Will the consulate keep your passport while it decides?

Key rules

• Passport custody: Many consulates keep your passport while the visa is processed, so you have no passport for the whole period.
• Collection: You collect the visa in person, with your ID and the collection notice, where you filed, unless the office lets another person collect it or sends it by courier.
• Entry window: A long-stay visa is usually single entry and valid for 90 days, and you must enter Spain within that window.

Expect the consulate to keep your passport

Many consulates keep your passport while a national visa is processed and return it with the visa, in person or by courier. Find out when you book whether your consulate or visa centre keeps it. If you must travel, ask whether you can withdraw the passport and resubmit, or plan the trip before filing. Processing takes weeks, so book no flights that need your passport until the sticker is in your hand.

How you collect the visa

The visa is a sticker placed in your passport. The collection notice reaches you by email, phone or from the visa centre when the consulate approves your application. Some offices let another person collect for you with your written authorisation and a copy of your ID. Some visa centres send the passport back by courier for an extra fee. Your collection notice names the options your office offers.

Plan your travel around the visa dates

The sticker shows the exact validity dates, and the start date can differ from the day you collect. You must enter Spain within the 90 days of validity, so plan your trip only once you have seen the dates.

The visa is not your residence permit. After you arrive, you must apply for your foreigner identity card (TIE) within one month (booking the fingerprint appointment). The permit it leads to is first granted for 1 year on most routes.

If your visa is refused

If the consulate refuses the visa, you can request reconsideration from the consulate within 1 month of notification (recurso de reposición) or appeal to court within 2 months, as alternatives. If the consulate does not answer, reconsideration has no deadline and the court appeal runs for 6 months. You can also apply again with corrected documents (consular visa refusal).

If you travel with a spouse, partner or children

Each family member files their own linked visa application, so each person has their own passport and their own visa sticker. Plan one collection per person.

• Spouse: your spouse collects their own sticker from their own passport.
• Children: each child has their own application and sticker. A parent or legal guardian collects it, with their own ID, the child's passport and the collection notice.