By Dr Andrew Smith | Medical Director, Wilmer Health | Published: 23 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 visa and you’ve just realised you need a medical certificate, your first instinct is probably to contact your GP. That makes complete sense — the NHS is where most of us start with anything health-related. But a Spanish visa medical certificate is a bit of a different situation, and it’s worth understanding why before you pick up the phone.
The short answer is: your GP might be able to help, but it’s rarely the right choice — and it’s often more expensive and time-consuming than people expect. This guide explains why, and what your better options are.
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).
Not as a standard service. A Spanish visa medical certificate isn’t something your GP is set up to provide as part of normal NHS care — it’s considered private work, which means GPs don’t have to offer it and many simply won’t.
The NHS is there to look after your health, not to help with visa paperwork. A medical certificate for a Spanish visa is a very specific document with very specific wording that the Spanish government requires — and most GPs haven’t dealt with one before.
Even if your GP is willing to help, there are four important potential issues to be aware of before you proceed.
They may not be FCDO-registered: For your certificate to be accepted in Spain, it needs an official stamp called an apostille. The apostille can only be added to a certificate signed by a doctor whose details are on file with the UK government (the FCDO). Most NHS GPs aren’t on that list. If yours isn’t, you’ll need an extra step before the certificate can be stamped — which adds time, cost, and hassle.
The wording might not be right: The Spanish consulate is very specific about what the certificate needs to say — it has to reference the International Health Regulations (2005) in a particular way. Most GPs deal with all kinds of different requests and documents; this one is quite niche, and getting the wording wrong means the certificate gets rejected. Read our full guide on what your Spanish visa medical certificate should say for more information.
It can take a long time: Getting a GP appointment for private work can take weeks. If you have a BLS appointment coming up or a deadline to hit, that’s a problem. An online specialist can get your certificate issued the same day.
The practice may not be insured for it: Some GP practices won’t take on visa documentation at all because their insurance doesn’t cover it. Even if your GP personally wants to help, the practice might say no.
This is where a lot of people get a surprise. Because this isn’t standard NHS care, GPs can charge what they like for private work — and fees of up to £80 just for the certificate itself are common. Then on top of that you’d need:
If your GP isn’t FCDO-registered, you’ll also need to pay for notarisation before you can even get the apostille.
All in, going through your NHS GP can easily cost £200 or more — with no guarantee the certificate will actually be accepted by the consulate at the end of it.
By comparison, at Wilmer Health the full package — certificate, apostille, and translation — starts from £149, with the translation already included as standard. For a full breakdown of what everything costs, read our guide on how much a Spanish visa medical certificate costs in the UK.
Online specialist providers: The most popular option for most applicants — and the one we’d recommend for almost everyone. An online service like Wilmer Health lets you complete everything from home, no GP appointments, no waiting rooms. Our FCDO-registered doctors issue your certificate the same day, in bilingual format, with apostille available as part of a combined package. We cover all your options for getting a certificate in the UK in a separate guide if you want to weigh them up properly.
Private GP or clinic: Some private clinics specialise in visa documentation and are set up to issue the right kind of certificate. If you’d rather do it in person, this is a viable option — just make sure the doctor is FCDO-registered before you book.
We set up Wilmer Health because we kept seeing the same thing — people who’d tried to get their certificate through their GP and run into problems. Wrong wording, the doctor not being on the FCDO register, long waits. Our job is to make sure none of that happens to you.
Our doctors are GMC-registered and FCDO-verified. Our certificates are issued in bilingual format as standard. We handle the apostille through direct access to the FCDO counter in Milton Keynes, which means faster and more reliable turnaround than going through the standard route yourself. Everything is done online — no appointments to book, no waiting rooms — and we’re on hand seven days a week.
Got a question before you apply? Drop us a message at hello@wilmerhealth.com — we’re always happy to help.