BLS Spain San Francisco: address, hours and jurisdiction
717 Market St, Suite 425, San Francisco, CA 94103. Documents Mon-Fri 08:30-13:30, collection Mon-Fri 15:00-16:00 (inquiries and collection). Serving Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming and Northern California.
BLS Spain San Francisco at a glance
- Address
- 717 Market St, Suite 425, San Francisco, CA 94103
- Document submission
- Mon-Fri 08:30-13:30
- Collection and inquiries
- Mon-Fri 15:00-16:00 (inquiries and collection)
- Phone
- +1 516-888-1169
- info.sfoes@blsinternational.net
Read from BLS International's own San Francisco pages and from exteriores.gob.es on 2026-09-18. BLS moves offices and changes hours without much notice, so check the source links before you travel: BLS Spain San Francisco, contact and hours, BLS Spain San Francisco, non-working residence visa checklist, Consular jurisdictions in the United States, exteriores.gob.es.
Exactly who the San Francisco district covers
Jurisdiction follows where you legally reside, not which centre is easier to reach. A file lodged at the wrong centre is rejected, not forwarded, and you lose the appointment slot as well as the trip. Because California is split between two consulates, the county list matters more here than the state list.
States and territories
- Alaska
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Montana
- Nevada
- Oregon
- Washington
- Wyoming
- Northern California
California counties
Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Marin, Monterey, Napa, Placer, Sacramento, San Benito, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Yolo.
If you live outside that list, check BLS Spain Los Angeles or the full BLS Spain centre directory.
How booking actually works at San Francisco
You surrender your passport for the whole decision period
San Francisco states it is an essential requirement that you leave the original passport with them to process the visa. The legal decision period is three months. Plan any international travel around that, because you will not have the document.
You must wait in the USA for the decision
The centre states that the applicant must be physically present in the USA and wait in the USA for approval. Filing and then leaving is not an option here.
Submission opens at 08:30
San Francisco runs an 08:30-13:30 submission window against Los Angeles' 10:00-14:00. Collection and inquiries are 15:00-16:00 at both, and those are the only hours a human will answer questions in person.
BLS fees are debit card only
San Francisco takes the visa and residence permit fees by money order payable to the Consulate General of Spain in San Francisco, but the BLS service fee by debit card. Two payments, two instruments, and BLS no longer accepts USPS-issued money orders at any centre.
What San Francisco asks for that other Spanish consulates do not
Spain does not run one national checklist the way Portugal does through VFS Global. Each consulate publishes its own, and the differences are not cosmetic. These are the items on the San Francisco non-lucrative checklist that a generic Spain guide will not prepare you for.
Form EX-01 and Modelo 790 codigo 052 are itemised
San Francisco lists the EX-01 residence application and the Modelo 790 codigo 052 fee form as separate required items alongside the national visa form. The Los Angeles checklist is less explicit about the 790, which is where applicants lose an appointment over a missing sheet of paper.
Two photographs, one loose and labelled
One photo is affixed to the application form and a second identical photo is submitted loose with your name and surname written on the reverse. Both must be under six months old on a light or white background, no dark or reflective glasses.
Insurance wording is spelled out harder
The certificate must be in Spanish, must cover all risks normally covered for Spanish nationals, and must cover 100% of medical, hospital and out-of-hospital expenses with no pre-existing condition exclusions, no copayments, no waiting periods and no coverage ceiling. Travel insurance is explicitly not accepted. This is where most US-bought policies fail.
Tax returns scale with whether you work
Retirees file the last year's return plus pension documentation. Working-age applicants file the last three years plus a notarised commitment not to work in Spain, and the checklist says not even online.
Medical certificate must name the doctor's licence
The certificate must be under three months old and carry the doctor's stamp, signature, licence number and contact details, certifying no disease with serious public health repercussions under the 2005 International Health Regulations.
The underlying rules, income thresholds and timelines are on our Spain non-lucrative visa guide.
Fees at BLS Spain San Francisco
| Fee | Amount (USD) | Paid to |
|---|---|---|
| National visa fee, US citizens | $140 | Consulate General of Spain in San Francisco |
| National visa fee, most other nationalities | $106 | Consulate General of Spain in San Francisco |
| Residence permit fee, Modelo 790 codigo 052 | $13 | Consulate General of Spain in San Francisco |
| BLS service fee | $20 | BLS International |
| SMS updates, optional | $5 | BLS International |
Published on 2026-09-18. None of these fees is refunded if the visa is refused. They do not include the apostille, sworn translation, medical certificate or insurance costs, which are usually the larger half of the bill.
Rules that apply at every US BLS centre
USPS money orders are no longer accepted
BLS published a notice withdrawing acceptance of USPS-issued money orders. Payments sent that way are returned and the application is delayed. Several consulate checklists still say 'money order' without this carve-out, so read the notice on usa.blsspainvisa.com before you buy one.
Appointments are only real if they came from BLS
BLS warns that third parties resell Spain appointments. Every appointment must be booked on the BLS International website. A slot bought from a reseller is not a slot.
RD 1155/2024 changed the paperwork on 20 May 2025
The reform of the Reglamento de Extranjeria tightened documentation for student and non-lucrative files. Checklists dated before that are unreliable, which is most of what ranks for these searches.
Consular fees and BLS fees are paid differently
The visa fee and the residence permit fee go to the consulate; the BLS service fee goes to BLS and is taken by card. They are not one payment and are not refundable if the visa is refused.
BLS Spain San Francisco questions
Which states does BLS Spain San Francisco cover?
Do I really have to leave my passport with BLS San Francisco?
What is different about San Francisco's insurance requirement?
How do I pay at BLS San Francisco?
What happens if San Francisco refuses the visa?
Applying through San Francisco? Get the checklist that matches this consulate.
GetFastVisa prepares Spanish residence files and coordinates BLS appointments. Spanish legal work is performed by Spain-registered immigration counsel we work with. We are not a law firm and we do not give legal advice. Our own track record is Portugal: 500+ Portugal visa applications since 2023. Spain is new for us and we would rather say that than pretend otherwise.
Book a free consultationService is EUR 3,000 per adult. Dependants are quoted per case, because both Spanish residence visas price dependants into the income test.