Moving to Spain from the UK in 2026
Since Brexit the process changed in one structural way most guides skip: you never deal with the Spanish consulate directly.
Everything goes through BLS
In the UK, Spanish visa appointments are handled by BLS International on behalf of the consulates. You book with BLS, you submit at a BLS centre, and there are no walk-ins. Which centre you use is decided by where you live, not by convenience.
| Centre | Covers |
|---|---|
| London | South and East England, Wales |
| Manchester | Central and North-West England, Isle of Man |
| Edinburgh | Scotland, Northern Ireland, North-East England |
Budget for two fees, not one: the consular visa fee (around £72 for an adult) plus a BLS service fee of roughly £35–55 per applicant. Centres are card-only — no cash. Appointment availability fluctuates, so treat the booking as the fixed point in your timeline and work every other deadline backwards from it.
Which visa fits you
- Digital Nomad Visa — if you work remotely for employers or clients outside Spain. Income bar €2,849/month in 2026, plus €1,068 for a spouse.
- Non-Lucrative Visa — if you are retiring or living on passive income and will not work. Around €2,400/month, and genuinely no work permitted, including remote.
Not sure which side your numbers fall on? The free calculator converts your pounds and checks both thresholds for your household in about ten seconds.
Your UK-specific documents
- ACRO Police Certificate — the UK criminal record certificate Spanish consulates expect. Apply online; allow a couple of weeks.
- FCDO apostille — legalisation of the ACRO certificate (and any other UK public document) through the FCDO Legalisation Office. There is a standard postal service and faster options; fees are per document.
- Sworn translation — your documents are in English, so they need a MAEC-certified sworn translator into Spanish. Typically €30–80 per document. This is the cost UK and US applicants carry that Latin American applicants do not.
- Private health insurance valid in Spain with full coverage, no copayments, no waiting periods. Note the S1 form covers only certain pensioner categories — check whether yours qualifies before assuming you can skip private cover.
Order of operations: ACRO certificate → FCDO apostille → sworn translation. Translating before the apostille means paying twice. Certificates should be under 90 days old at your appointment, so count backwards from the BLS date.
The 90/180 trap while you wait
Until your residence visa is issued you are, in Schengen terms, a third-country national: 90 days in any rolling 180-day period. Scouting trips, house-hunting visits and a long summer before the move all draw down the same allowance — and people discover this when they have already spent it and their appointment is months out. Track your days from the start.
After you land
The visa is the entry ticket, not the finish line. Within the first weeks: empadronamiento at your town hall, TIE appointment for fingerprints and the residence card (fee 790-012, around €74 per person), a Spanish bank account, and registering with the health system. Spending 183+ days in a calendar year makes you Spanish tax resident on worldwide income — worth planning before you arrive, not after.
Get your BLS-ready checklist.
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Xpat Spain is a self-help document preparation and information service — not a law firm, and not a substitute for a licensed lawyer. Fees, centre jurisdictions and requirements change: figures verified August 2026 against BLS and official sources — always confirm current details with BLS International and your consulate before booking or filing. You make all decisions about your application; Spanish authorities decide outcomes.