General Consulate of Spain

I was taken aback by all the negative Unilocal reviews when preparing for the Spain visa application.
After going through it, I have to say it’s very quick and smooth process. Make sure you read the instruction in detail for the visa application. I’m in and out of the consulate office in less then 30 minutes total. Visa/​passport back in a week.

Don’t be scared by all the negative reviews. I had a pleasant experience getting my visa. The lady who helped me was very knowledgable and friendly. Make sure to follow the instructions on their website. I got the passport back within a week. Can’t be happier. Thank you!

I went to the consulate Monday and got the visa in mail today. I was a bit worried after reviewing some of the comments, but turned out to be super fast once it was my turn. My visa officer was very polite. The front desk guy was a bit distracting since he was on the phone all the time in Spanish.

Honestly — after reading all the negative reviews (that too, on the morning of the appointment) I was pretty apprehensive.
However, we had a great experience. The receptionist greeted us politely and directed us to make use of instruction-​sheets which had directions on the order in which the documents were to be arranged. Once we completed that, the visa officer came downstairs (the embassy is a converted house) and personally escorted us to her office upstairs.
She patiently checked all the documents and also asked us about our vacation plans. Turned out she was from the same place in Spain that we are planning to visit! So she gave us insider info on things to see and do too.
It was a lengthy visit (they really ought to look in to automating some of that stuff) but it was a pleasant experience.
Finding parking near the embassy was a pain — there is street parking but the curb markings were confusing. If there is no parking on Sutter, there is parking available on the parallel streets.

Front Desk guy is an idiot…
I spent 3 hours getting to the consulate in SF. A combination of walking, Barting, and Ubering. I had scheduled an appointment in advance and I had the confirmation of the appointment with me.
But the guy at the front desk told me I did not have an appointment. He was so damn lazy, he refused to help me, even after I showed him the confirmation of my appointment. He then turned around and spent the rest of the time flirting with his female co-​workers.
He had the time and bandwidth to help me, but he did not care.
It was such a rare negative moment where I felt so powerless and frustrated. No matter what I said to him, he would ignore me. Really wish I could get this guy fired. With public institutions though, there’s no oversight and no manager to appeal to. There’s no consequences for this guy being an idiot.
I had to skip an entire day of school and waste an entire day in commute for nothing. And, I had to do it all again when I scheduled another appointment. Terrible idiot, really want to find him and punch him in the face.

If i could rate it a –100 stars I would. This place is such crap. I got there at 11:33 (my ticket says) and took them about 1 hour to get to me when there were about 5 other people. THEY HAVE OVER 10 COUNTERS to do their job. But no, they want to relax and enjoy their coffee and laugh with their colleagues. Their time is precious but not our time. I got to the counter at 1:02 and made my payment for my stolen passport. Funny thing is they messed up my name TWICE. ITS NOT THAT HARD. The receipt had my full real name but the workers who are trying to multitask calling their friends about their travel plans to Latin America (I know all this because they forgot to turn the voice speaker off). I waited for hours to get a simple emergency passport. THEY DONT EVEN LET YOU TAKE YOUR PHONES IN. Yeah so literally over 5 hours of waiting just sitting my ass in their hard wooden chairs. They don’t take this job seriously at all, I ended up waiting until 4PM because they couldn’t do their freaking job right. Also it costs $ 140 for this stupid fake looking passport. Literally 4 pages, they make you pay for this crappy security they have.
Also the security is such an ass. The head of the security just plays games on her phone and the other security she gets mad at the people in spanish and she cant do her job right. I think they should have english speaking security at the Embassy of United States? I want to report this place to the UN. The only helpful person here was the cashier. Yes, the cashier was the most helpful.

I was really worried when I read all the reviews but my experience was exactly the opposite… The entire process was super easy and I was done within 10 mins. I went in 30 mins early and after i checked in they said, they could take me in right away.
Everyone there were very friendly and made the entire process super easy. If you have all the docs in order, you will have no issues here.

Went there to drop off my daughters student visa app for school. They were very efficient and quick. No problems at all. Everyone seemed friendly.

Guys
I was super skeptical about going to the Spanish consulate for my visa after reading all the negative reviews here today. I am pleasantly surprised and I forced myself to write this to reassure newer applicants. They key to ensuring a smooth an easy visa process is to prepare properly.
I had a tight situation, I applied on a Wednesday and needed a visa before the end of the week as my trip was planned for Sunday. The Visa officer was super cool about it. Checked every document, asked a few questions, took my finger prints and asked me to come pick up the visa on Friday! As easy as that!
In all fairness, the guys at the embassy also get harassed. When I was there, a 50+ year old guy walked in and asked them, I am an American and I want to go to Brazil and I lost my passport, can you help me with it (at the spanish consulate!) He did not look crazy, but he was being stupid! he then left and came back in 15 mins and said, his mom found his passport and wanted to know if the spanish consulate could talk to the brazilian consulate and get him a visa! like WTF!
Cut them some slack! The consulate works if you do your homework! simple as that!

