Since we lived near Atlanta in the State of Georgia, USA, we had to fly to Miami both to submit our NLV visa applications and later to collect our passports once the visas were approved. We applied at BLS office in Miami. This company handles applications for the Spanish Consulate and forwards them for review.

Booking the Appointment

Getting an appointment via BLS website was surprisingly difficult.

We were checking their website many times a day for almost two weeks before we got ours on the forth day of the month.

Appointments seem to appear toward the end or the beginning of the month but there’s no pattern. Persistence matters more than timing.

The Day of the Appointment

We arrived an hour early, thinking it might help but it didn’t.

BLS Miami is very strict on timelines for NLV visa application.

Our NLV appointments were scheduled for 8:30 AM and 9:00 AM (husband and wife). We were instructed to go up together for the 8:30 slot.

To enter the room, BLS required our reservation form, passports, and state IDs.

Unlike other visa types, there was no set order for documents for the NLV. We were called promptly at 8:30 and asked to present our documents. The clerk confirmed that the order didn’t matter. We had organized our documents according to the BLS Miami website, which worked fine.

We did not glue our photos to the application forms because we were uncertain of the size. The BLS Miami site specifies 4.5 x 3.5 cm, but some sources mentioned 2×2 in. The clerk confirmed that 2×2 inches was correct and kindly attached the photos for us.

The clerk was pleasant and attentive, focusing primarily on the application forms to ensure all required information was completed.

We had not entered a specific date of arrival, as we didn’t have one at the time. She asked that we write one in by hand anyway.

She reviewed our health insurance policy carefully, likely to ensure coverage met Spanish requirements.

Interestingly, she barely looked at our FBI report and medical certificate, it seems that these documents are standard and rarely questioned.

After taking a seat for 5–10 minutes, she called us back to her window for payment. We then waited another 5 minutes to take our visa photos.

After the photo was taken, the gentleman taking the pictures gave us each a National Visa Application receipt (which included the payment receipt) and explained:

• Each of us must pick up our visa in person.
• Only you can pick up your visa — no one else can do it for you.
• You cannot pick up the visa without the National Visa Application receipt. No receipt = no visa.

The total time for the entire application process was about 45 minutes.

Waiting for approval

After submitting our documents, we waited two months for a decision.

We were notified both by text message and email when our visas were approved.

That moment brought a lot of relief, it finally felt real. Looking back, I think we overprepared, as the consulate never contacted us for additional documents or clarification.