SUBMIT IN ADVANCE
Please submit your visa application sufficiently in advance of the start of your trip or the start of your studies.
Most visa applications can be submitted 6 months before the scheduled date of travel. It is not possible to apply for a visa more than 6 months before the scheduled date of travel. Only seafarers may apply for the visa up to 9 months before the date of travel.
Please note that it is possible to apply for a Schengen visa between 6 months and 15 days before the start of the trip and for a study visa from 6 months before the beginning of the study program.
PROCESSING TIME
There are different processing times for different types of visas. For more information, please check the point “Decision Period" on the specific type of visa section.
The Consular Section processes the visa application in the visa system as soon as the Consular Section receives the visa application. The visa process involves consultations with other authorities that are not possible to expedite. The Consular Section issues the approved visa (or the subsequent notification) as soon as the Consular Section receives the resolution from our central services in the visa system.
The Consular Section cannot preview how long every visa application process will take, apart from the legally established decision period. However, the time frame to receive a resolution may be extended. If extra documents or an interview are needed, the applicants will be contacted.
Please note that the Consular Section in Washington DC has no jurisdiction in the consular jurisdictions of other Spanish Consulates in the US. Therefore, the visa applications submitted in other Consulates in the US are processed in other Consulates in the US, not in Washington DC. The visa process involves consultation with other authorities in Spain, not in the US. All the Spanish Consular Offices depend on our central services in Spain, not in the US.