Spanish immersion program for people from Asia

Hi,

I am a Malaysian with certification as a Homeopathic Doctor specializing in Naturopathic Nutrition but also do Traditional Chinese and Indian Medicine e.g. Tui Na or Accupressure, Qi Gong Exercises and general knowledge in Malaysian Chinese Herbal Medicine. I would like to teach some of these subjects in Madrid if possible at the same time improve my Spanish which is basic at Udemy level. I am not sure about the immigration rules with regards short term stay and work but I hold an old EU UK Driving License - time when I was an undergraduate in England in the late 80s.

@jonjontay212

Hello and welcome on board !

Please note that I have merged your posts on this single thread of the Madrid forum. We can edit the title for a better fit.

So, are you looking for a job or a study program in Madrid ?

Also are you only interested in Madrid or open to other cities ?

You may start by reading the Spain Expat Guide for first-hand infos till members share more specific information with you.

All the best

Bhavna

@jonjontay212

I believe that Malaysian citizens enjoy visa-free travel to many countries, including Spain. This means it's easy to visit for up to 90 days in a 180 days period, and you can make repeat visits. If you want to stay for longer than 3 months, you'd need to look at the visa options available at your local Spanish embassy (e.g. student or No Lucrativa).

There are plenty of intensive Spanish classes in larger cities, including Madrid, and no visa would be required for a course of a few weeks or a month or so. Longer than 3 months would require a visa.

Teaching/working is a different issue. You can't legally work when on a tourist visa or using your visa-free allowance. Unpaid teaching would still be regarded as working. If you found your own students and charged them cash, you might get away with it, but I would not recommend it. If you enrolled in a formal study program for a longer period (6-12 months, say, or even longer) and obtained a student visa, this would allow you to legally work for some hours per week.

Your UK driving license is a nice souvenir, but of limited value. :-) It confers no residence/work rights. And the UK has now left the EU, and has started issuing photo driving license cards. I suspect you can't renew it as you don't have UK residence and a UK passport. For short-term tourism visits, your Malaysian license is perfectly fine.