By Dr Andrew Smith | Medical Director, Wilmer Health | Published: 26 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.
If you’re applying for a Spanish long-stay visa from Scotland, Northern Ireland, or the North of England — whether that’s a Non-Lucrative Visa, a Student Visa, or a Digital Nomad Visa — your application will be processed through the BLS International centre in Edinburgh. One of the documents you’ll need is a medical certificate of good health, and knowing what’s required before you book your appointment will save you time and stress.
This guide covers everything Edinburgh-based applicants need to know about the medical certificate — where to submit your application, what the certificate requires, and how to get it sorted before your BLS appointment. For the full picture on the medical certificate itself, read our complete guide — Spanish Visa Medical Certificate in the UK: Everything You Need to Know (2026).
If you live in Scotland, Northern Ireland, or the North of England, your Spanish visa application is processed through:
Spain Visa Application Centre — Edinburgh 6 Dock Place, Suite 1A First Floor Office Edinburgh EH6 6LU
Phone: +44 20 3807 0750 | Email: info.edi@blshelpline.com | Hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm
Catchment area: The Edinburgh BLS centre serves applicants living in: Scotland, Northern Ireland, Cleveland, Cumbria, Durham, North Yorkshire, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, and West Yorkshire.
If you live outside this area, you may need to use the London or Manchester BLS centre instead.
All appointments must be booked in advance through the BLS International website. Walk-ins are not accepted.
No — the medical certificate requirements are the same regardless of which BLS centre processes your application. Whether you’re applying in Edinburgh, London, or Manchester, the certificate needs to say exactly the same thing, be issued by the same type of doctor, and go through the same apostille and translation process.
Your location in the UK affects which BLS centre you use — nothing else. Read our full guide on Spanish visa medical certificate requirements for the complete checklist of what your certificate needs to include.
Your Spanish visa medical certificate must:
Getting any of these wrong is one of the most common reasons certificates get rejected. Read our guide on what your Spanish visa medical certificate should say for the exact wording required.
Yes, if issued in English. It must be a sworn translation — carried out by a translator officially registered with the Spanish government. An informal translation or one done by a bilingual friend won’t be accepted.
A bilingual certificate — issued in both English and Spanish — removes the need for a separate translation entirely. At Wilmer Health, our certificates come in bilingual format as standard, which means no separate translation, no extra wait, and typically a saving of £75 or more. For NLV applicants coordinating multiple documents at once, having one less thing to organise is genuinely valuable.
Read our full guide on getting your Spanish visa medical certificate translated in the UK.
Before you submit your certificate at the Edinburgh BLS centre, it needs two things:
An apostille — the official FCDO stamp that makes your UK-issued certificate legally recognised in Spain. Without it, the consulate won’t accept the document. At Wilmer Health, we handle the apostille through direct access to the FCDO counter in Milton Keynes — significantly faster than applying through the standard FCDO route. Read our full guide on getting an apostille for your Spanish visa medical certificate.
A Spanish translation — your certificate must be in Spanish. The simplest option is a bilingual certificate — issued in both English and Spanish on the same document — which removes the need for a separate sworn translation entirely, saving typically £75 or more. Find out more about the benefits of a bilingual Spanish visa medical certificate.
Edinburgh serves a large geographical catchment — Scotland, Northern Ireland, and much of the North of England — which means applicants are often travelling some distance to reach the BLS centre. Getting your medical certificate sorted well in advance makes the whole process smoother.
A few things to factor in:
The certificate is valid for 90 days. It must have been issued within the 90 days before your BLS appointment. Get it too early and it may expire before you submit.
Book your BLS appointment early. Edinburgh appointment slots can fill up, particularly in spring and summer. Book your appointment as soon as you’re ready to apply, then work backwards to time your medical certificate. Aim to have everything — certificate, apostille, and translation — sorted at least two weeks before your appointment.
Factor in travel to Edinburgh. If you’re travelling from Northern Ireland, Scotland’s remote areas, or the far North of England, plan your appointment day carefully. Having your documents fully sorted well in advance means one less thing to worry about on the day.
Allow time for the apostille. The standard FCDO route can take significantly longer than expected. At Wilmer Health, we offer guaranteed turnaround times of 4, 5, or 10 working days for the full package — certificate, apostille, and translation.
If your BLS appointment is coming up quickly, read our guide on getting your certificate sorted fast.
You don’t need to visit a clinic or doctor’s surgery in Edinburgh — or anywhere else — to get your medical certificate. Everything at Wilmer Health is done online. You fill in a short medical history form, one of our GMC-registered, FCDO-verified doctors reviews it, and your certificate is issued in bilingual format and posted to your address anywhere in the UK — whether that’s Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, or anywhere else in our catchment area.
We handle the apostille through our direct FCDO counter access in Milton Keynes, and everything arrives together — certificate, apostille, and translation — ready to take to your Edinburgh BLS appointment.
We’re on hand seven days a week. Any questions before you apply? Drop us a message at hello@wilmerhealth.com — we’re always happy to help.