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 London or the South 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 London. One of the documents you’ll need is a medical certificate of good health, and getting it right is more important than ever as demand for Spanish visas continues to rise.
This guide covers everything London-based applicants need to know about the medical certificate — where to submit your application, what the certificate requires, and how to get it sorted without it holding up 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 London or the South of England, your Spanish visa application is processed through:
Spain Visa Application Centre — London: 20 St Andrew Street, London. EC4A 3AG, Phone: +44 20 3807 0750 | Email: info.lhr@blshelpline.com | Hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm
Catchment area: The London BLS centre serves applicants living in: Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Bristol, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Greater London, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Norfolk, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Suffolk, Surrey, West Sussex, and Wiltshire — as well as Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories.
If you live outside this area, you may need to use the Manchester or Edinburgh BLS centre instead.
All appointments must be booked in advance through the BLS International website. Walk-ins are not accepted.
No — and this is worth saying clearly. The medical certificate requirements are identical regardless of which BLS centre processes your application. Whether you’re applying in London, Manchester, or Edinburgh, 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 at the London consulate. Read our guide on what your Spanish visa medical certificate should say for the exact wording required.
Before you submit your certificate at the London 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.
BLS appointment slots at the London centre fill up quickly, particularly in spring and early summer when Spanish visa applications peak. This has a direct impact on how you should time your medical certificate.
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.
London BLS slots fill up fast. Book your BLS appointment as early as you can, then work backwards to figure out when to get your certificate. Aim to have your certificate, apostille, and translation sorted at least two weeks before your appointment.
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 — which takes the timing uncertainty out of the equation.
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 London 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.
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 London 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.