How Long Does a Spanish Visa Take? Consulate Processing Times From Our Own Cases, 2025 to 2026
A data note from My Spain Visa. Updated 26 October 2026.
About this data. Data as of 26 October 2026, based on more than 40 consulate cases our firm handled that were decided between January 2025 and October 2026. These are past processing times and they do not predict future ones: each consulate’s times change with its workload and staffing. Use them as a guide, not as a promise. Download the dataset: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23671786.
In our own cases decided between January 2025 and October 2026, a Spanish consulate took a median of 44 days from the day the application was handed in to the day the applicant had the decision, and three in four cases were done within 80 days. London and San Francisco were the fastest, at a median of 37 and 34 days. Manchester and Miami took more than twice as long, at a median of 82 and 85 days.
Almost all of these cases are non-lucrative visas filed through the BLS visa centres that most Spanish consulates in the US and the UK use. We count from the visa centre appointment to the day the passport came back with a visa in it, or the day the applicant told us it had been approved.
Key findings
Across all consulates the median wait was 44 days (40+ cases). A quarter of applicants had their answer within four weeks; another quarter waited more than 80 days.
London is quick and steady: a median of 37 days, and 75% of cases inside 51 days (20 to 39 cases), comfortably within the two months it publishes. Manchester is slow but predictable. Its median was 82 days, 75% came back within 92 days (10 to 19 cases), and most files landed close to the three months it publishes.
On the US side, San Francisco was the quickest in our files at 34 days (75% within 46, 10 to 19 cases). Miami was the slowest of the consulates we can report on, with a median of 85 days, 75% within 98 (5 to 9 cases) and one file that took 147 days. Taken together, US consulates beat UK ones, 37 days against 61, mostly because Manchester drags the UK figure up.
The typical case moved faster in 2026: a median of 38 days for decisions this year, against 51 in 2025. The slowest quarter of files took about as long in both years.
Hiring a lawyer to visa in hand took a median of 133 days, roughly four and a half months. Most of that is spent before the appointment, gathering, legalising and translating documents.
Processing time by consulate
Days from handing in the application to having the decision. Decisions from 1 January 2025 to 23 October 2026.
| Consulate | Median wait | 75% decided within | Fastest to slowest | Cases | Wait the consulate publishes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | 34 days | 46 days | 20 to 97 days | 10 to 19 | 3 months |
| London | 37 days | 51 days | 15 to 100 days | 20 to 39 | 2 months |
| Manchester | 82 days | 92 days | 38 to 103 days | 10 to 19 | 3 months |
| Miami | 85 days | 98 days | 28 to 147 days | 5 to 9 | 3 months |
| All consulates | 44 days | 80 days | 11 to 147 days | 40+ |
Source: My Spain Visa case data, January 2025 to October 2026. Published waits: each consulate’s non-lucrative visa page, October 2026.
Want to know your own timeline?
Your consulate is only half of it. The other half is which visa fits you and how long your papers take to get ready. Our free quiz asks about your passport, income and plans, and shows the visa route that usually fits a profile like yours.
Take the free quizFor the non-lucrative visa alone the figures barely move: London 35 days (75% within 49), Manchester 81 days (75% within 92), San Francisco 34 days, Miami 85 days, and 43 days across all consulates (75% within 78).
Consulates where we have fewer than five dated cases
We only publish a figure when we have at least five cases with both dates. For these consulates we had fewer in this period, so the only number we can give is the one the consulate publishes.
| Consulate | Wait the consulate publishes |
|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 3 months |
| New York | 3 months |
| Chicago | 3 months |
| Houston | 3 months |
| Washington DC | 3 months, counted from when the consulate forwards the file |
| Boston | 3 months |
| Edinburgh | 3 months |
Source: each consulate’s non-lucrative visa page, October 2026.
Processing time by visa type
| Visa | Median wait | 75% decided within | Cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-lucrative visa | 43 days | 78 days | 40+ |
| Student visa | Fewer than 5 dated cases | ||
| Family visa (partner of an EU citizen) | Fewer than 5 dated cases | ||
| Digital nomad visa | Fewer than 5 dated cases |
Source: My Spain Visa case data, January 2025 to October 2026.
Most digital nomad visa applications we handle are filed from inside Spain with the Large Companies and Strategic Groups Unit (UGE), not at a consulate, so they are not in the consulate figures. We will add them when we have enough dated cases.
What the regulation says and what consulates publish
Under Royal Decree 1155/2024, the immigration office has one month to decide the residence permit once it receives the file from the consulate, and the consulate then has one more month to issue the visa (articles 63.4 and 39.5). If the authority does not answer in time, the application counts as refused, and that silence can be appealed. The clock can stop while you answer a request for missing documents.
Most consulates publish three months, which is the general time limit in Spain’s immigration law (Organic Law 4/2000, first additional provision). London publishes two months. In our cases London and San Francisco usually decide well inside that, while Manchester and Miami use most of the three months.
“Getting the file ready usually takes our clients between one and two months: gathering the documents, having them legalised and translated, and putting the application together the way the consulate expects it. Once it is submitted, the consulate typically takes between one and three months to decide,” says Lucia Lagunas, immigration lawyer at My Spain Visa.
Approvals and refusals
Of the consulate decisions in this period where we know the outcome (40+ cases), fewer than five were refusals. Treat that as a description of our own files, not as a refusal rate for Spain. We only file when the paperwork is solid, or when the client decides to go ahead after we have flagged the risk, and a past result does not guarantee yours. Spain does not publish refusal figures for national visas.
How we measured it
We went through the case correspondence of the clients we helped with a consulate visa application and took two dates from each case: the day the application was handed in at the visa centre or consulate, and the day the decision reached the applicant. We kept only cases where both dates are stated in the correspondence, decided between 1 January 2025 and 23 October 2026, and we publish a figure only for groups of five cases or more.
There are limits. The end date is usually the day the passport came back or the day the client told us, so it can run a few days after the consulate actually decided, and it includes courier time. Cases where nobody wrote down a date are left out. Our clients are mostly American and British non-lucrative applicants, so this says little about other visas or other countries. Small groups move a lot from one quarter to the next. We update these figures every quarter.
Source: My Spain Visa case data, January 2025 to October 2026.
Check whether you qualify
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Our non-lucrative visa calculator tells you whether your income or savings reach the 2026 threshold for your family size, and where the gap is if they do not.
Use the calculatorNext steps: the requirements and income rule are in our non-lucrative visa guide. What each consulate asks for is in our guides to the Spanish consulates in the US and the Spanish consulates in the UK. Working remotely for a company or clients outside Spain? The digital nomad visa has its own income rule and is usually filed from inside Spain.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a Spanish visa take in London?
In our cases decided in 2025 and 2026, London took a median of 37 days from the BLS appointment to the decision, and three in four were done within 51 days. London publishes a wait of two months.
How long does a Spanish visa take in Manchester?
A median of 82 days in our cases, with three in four done within 92 days. That is close to the three months Manchester publishes.
How long does a Spanish non-lucrative visa take from the US?
Across the US consulates in our cases, a median of 37 days from the appointment to the decision. San Francisco was the fastest at 34 days and Miami the slowest at 85. All of them publish three months.
How long does the whole process take?
From the day clients hired us to the day they had the visa, a median of 133 days, about four and a half months. Most of that is preparing the documents before the appointment.
About this data. Data as of 26 October 2026, based on more than 40 consulate cases our firm handled that were decided between January 2025 and October 2026. These are past processing times and they do not predict future ones: each consulate’s times change with its workload and staffing. Use them as a guide, not as a promise. Download the dataset: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23671786.