BLS International Visa Application Center, New York — Local services in New York

My USA-based daughter has been looking forward to her next college semester abroad in Spain, but the visa application process has been nothing short of disastrous. We submitted an application online for the office closest to our home in Delaware — Washington DC — and the site then prompted us to schedule and pay for an appointment the next day. After hours of travel and the cost of hotel accommodations, we were told immediately at the appointment that only the NYC office handles Delaware residents, and she was promptly dismissed.

For unknown reasons, the website locks you out from making another appointment for at least 48 hours after the day of your most recent visit. Three days later, we were able to schedule (and pay again for) a new appointment in NYC, book train fare, and then be rejected again — this time that we needed a notarized copy of her driver license. (I don't see how notarizing an official document makes that any more official, but that is the inexplicable policy, apparently.)

The phone-based help center could offer no assistance, and insisted that I wait another 48 hour period while they delete my daughter's passport number and other data from their system; this will allow us to schedule another appointment (more train fare, many more hours of travel, and the same lack of confidence that we'll have better luck at the next showing). Help Line personnel were powerless to assist me, and my first two calls were suspiciously dropped.

To make my criticism constructive, I propose the following:

• One of the first steps on the BLS website should prompt the user to input our state of residence. The site should respond with a clear statement as to which office should handle our application and appointment, and route the user to the corresponding office website for the application.

• Another form early in the online user experience should ask questions that inform a complete list of the documentation required for our appointment. We've now been turned away from two in-person meetings and have yet to receive this simple information, hence my doubts about our prospects for success on our forthcoming, third visit.

• Visa applications are always a time-sensitive matter, so a 48-hour speed bump after a botched appointment (due to the lack of the above) is inexcusable. BLS needs to streamline their systems to eliminate this delay immediately.

Every other online review I've ever written for any business has been overwhelmingly positive. Let it be known that I was sufficiently inspired by this experience to post my first one-star review about my family's engagement with this company. As the sole provider of visa applications for Spain in the USA, BLS must do better.

UPDATE: I received a kind response from the owner of BLS within an hour after posting this review indicating that I should call the customer service line to seek immediate resolution to my problem. I did so, and got the exact same response as before—that I need to wait 48 hours for my daughter's passport number to be expunged from their systems prior to making my next appointment.

Despite the prompt and courteous reply, it was not an...

Downgraded from five stars to one star. One year ago we had such a positive experience at BLS for Spain Visa. The service at the new location is a stark contrast to the old service. Christine the supervisor is a bully, very unprofessional, condescending and discriminatory. Of course they know they can get away with this attitude because people need to get their visa applications submitted. Her supervisor Queenie is no better. We patiently waited for a few hours because we were 10 mins late. When it was our turn, Christine's attitude towards us was completely the opposite from when an African American person was at the window. She acted in a very hostile way from the get go, and when we had some missing info that we could take care of right away, she felt fine asking us to come back again in six weeks, something she wouldn't dare do to the previous black person - all the while when another coworker of hers let people submit missing info on the spot, politely. She mocked us for using the wrong company for the travel insurance - Allianz travel insurance. When we questioned why others were able to submit their missing info on the spot but we couldn't, Queenie proceeded to tell Christine to photocopy our passport to send to the embassy, without first getting our consent or letting us know what they were doing with the passport. We asked and they said they would report to the embassy that we were late, basically as a way to retaliate against us for questioning their behavior. So basically both of these personnel not only treat you in the most hostile way possible, they retaliated against you when you questioned their behaviors. If these folks wear body cams like the cops do they would tone down their discriminatory behaviors. We asked Christine for her name so we can submit our complaint for her hostility and gross violation and she left "Have a great day" on our paper. Big mistake coming to BLS for our application only to be harassed and discriminated by these malicious people. When we asked for Queenie's supervisor info, she refused to provide, stating she is the head and there is no one above her. On the contrary, Patricia at the front is professional and good hearted even though she works under immense pressure. Christine and Queenie can definitely learn from her. BLS should make her the manager instead. Moreover I think all these obnoxious behaviors are probably in part a cause of understaffing due to an extremely crowded and stressful environment for both the people who work there and the applicants. BLS can get away with this because there is no competition.

----- Feedback for 2023

We have the most positive experience here. BLS Spain Visa Center is lucky to have both Sandeep and Percy, two fine gentlemen at the center who have offered nothing but help with our visa application. When you are doing this sort of work day in and out and can still maintain a level of optimism and empathy to help, that’s a very rare thing. Very grateful for their help and we hope BLS will do everything they can to keep them...

I have mixed feelings of what kind of review/ rating I want to give to this place. My process was smooth because I read multiple reviews and I was prepared, some might have a hard time if you haven't done your due diligence. I give lower rating because of the random fee and charges they force upon you. So here are some tips that might help. Please read all reviews on google, definitely helped me be prepared for what I was getting into. You absolutely DO NOT NEED SMS SERVICE. Just say No. They will force you multiple times and make you believe that your passport will be delayed or there is no way you would be able to find out the status. Please note, per the BLS website, this is an optional service not a requirement. Whether you are shipping or doing a pickup, you don't need it. I refused it and had to tell them 'am willing to take the risk' cause the lady at the counter had a blank expression and told me 'she doesn't think there is any way to track the application' when I told her I know I can track it online; That's not true. The receipt they give you can be put up on the website and you can check when your passport is ready for pick up. Mine was ready in one day. Same goes if you are shipping it, you can track it without the need for SMS. Don't fall that scam. Carry 2 copies of passport and visa pages. It doesn't say on the checklist, but since I had read multiple reviews, I knew to carry one. They still ended up charging me for making a copy saying they needed 2. It doesn't make any sense to me that you would charge for something that you need for your own records, and is not even part of checklist but it is what it is. I questioned the charge and at least on that day, the guy confirmed that they need 2 copies so if I were to bring 2 copies next time i could avoid that charge. Make sure you carry every single document, I checked and double checked every single document against the checklist, including the checklist itself. Don't forget to print the checklist. Fill out the Visa form on your own, that will help you avoid the 'form assistance' fee that a lot of people were charged. Just google sample Schengen visa form, you will find ton of examples. Make sure to fill the form with BLUE PEN only. I know lot of people had issues with Passport photo, just get a passport photo from CVS, they have moneyback guarantee if its not per standards, so you know for sure it has to be accepted. I took it in the CVS cover itself so they could see I got it printed recently at a professional spot. Paying $15 at CVS is better than being charged $35 at BLS, plus further delaying your time there.

I hope this helps. If I am able to help save you even $5 for that stupid SMS service, my work...