By Dr Andrew Smith | Medical Director, Wilmer Health | Published: 21 April 2026
This guide is reviewed regularly to reflect current Spanish consulate requirements. Last updated April 2026 by Dr Andrew Smith, Medical Director, Wilmer Health. For specific advice about your individual application, contact us at hello@wilmerhealth.com.
One person is already in Spain. The rest of the family is still in the UK, working through a document checklist that seems to grow longer every time they look at it. If that’s your situation, you already know how much this application matters — and how much you want to get every document right first time so nothing causes a delay.
The medical certificate is one of those documents. It’s not complicated, but it needs to meet specific requirements, and there are a few things about the family reunification process in particular that affect how and when you get it. This guide covers exactly that — what the certificate needs to include, how to handle it when multiple family members are applying, and how to time it around the sponsor-led authorisation process.
For the full picture on how the Spanish visa medical certificate works in general, head to our complete guide — Spanish Visa Medical Certificate in the UK: Everything You Need to Know (2026). This page focuses specifically on what’s relevant to family reunification applicants.
Every family member applying for a family reunification visa needs their own medical certificate — including children. The certificate cannot cover multiple applicants. Each person submits their own, individually issued, apostilled, and translated.
The main family member categories covered by the family reunification visa are:
Spouses and registered partners: The most common applicant category. Both opposite-sex and same-sex marriages and civil partnerships are recognised.
Children under 18: Biological, adopted, and stepchildren are all covered, provided they are under 18 and financially dependent. Each child needs their own certificate.
Dependent parents over 65: Parents can be included where the sponsor can demonstrate financial dependency. This category involves additional documentation requirements alongside the medical certificate.
Adult children with disabilities: Where an adult child is unable to support themselves due to a disability, they may also be eligible — again with their own medical certificate.
No — the certificate is identical to the one required for any other Spanish long-stay visa. Same wording, same format, same doctor requirements. What’s different is the process around it — particularly the timing, and the fact that multiple family members are often applying simultaneously, each needing their own certificate.
The certificate must be issued by a GMC-registered, FCDO-verified doctor, signed in wet ink, stamped, and on official headed paper. It needs to include the specific wording required by the International Health Regulations (2005) — a generic letter confirming good health simply won’t meet the consulate’s requirements.
Read our full guide on what your Spanish visa medical certificate should say for the exact wording and format requirements.
Every document in a family reunification application needs to be right — the medical certificate is no exception. An unsigned letter, a missing apostille, or an informal translation can hold up the entire application and delay the family reunion that’s been months in the making.
Your certificate needs an apostille — the official FCDO stamp that makes the UK-issued document legally recognised in Spain — and a sworn translation into Spanish if issued in English. These must happen in the right order: apostille first, then translation. Getting this sequence wrong means starting again.
At Wilmer Health, our certificates are issued in bilingual format as standard — English and Spanish on the same document. That removes the need for a separate sworn translation, saving typically £75 per certificate. When you’re coordinating multiple family members, those savings add up.
Read our full guides on how to get an apostille for your Spanish visa medical certificate and getting your certificate translated in the UK.
The family reunification visa follows a two-stage process that’s important to understand before you think about when to get the medical certificate.
Stage 1 — The sponsor applies in Spain: The family member already living in Spain — the sponsor — must first apply to the local Spanish immigration office (Oficina de Extranjería) for authorisation to reunify. This process takes up to three months. Until that authorisation is granted, the family member in the UK cannot apply for the visa.
Stage 2 — The family member applies in the UK: Once authorisation is confirmed, the family member applies for the visa at the Spanish consulate in the UK through BLS International. This is when the medical certificate is submitted.
The timing implication is significant. The medical certificate is valid for three months from the date of issue. If you get it during Stage 1 — before Spanish authorisation comes through — there’s a real risk it will expire before you can submit your visa application in Stage 2. With the authorisation process alone taking up to three months, the timing can be genuinely tight.
The practical approach is to wait until the sponsor receives authorisation confirmation before getting the medical certificate. Once that confirmation arrives, move quickly — aim to get certificates for all family members within the first week, giving enough time for apostille and translation before the BLS appointment.
If you’re applying as a family, coordinate all certificates together. Having one certificate expire while others are still valid creates unnecessary complications and delays.
Children under 18 need their own medical certificate, issued and apostilled in exactly the same way as an adult’s. There are no special requirements for the certificate itself, though the wider application will require birth certificates and proof of parental authority.
Dependent parents over 65 also need their own medical certificate. Their application is generally more complex than that of a spouse or child — the sponsor must demonstrate financial dependency, which involves additional supporting documents. The medical certificate requirement is the same, but it sits within a more involved application overall.
If you’re applying for a parent, factor in extra time for the wider document pack — not just the certificate.
Most NHS GPs don’t offer this service, and with a family reunion on the line, the risk of ending up with a certificate that can’t be apostilled — because the doctor isn’t FCDO-registered — is one worth avoiding. For applicants coordinating multiple family members, a specialist provider is almost always the cleaner option.
Read our full guide on getting a Spanish visa medical certificate through the NHS if you want to explore that route.
At Wilmer Health, pricing is per applicant — so if you’re applying as a family, each person follows the same structure:
Read our full guide on how much a Spanish visa medical certificate costs in the UK for a broader comparison.
We understand that for families going through this process, the paperwork isn’t abstract — every delay means more time apart. Our job is to make sure the medical certificate isn’t the thing that holds you up.
At Wilmer Health, we can handle certificates for all family members in the same process — issued together, apostilled together, arriving together. Our certificates are bilingual as standard, our doctors are GMC-registered and FCDO-verified, and everything is done online so you’re not coordinating clinic appointments on top of everything else.
Everything is done online, and we’re on hand seven days a week if you need us. Got a question before you apply? Drop us a message at hello@wilmerhealth.com — we’re always happy to help.