Question about the Non lucrative visa Spain
Manchester Consulate DO NOT let you keep your passports when a pplying for a Non lucrative visa Spain. We are here now and they explain it is not possible. Looks like we are cancelling our holiday in two weeks
Answers
These are the answers of some Facebook group members:
“They can issue emergency passports if you can prove you have travel plans. To apply for a 1 week Fast Track passport, the first thing to do is pick up an application form from a Post Office. Once you have filled in the Fast-Track application, you can book an in-person appointment online at your nearest passport office. This is when you will be requested to pay an application fee.”
“I have two US passports because I came up against the same issue—San Francisco consulate had mine. I got an urgent passport so I could meet my travel dates. You have to declare it but so far it has been a non-issue. I left Spain last week on my urgent passport because it was the one I had entered Spain on. When I returned to Spain yesterday, I came in using my visa containing passport. And yes, they each have a different number.”
“I beg to differ. We submitted our application a week ago and are currently in Spain having used our passport to get here. I was at the consulate and provided a full colour copy of every page of our passports and they were totally relaxed about it. Maybe it’s just the person you had? We applied for the NLV which is still undertaken by the consulate in Brown St.”
“The BLS now process the initial application process. They say because they have to send the passports to the Consulate now. We can’t have them back yet. It looks like we are amongst the first to fall foul of the new BLS system.”
“We went to Manchester consulate (not BLS) on the 11th September and they were quite happy for us to keep our passports. We went back to the consulate last week to have the Visas put in and out now in Spain. Maybe this a change due to it being BLS now.”
“From the explanation I got today, applications are made at the BLS. They are not licensed to keep passports in that building and so must send to the consulate within 48 hours. I assume therefore that all the processing remains at Brown St Consulate whilst front facing processes are at BLS. Either way, I’m not going on holiday in two weeks any more”
“They let us keep our passports, we took them back when they said the visas where ready by 9:30am and at lunch we picked them up. But it was very stressful”
“We asked if we could keep ours and they gave it back straight away. No objection whatsoever ..this was in June…wonder why this has changed”
“Same for us, as we saw them (BLS Manchester) 6th Sept and we were also given the option. My feeling is – it depends on who you get at the desk and what their particular view is on the day / interview etc. Very mixed and not consistent really.”
“I had a visa appointment last week in london BLS and declared that i wanted to keep my passport, so they sent me to reception where i used the copier to copy all parts of my passport (charged me £6), looked a bit of a sh*t show there to be honest…..”
Conclusion
In conclusion, according to certain Facebook group members, there seems to be inconsistency and variation in the practices of the Manchester Consulate regarding the retention of passports during the visa application process. While some members were allowed to retain their passports and even travel with them, others faced challenges and were told it was not possible to keep them.
The introduction of the BLS system appears to have introduced some changes, with passports now being sent to the Consulate for processing. The experiences shared suggest that the decision to retain or return a passport might be influenced by the specific staff member handling the application or the specific circumstances of the applicant. This inconsistency has led to confusion and inconvenience for some applicants, with some even having to cancel their travel plans.