I have applied for visas in a lot of different consulates (eg Mexico, India, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Germany, France, etc). Both none of them were as unprofessional as the Spain consulate.
My advice to you: if you can avoid going to this consulate. Do it! Don’t go there!
I’ve been to Spain and absolutely love it but the people at this consulate are absolutely nothing like Spanish people. Martha is a complete bitch and the lobby guy is sooo rude. My husband has never been to Spain and after that experience, we aren’t sure if we want to go to Spain.
We checked in with the person sitting at the lobby about 5 minutes before the appointment time and we weren’t seen until 50 minutes later! Meanwhile the lobby guy is yelling at everyone and having a personal conversation on the phone. He is so unprofessional.
Well once we were seen, it only got worse. Martha is so freaking rude. Does she get paid to be rude? She is the meanest and most impolite person I have ever talked to.
We are planning to write to the spainish ambassador about our experience but we have very little hope that anything will change.
So avoid this consulate if you can!

Update***
I was staying in SF for 5 days and I had my interview on Tuesday and my passport arrived in Seattle on Thursday (the same week). I’m in Spain now and extremely happy with the whole experience. Gracias!!!

Marta, the consulate agent, is basically the Spanish reincarnation of Voldemort. I would just like to preface this extensive review by giving people forewarning.
It does not matter if you come prepared or not, you will be wrong. It does not matter if you are polite and dressed professionally– she will belittle you, tell you that you are an entitled American, and dramatically sigh and roll her eyes when you answer her questions.
I was applying for a student visa and did all of the research before I went to make sure that I had all of the correct paperwork for my appointment. Not only did I have help preparing for my appointment from my study abroad program, I also called the consulate a week before my my meeting to confirm that I had all of the right papers prepared. I made two copies of each document required and put it in a nice pad folio for my appointment. As suggested, I arrived 15 minutes early, dressed in a nice blouse, slacks, and heels.
I found the consulate with no trouble and upon entry, went to the front desk for assistance. The receptionist was very helpful and directed me to the student visa paper that told me in which way to order all of my papers. I organized my papers, then proceeded to wait over an hour to be called to the back. The pleasant waiting room atmosphere was disrupted as a student about my age came out of the back area sobbing, and rushed out of the building. Needless to say I was a bit nervous when I was led to the back, as the student before me clearly did not have a pleasant experience. Once I was allowed in the back area I waited some more until a woman behind one of the windows called me up to her. I told her I was there to apply for a Student Visa and she told me that Marta would be right with me.
**insert foreboding music**
In walks our antagonist-​cold and unwelcoming. Smiling I introduce myself, with no returned formality she grumpily commands me to follow her. I arrive in her office and she tells me to take a seat. I pull out all of my papers and set them on the desk. She orders me paper by paper to hand to her. After I have passed over all of my paperwork she tells me I am the typical unprepared American. I inquire as to why this is so, I have handed her all the paperwork she asked me for. She then proceeded to inform me that I have handed her COPIES of paperwork rather than ORIGINALS. She snottily remarks «do you see pen marks on these pages? All I see is printer ink. You will have to reschedule an appointment and give me the originals.»
Panicking, I fumble my words trying to grip on to hope, telling her that I have called and the consulate told me that I could have official PDF colored copies rather than originals. She lets out a dramatic sigh after I plead with her to let me send in the papers as I am from out of state and cannot make another trip to the consulate. After some (or many) tears, she finally concedes and belligerently tells me to leave. I walk out of the consulate in a daze, unsure of what has hit me.
To further this negative experience I called my program to ask that they send me the original copies of paperwork from Madrid so that I could officially submit my visa application. Confused, they tell me that having the official forms at the San Francisco consulate has never been a requirement. I am then informed later on that she DENIES telling me that she needs the originals and instead is insisting that she told me that I need to print out two of the pages on nicer paper. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? HOW MANY PAGES OF PAPER DID I PRINT OUT, ALL ON STANDARD PAPER FOR HER TO SIMPLY NEED TWO PAGES ON NICER PRINTER PAPER. I COULD HAVE FREAKING WALKED ACROSS THE STREET TO THE COPY STORE IF THAT WERE THE CASE.
Of course I print them out immediately and send them overnight to the consulate. 6 weeks later I receive my passport with visa in the mail. I have waited to submit this review because even as I compose this review I am having anxiety that Marta will pop out of my computer screen and yell at me calling me incompetent.
As for the people with positive reviews that I have seen, I would like to rebut your review. Lucky for most of the positive reviewers they did not incur the wrath of She-​Who-​Must-​Not-​Be-​Named. Marta will verbally abuse you, lie to cover her poor work, and suck the very life out of your soul.

I thought coming to the consulate was supposed to be a haven for help not a place to be patronized. It sickens me how these people are supposed to represent Spain.
If you have all your documents– yes, your experience will go smoothly. Just be aware that their customer service (like smiling) is non existent. But if you are confused about particulars or are missing anything at all (we are all human right?) be prepared to be spoken to condescendingly and made to feel as if your a complete idiot.
These «people» have a power trip and its apparent they absolutely hate their jobs. Take it from personal experience, if you call them out on their unprofessionalism, they will threaten to not do your Visa at all. It boggles my mind how the man at the front desk has his job– he is a terrible, unhappy and rude human being and has no shame yelling at you. This unpleasant woman, «Marta» literally had to tell him to «calm down» at one point while he was berating me.
Unfortunately they are «safe» due to being a consulate of another country-​which is apparent why they believe treating others in this fashion is ok.
Frankly, I feel sorry for them and their negative dispositions.

