Booked our BLS London yesterday and went today – now we wait! I definitely recommend allowing plenty of time to book your Spain Non Lucrative Visa appointment and have a cuppa at hand! Just thought I’d share our experience for anyone else going soon.
How to get an appointment at London BLS – tips and tricks
So, with the booking, it looked like plenty of appointments available, but I think they get you to book the slot in order to manage how busy it is.
As we’re not married, we had both gone online on our separate computers at the same time to ensure we got consecutive appointments, however, I think the security system got confused by two devices trying to access from the same IP address and knocked us out for suspicious activity.
We had to clear the cache and browsing history and then could log back in again, one at a time.
Once you select your time and date, you have to upload a passport photo, and the system timed out a couple of times whilst doing this.
Also, the photo needs to be smaller than 200mb and resized to passport size – 35mm x 45mm.
Sometimes when you log back in if it times out it says you still have an application in progress (though you can’t go back to it) and need to wait a few minutes to start again.
Then you fill in a form, which is basically the same details as the visa application form. They send you this as a PDF to print and bring to your appointment.
Then you have to take a picture with your webcam. My partner managed to get through the first time, and then you pay £14.55 for the appointment and you get emailed your appointment letter, the application forms and a copy of the checklist.
It didn’t like me at all! I tried changing the passport photo, then changing the webcam, then eventually used my partner’s phone to take the picture and his computer and webcam to do the application, and finally it let me through!
There was no problem for me to get a consecutive appointment to my partner’s, even though it was about 60-90 mins later by the time I got confirmed.
When we got to BLS London, it was busy and we had to queue outside for a bit.
When we went in they gave us a number and then we had to wait some more – they saw us together although we have been put through as separate applications. When we arrived they were on no. 60 and we had 89, but it didn’t take too long.
Once at the desk, this was fairly quick considering she had two lots of paperwork to go through. I think we were there about 90 mins in total.
Hope that helps anyone going through London soon! I’ll keep you posted!! Fingers crossed!!”
Questions and Answers
Q1: “Did you also struggle with the system timing out or the photo?”
A1: “Yes we kept getting timed out and the photo was an absolute pain, not easy but don’t give in.”
Q2: “Once at the desk do they check to make sure you have all the paperwork needed and that it’s filled in correctly?”
A2: “Yes, the lady at the desk seemed very thorough going through the papers and pointed out a couple of boxes we’d missed. I felt confident she’d checked everything correctly.”
Q3: “When you have a police check, do you take that to the consulate?”
A3: “Yes, it needs to be sworn translated, and you take it with all the other docs they ask for.”
Q4: “I thought they could take the photo there?”
A4: This was not confirmed by the original poster, but based on the overall experience, it appears the photo needs to be uploaded during the online booking process, and not taken onsite.
Q5: “Can you confirm the cost for multiple applications?”
A5: “I booked a family appointment for my adult son and myself. Total for two visas was £1,113.98.”
Comments
“I went through exactly the same thing with the queuing yesterday. Appointment was at 12:30, big queue but went down relatively quickly. Had a wonderful lady who helped us.”
“My appointment was at 1pm today and like you I booked my appointment the day before. Arrived at 12:30 and I was seen and out by 12:55. Very friendly and helpful lady served me.”
“Booked my appointment for next Friday at BLS London, had the same issues with the webcam photo, it kept coming back with the not matched message. After 5 attempts it finally went through.”
“All went well today, very smooth in fact. I had an English-speaking Spanish lady who couldn’t have been nicer. So here’s hoping that in 12 weeks time my visa will be dropping on my doormat.”
“Thank you for posting this, very helpful 😊”
“Thanks for the information, will be booking mine soon.”
Conclusion
Applying for the Spain Non Lucrative Visa at BLS London can come with its technical hiccups, particularly during the online booking and photo upload stages.
Many applicants reported system timeouts and challenges with the facial recognition photo process. However, perseverance pays off. Once at the appointment, most found the staff to be friendly, thorough, and helpful.
Bringing complete and translated documents—especially for items like the police check—is essential. Planning ahead, arriving early, and being patient are key to a smooth experience.
