted in Spain, and traveler's checks are no longer valid. You may also need to activate your debit and credit cards before coming in order to be able to withdraw cash from ATMs when you get here.

Do not send packages or objects by post or courier in advance. Customs fees, taxes, and the lack of a Spanish fiscal number make it difficult for packages to clear customs. Medications will not clear customs. 

You may find a list of things to pack here.

All students are responsible for making their own way to their housing assignment on move-in day. We recommend taking a taxi to your destination. The taxi fare from Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport to any location in Madrid is fixed at 30 euros. Taxis cannot charge an extra fee for luggage. Be sure to have the complete address of your destination at hand to show the driver. Ask the taxi driver for a receipt ("Necesito un recibo, por favor") before getting out of the taxi. The taxi driver's license number appears on the receipt, which allows you to make contact in case you leave anything in the vehicle or you wish to file a complaint. Tipping taxi drivers is optional in Spain.

All students must attend the mandatory Welcome Sessions.