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I'm tagging this Spain, but I suspect they're not the only country doing this. Three-page info sheet on visa application for long-stay includes:

Only applications IN PERSON are accepted …
… process may take approximately 2 months from the day all documents are presented …
ORIGINAL and ONE PHOTOCOPY of each of the following …
3. Original Passport: Valid passp…. Your passport may remain at the Consulate.
8. House property or leasing contract in Spain.

So, if I take this literally, I am supposed to buy a round-trip ticket, skip classes to go to to Spain, find a house or apartment, buy it or sign a lease, return to USA and go in person to the consulate to seek permission to go live in it?  And I have to tell the seller or landlord that if I get permission, I won't move in for at least two months?

And I'm told that I can't buy or rent without a bank account and an NIE, and can't get a bank account or NIE¹ without an address.

I know there are Americans and other non-Spanish living there, so it must not be as silly as it sounds. Advice?

¹Número de Identificación de Extranjero (Foreigner's ID number)

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    Where did you get this info? The only hit on google for your 8. appears to be a retirement residence visa, which wouldn't tend to be aimed at anybody who has classes to skip.
    – nkjt
    Oct 2, 2016 at 10:05
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    It would be easier to help if you told us about what kind of visa you're trying to get. However, a lot of countries do this. French student visas involve this, for example.
    – la femme cosmique
    Oct 2, 2016 at 11:02
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    Surprise, surprise! Retired, 62 years young, and going to linguistics classes five days a week. You CAN teach an old dog new tricks. So they only do it for retirees? Hmmmm. What you found is probably the same document I found, or the equivalent from another embassy. IIRC, the Spanish version from the Spanish government website said the same thing.
    – WGroleau
    Oct 2, 2016 at 13:35
  • As you have probably just read above, it's a visa for long-stay for someone retired. But that's not relevant to the question of how to handle restrictions that are on more than one type of visa.
    – WGroleau
    Oct 2, 2016 at 13:40
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    Is it asking for proof of ownership or lease as a pre-requisite, or simply information on what you may have already have bought or rented in advance of the move to Spain?
    – Giorgio
    Oct 2, 2016 at 17:34

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