It doesn’t even deserve a star. They treat you bad and humiliate you. To top it off the person who interviewed me forgot to give me back my green card and I had to send a package to get it back. I addition it has been 3 weeks and I still don’t get my package.
I flew from Hawaii to get the application I. Process and they denied my vids because they said I was staying few days longer in Italy, but I wasn’t, I was staying more days with my mother and they told me I had to apply again.
*Their website is «URL not found».
*They never answer the phone.
*Voicemail is full
*Answer machine does not provide enough information
*Small place
*Bad customer service
APPLY TO OTHER SCHENGEN AREA, WASTE OF MONEY AND TIME!!!

One of my worst experiences ever– I almost left in tears. I had a 10:30am appointment to obtain a student visa for study abroad but they were running late (as usual), so I didn’t even get helped until almost NOON!!!
The people at the front desk were very rude to me and the other non-​Spanish people. As I was waiting, one girl came in to pick up her visa for study abroad and they said it still wasn’t ready, even though they had previously assured her that it would be ready that day.
Then, when I was finally called to my appointment, I walked into Marta’s office and she immediately started YELLING at me because I didn’t knock on the door! Her office door was already ajar, so I just walked inside, but for some reason she was FURIOUS that I didn’t knock. She said things like, «Do you know how to knock?» «Do you even knock in your own house?» «When your parents are in the bathroom, do you knock on the door or just barge in?» The things she was saying were so inappropriate and ridiculous, and I cannot believe that she is still working there. She literally spent 20 minutes berating me before she even looked at my documents. Luckily, I had all my paperwork with me or else she would’ve made me come back another day. SO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL YOUR COMPLETED FORMS WHEN YOU GO!
I’m giving the consulate two stars because they did process my visa on time, which was the important part. (though it did take 4 weeks…)
It’s unfortunate that Marta and the other workers at the consulate were so rude because it is a TERRIBLE representation of what Spanish people are like. Every Spaniard I met in Spain was absolutely lovely.
Anyway, if you ever need a visa to Spain, unfortunately there’s really no other option than to go see Marta. Just remember to bring all your paperwork and knock on her freaking door.

I weny over there too early and forgot to bring with copy of passport. The printexpress shop on Franklin st nearby is helpful. Consulate officer is beatiful and nice. Security is an old man, I am not a fan of him. Overall impression is a little layback style.

No problems at all! There is metered parking in the neighborhood and we only circled once to find a spot. Arrived ten minutes early as requested. Checked in with the man behind the glass who pointed to a stack of papers, told my daughter to take a student visa sheets, and arrange her paperwork in order. We sat down and she organized her paperwork and had her fees ready. She was called in a few minutes after her appointment time and brought around to the clerks. The man that helped her was very nice and helpful. Appointment took less than ten minutes. Definitely come prepared – duh. No one scolded me for using phone in waiting area.

Good service, no complaints. Very Organized n helpful staff

I’ve dealt with this Consulate for more than a year – I’m in the process of (hopefully) getting Citizenship through my mom’s side of the family. All in all, questions have been answered politely along the way. It sometimes took one or more emails to get responses. Phone calls never worked. Luckily I live in SF, so was able to walk in to make an appointment when I was ready to submit everything and email requests weren’t getting anywhere.
I was as ready as I could be on appointment day, and not sure what to expect from the reviews I read. They thought my appointment was an hour later than what I was told, but that was fine. They didn’t make me wait that long. The woman who deals with Civil Registry was really nice and helpful. She put me at ease, answered my questions, double-​checked my paperwork, and even made copies of forms I didn’t think I needed to submit. The Consul General was also very personable during his brief appearance to sign some paperwork.
I’m still waiting for my final approval/​Spanish birth certificate from the NYC Consulate, but when I do get it, I will be back to get a Spanish passport!

This review is for my experience at the consulate, NOT the ridiculous process for getting a visa. Getting all the DOJ stuff is a headache. Though my doctor got a laugh out of the 5-​minute long spiel I gave him on why he shouldn’t worry about signing something that said I was totally fine according to a text he had never read (for the doctor’s note part of the visa app).
Right. The Consulate. It’s hit or miss with the reception there. I came in August so they were understaffed (everyone being on vacation) but I was received politely. The phone rang every two minutes at least while I was there; I’m not sure who he transferred it to. I’ve never had any luck calling the office.
Wait time from time of appointment: 1 hour. It’s Spain, not Germany. No big deal. Glad I took the whole day off.
Marta, the consular agent who handled my visa application, was fabulous. Very friendly, very chatty, all around awesome. She answered my questions about extending my visa with gusto, which I wasn’t expecting.
All around, I would return. Good thing, because I have no choice.