If you are planning a trip to Spain, please note that applications for short-stay tourist visas are not processed at the Spanish Embassy or Consulate, but at the BLS Spain Visa Application Centre.
What exactly is a visa application centre? Currently, many countries, including Spain, choose to outsource the visa process to a service company to handle tasks such as document collection, data entry, and passport delivery on behalf of the consulate. However, the final decision on visa approval and issuance remains with the visa officers at the respective embassies or consulates.
At present, the visa application processes for many countries worldwide are handled by visa centres. The primary service providers are VFS, TLS, and BLS. VFS is the largest, followed by TLS, and then BLS. BLS currently only handles projects for India and Spain. Before you prepare to apply for a short-stay Spanish tourist visa, you must visit the BLS Spain Visa Application Centre website at https://china.blsspainvisa.com/chinese/index.php to understand all the regulations for applying for a short-stay visa and to schedule your appointment!
After completing the appointment process according to the steps on the website, you will receive an appointment confirmation email. It is highly recommended to print this email—it serves as your pass to enter the Spanish Visa Application Centre to submit your documents!
Regarding appointment times, the office hours for the BLS Spain Visa Application Centre are Monday to Friday, from 8:00 to 15:00. You must check the general information section of the website for closure notices and holiday schedules. Their holiday arrangements may differ from Chinese public holidays, and even vary between visa centres in different regions. For example, on December 31, 2018, which was a New Year's holiday in China, the visa centres in Shanghai and Guangzhou were closed, while the Beijing visa centre remained open as usual!
Tips:
Try to schedule your appointment between 8:00–9:30 or after 12:00. Avoid the 10:00–11:00 time slot, as many people choose this time, which may lead to a large number of applicants gathering and significantly longer waiting times. Therefore, it is best to choose an early morning or post-lunch time slot for your submission!
It is also important to note that there are two types of appointments: individual and group. Generally, independent travelers should select the individual option. Even if you are traveling with family or friends, you should make individual appointments for each person; do not select the group appointment option, as this is typically reserved for organized tour groups from travel agencies.
Visa Document Preparation
Now for the core content—preparing your documents for submission! Detailed information on the required documents can be found under the visa type menu on the official BLS website. Download the checklist corresponding to your consular jurisdiction. I suggest printing two copies of the checklist: one for your own reference to mark off items as you prepare them, and another with your personal details, such as name and passport number, filled in to be submitted with your application.
1. The documents required for a short-stay tourist visa are relatively simple. Pension certificates, bank statements, and similar documents do not require special translation or notarization; the original Chinese documents are sufficient. However, the employment verification letter for employed individuals must be in English and contain accurate company information. Some applicants may receive a phone inquiry from the Spanish Embassy or Consulate after submitting their documents (commonly known as a phone interview). If you are unable to fluently answer questions such as your company's contact number, it will certainly affect your visa application.
2. The travel itinerary is a document that clearly demonstrates your travel plans. There are no strict format requirements. If you find it difficult to draft, it is recommended to use travel assistants on travel websites or apps to quickly generate a well-formatted itinerary. It is best to generate a bilingual (Chinese and English) or English version to facilitate review by the visa officer.
3. Regarding flight tickets, you should never purchase tickets before obtaining your visa—this is basic common sense. The Spanish Visa Application Centre also explicitly reminds applicants on its website not to purchase tickets in advance to avoid unnecessary financial losses in the event of a visa refusal. Without endorsing any specific service, a common practice is to book a flight on Trip.com without making any payment, then contact their international flight customer service to request a flight reservation for visa purposes, providing your personal email address. The customer service representative will then process this and send an English-language flight reservation to your email!
4. Regarding proof of accommodation, you can make bookings on websites like Booking.com or Airbnb. Try to book hotels that offer free cancellation. Most bookings are made via credit card, and some hotels may perform a pre-authorization after the booking is completed—you might see a charge of a few euros or even hundreds of euros on your credit card. This is not an actual transaction but a pre-authorization hold, which some star-rated hotels use to verify the validity of your credit card. If you have any questions about this, you can immediately contact your credit card issuing bank or email the hotel for details. It is also very important that the proof of accommodation submitted must clearly show your name or the names of your family/friends!
5. Regarding personal insurance, after purchasing your policy, you will generally receive an electronic policy. Please note that you do not need to print the entire document, which may be dozens of pages long. You only need to print the page containing your personal information and coverage limits (usually the first page). It is best to print it in color so that the official seal on the policy is clearly visible.
6. One color passport-sized photo.
7. Two copies of the passport information page and copies of all other pages.