URGENT Does Spanish Consulate in London have a phone number?

[slippy]

Hi guys,

I really need to get a Visa for my grandmother, i have called the Spanish consulate booking line and booked a visa appointment but unfortunately thats just a automated number, i would really like to actually speak to someone.

I can't find the number, maybe i am looking in the wrong place. This is relly urgent. Do you guys know the number?

Any help much appreciated


Many thanks

[Dawie]

Unfortunately you are not allowed to speak to anyone at the Spanish consulate.

[Christophe]

Unfortunately you are not allowed to speak to anyone at the Spanish consulate.

Yes, that's one way of running a service to the public! (Never let the public interfere with the smooth running of the operation...)

[Dawie]

All of the Schengen countries' embassies and consulates appear to operate a very reluctant visa service that don't conform to any conventional norms of service delivery or customer satisfaction.

Their attitude (and this is particularly evident at the Spanish embassy) is one of doing you a favour. You almost get the feeling that if they could they would shut down their visa service and not allow ANYONE who requires a visa into their country.

You cannot call the Spanish embassy to speak to anyone, and if you go there in person to speak to someone you will not even be allowed through the door without an appointment.

[Christophe]

All of the Schengen countries' embassies and consulates appear to operate a very reluctant visa service that don't conform to any conventional norms of service delivery or customer satisfaction.

That is, of course, a tendency for any government-run public service, unfortunately, but in many cases the authorities seem to manage to get round this tendency (to a greater or lesser extent).

From everything one hears, the Spanish seem to be the worst offenders - although they are no doubt one of the busiest too. Having said that, the whole Schengen visa system seems to be a bit creaky, especially for a process that is still relatively new. Delays in getting an appointment seem the norm; EU rules don't seem to be consistently applied, especially for spouses of citizens of EU countries; and (as I said in another post) anyone whose application is even slightly outside the ordinary seems to be plagued with doubts about how/where to apply and to have no sensible means of having their questions dealt with (e.g. by talking to someone or getting sensible answers to e-mails or letters).

I wonder if the fact that it is a supra-national process but one that is administered by national governments has anything to do with what sometimes seems to be a complete muddle at worst and a very poor service at best(?).

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

All of the Schengen countries' embassies and consulates appear to operate a very reluctant visa service that don't conform to any conventional norms of service delivery or customer satisfaction.

The Austrian's seem to be a cut above the low standards of some of the rest. You can call and make an appointment on a normal telephone number, and I do not think it takes too long. Another reason to visit Austria!

[Docterror]

All of the Schengen countries' embassies and consulates appear to operate a very reluctant visa service that don't conform to any conventional norms of service delivery or customer satisfaction.

That is, of course, a tendency for any government-run public service, unfortunately, but in many cases the authorities seem to manage to get round this tendency (to a greater or lesser extent).

From everything one hears, the Spanish seem to be the worst offenders - although they are no doubt one of the busiest too. Having said that, the whole Schengen visa system seems to be a bit creaky, especially for a process that is still relatively new. Delays in getting an appointment seem the norm; EU rules don't seem to be consistently applied, especially for spouses of citizens of EU countries; and (as I said in another post) anyone whose application is even slightly outside the ordinary seems to be plagued with doubts about how/where to apply and to have no sensible means of having their questions dealt with (e.g. by talking to someone or getting sensible answers to e-mails or letters).

I wonder if the fact that it is a supra-national process but one that is administered by national governments has anything to do with what sometimes seems to be a complete muddle at worst and a very poor service at best(?).

While I cannot entirely praise the Spanish for their atonishing lack of pace, I feel the delays that we get with the Schengen visa process has more to do with an attempt to play hard-to-get rather than an inefficient execution thus giving it a false sense of higher value than it should and also "punishing" the ones that do not take part for their offense.

The Schengen services in many affluent non-EU countries run a lot more efficiently than the one in UK.

[stedman]

In my pre UKP days I went to Spain 7 times, and never once set foot in their UK embassy. I wish people would boycott all these difficult Schengen embassies like the Spanish and Italian and stick to the French, as for all their sins they have a good onlne booking service and give you the visa the same day. And they give long multiple entry visas for day trips.

[DavidR98]

In my pre UKP days I went to Spain 7 times, and never once set foot in their UK embassy. I wish people would boycott all these difficult Schengen embassies like the Spanish and Italian and stick to the French, as for all their sins they have a good onlne booking service and give you the visa the same day. And they give long multiple entry visas for day trips.

Sadly this is no longer the case. As a matter of policy, they do not answer emails, and state that it takes "several weeks" to process an application for a visa for the spouse of a UK citizen. I contacted them several times to try to verify if it really would take that long, and if they needed to hold on to my passport as well for all that time. Eventually I threatened to refer the matter to Solvit, and then received an email consisting solely of excerpts from their web site.

Oh: and when I last looked at their on-line appointment booking service there were no slots available for the current month, and no way to move on and look at the following month.

I think that Austria is probably the best of a bad bunch. I did get a prompt response to an emailed question, although I suspect (hope) that the answer was wrong.