BLS International Reviews 13

Shit website. Can’t even create an account

what an awful website, trying to book a schengen visa appointment, their hamster has fallen off the wheel, the server just cant cope with the requests, it falls over multiple times and each time,, itsback to the start for the user.
Woeful. how do these companies get away with such poor service

28th September 2025 No communication of progress with our application 114 days. There should be a helpline number that actually can give details of progress not just repeat whats on website.Keeping passport, birth certificate and marriage cert for over 110 days is unacceptable. They should be returned after 30 days max. Website should show a scale of progress from day1 to each stage the paperwork goes through as we think our documents have just sat on a desk somewhere not progressing.

Awful website, and horrible service. The website is very slow, every action (confirm/submit) needs a captcha, and the captcha itself doesn't work half the time. You get a "service is not available" error every few minutes and have to re-fill the forms from the start!

I can't believe something so vital has been outsourced to a company that produces such terrible online services. It's honestly laughable how poor this system is. It barely works. The software is practically unusable and feels more like a scam site than an official visa portal for Spain.

Where is the QA here? It's just pure trash, and unfortunately there’s no other option.

We all should request to ban this website. They are taking our money for this third-class service.

I would strongly advise caution when using this service. It’s been over a month since I submitted my visa application, and I still haven’t received my passport. There have been no proper updates on the status — the website just keeps saying “processing at mission” with no change.

The email replies are super slow and clearly automated, offering no real help. I tried calling the office several times — the first four calls just cut off. On the fifth try, after waiting on hold for 50 minutes, someone finally picked up, only to tell me to contact the Spanish Consulate in Manchester. I tried that too, but their phone line just disconnects after the automated message.

Honestly, the whole experience has been frustrating and disappointing. It’s really worrying when there’s no proper communication or support, especially when your passport is involved.

Never in my life have I seen such a poor website which doesn't work as intended. 2 days in a row me and my wife are attempting to book an appointment and after filling all details every single attempt it either says "something went wrong, try again later" or captcha is invalid regardless it was able to successfully verify it and shows a clear message on the page. If I were the stakeholder, my IT dept would've been fired altogether. I wish Spain representatives can see this and put loads of pressure on BLS as they are just wasting money and turning tourists away from their country. Looking for another destination now.

The website is so bad, it automatically logs me out at intervals. Their engineers need to bring down the website and redesign it with a better user experience.

Bad website which is out of date. Unclear application requirements with regards to office jurisdiction.
The Spanish government should use another company - BLS international are giving Spain a bad name.

**EDINBURGH OFFICE**
IF YOU ARE APPLYING HERE YOU MUST TAKE PROOF OF ADDRESS to show you live in the jurisdiction of the office ( though they do not specify this anywhere). Even if you live in the right areas they do not accept all proof of address. I have complained to them so that they provide this information and to update their site.

Also agree that it is awful that people should have to book travel in advance of receiving the visa - what is a person to do if their visa is rejected?

The areas covered by the Edinburgh office are: CLEVELAND, CUMBRIA, DARLINGTON, DURHAM, HARTLEPOOL, MIDDLESBROUGH, NORTHERN IRELAND, NORTHUMBERLAND, REDCAR, SCOTLAND, STOCKTON ON TEES, TYNE & WEAR -

If it was possible to give them zero stars I would have done and even that would have been too generous. Multiple verification processes that are simply not required, a web site that you can only access if you are actually physically in the UK when trying to access it (it's called the WORLD WIDE WEB for a reason) and a customer service team that are next to useless.
How BLS got the contract for processing visas is beyond me, presumably because they were the cheapest option I guess. They are not fit for purpose!

The web application's process is extremely unfriendly. They have unnecessarily used human authentication in almost every step, and still fail to recognise a real-human interaction. When I managed to submit an appointment request after almost 10 attempts, the website rejected my application saying non-human interaction. It's a shame.