Question
“I am posting this in case somebody is in a similar situation and find this useful: Today (June 5 th 2025) I went to my Spain non lucrative visa appointment at BLS Houston. My documents were not accepted.
The reason for the declination was that I presented a letter from my employer stating that my retirement date is August 29 2025 (I was going to request a visa with a starting date September 1st, i.e. after my retirement).
The BLS representative explained that the letter was unaceptable because the intended retirement date is in the future, and that I can only apply AFTER my retirement date. The fact that I was applying for a visa with effective after my retirement seems to be irrelevant.
Apparently the only solution is to get a new appointment, together with the corresponding updated documents, apostille, etc. after my actual retirement.”
Answers
“I am assuming that you are using funds available in accounts for the NLV financial requirements, right? Cause you won’t now your retirement pay until after you retire, right?”
“Right; I won’t apply for SS pension until after a couple of years. I have proof of available funds as required.”
“At SF consulate I applied in Feb and was approved in March with a work leaving date in April and visa start date in May.”
“Did you have a date certain for leaving work? I had a letter written saying 30 days after an approved visa. Do you think that is problematic? I am still waiting for an appointment so I have time to adjust it.”
“I had a specific date noted. I think you would need to provide a date prior to the start date of your visa, not sure how it would work if your dates are fluid. Everyone seems to have different experiences!”
“I had a work leaving date stated in the letter, August 29th, and my entry date in the application form was September 1st. The BLS lady said that I had to apply after the actual retirement. I guess different BLS offices have different criteria. Mine was in Houston.”
“We applied in April and I included a letter signed by my HR department stating my last day of work is June 6. We have a requested start date for our visa of June 15. We haven’t heard of any issue with this (but we are at 8 weeks and 4 days from our appointment in Houston).”
“If they accepted the documents you should be fine. In my case BLS refused to accept the documents.”
“Same happened to us!! I was very upset.”
“I have a home in Alabama where I am residing right now and another one in Florida. I’ve been thinking to move to Florida at retirement so I can use BLS Miami. I’ve read so many weird stories about Houston BLS.”
“I’m so sorry. That makes no sense whatsoever.”
“Sorry you went through that. It sure seems like policies could be clearer and communicated better. Best of luck.”
“That doesn’t seem right – in other words, retire for the purposes of living in Spain, then find out you may not be approved. Houston is notorious for applying rules different from others. That is partly why I moved.”
“I applied in April in Houston with a May 1 retirement date and June 1 visa start date. They did require a signed letter from my company but otherwise it wasn’t an issue.”
“I was in a similar situation. They allowed me to get a sabbatical letter from my job made effective that day then accepted my documents. Also, the website says no one will be seen without an appointment. However they were accepting walk ins while we were there.”
“Good to know. Thank you. I know with the new rules that you can not work regardless of location for the NLV.”
Conclusion
Community members shared a range of experiences related to applying for the Spain non lucrative visa at the BLS office in Houston. The original poster was denied due to providing a retirement letter with a future date, even though their intended visa start date followed it.
While some consulates like San Francisco appeared more flexible, Houston seems to enforce stricter interpretations—requiring applicants to be fully retired before applying.
Others successfully submitted letters with fixed retirement dates shortly before their proposed visa start date or even used alternative documents like sabbatical letters.
Ultimately, it appears the Houston BLS applies different standards than other locations, and applicants should be aware of this when preparing documentation.
Disclaimer
This article is based on the contributions and experiences of Spainguru community members and is not legal advice. Consider consulting a legal expert for personalized guidance. Image is a fictional representation created for illustrative purposes only.
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