BLS INTERNATIONAL - SPAIN VISA APPLICATION CENTER

I wish I could give a minus 100 instead. The most disgusting service I have come across in my whole life. My husband was given an appointment for the passport work at 1pm, we were in queue from 12pm, but guess what!! We only entered the office at about 3.pm. All this while we had to stand outside with no place to sit and it was hot. After entering we were told the website of which the required document needs to be filled is down and perhaps the work that we came for may not happen. Nevertheless we still went ahead with getting a queue number to get our documents filled by the staff. While waiting for the number to be called. I managed to get the document filled online by myself and manage to secure another queue number that seemed to be running instead of the queue number I earlier had. There was no update on if they would be calling those series of numbers that I earlier had. Upon being called on the new number, we submitted the documents paid and we repeatedly asked the counter lady a few times is there anything else we need to sign or submit and she clearly said no, that was all. We were told we should receive our documents back between 5 to 8 working days. On the 7th working day, my husband received a call mentioning that a declaration document wasn’t signed and needs to be done so that the HCI can process our document and the line was cut off.This whole conversation lasted for 50secs. My husband was not informed where he had to go to sign the document, no details were given. The way the person spoke to come and sign the document now was as though we were waiting when BLS would call us and we are free to go over right now. We tried calling the number repeatedly that day for may be a hundred times but nil answer. Called the customer service, they had no clue of what was going on. Finally, few days later, we went down to the same CBD office to ask what was the call about. Apparently the declaration form was forgotten to be given to us to sign. Was it my duty to know that we needed to sign some declaration form??!! We signed the document and before leaving I again asked the office guy, now how long will the process take. He claimed 3 days. For the benefit of doubt I still have it 5 working days, true enough no update. Called the customer service again. They claimed there is no update from HCI. We repeated called the customer service agents daily till we were given some details. We tried calling HCI as well, no answer to call. Emailed every email that I could find on the HCI website, nil answer. WhatsApp the numbers on HCI, nil answer. Finally after 2 weeks, one of the customer service agent claimed that they have received information from the HCI that the documents will be send to BLS within a day or 2 and we should receive it before the week ends (it was a Monday when he told me that). That week went pass, but we received nothing. Finally on Monday I called back again, the first customer agent could tell me there is no update on when we will receive the document from HCI. When I mentioned that one of his colleagues last week claimed that we would have received the document by last Saturday than why don’t you have any update. He said he would check and to call back by end of the day. Finally after so much of struggle, that very day my husband received a call from BLS that they have received our document and will courier it out. This 5 to 8 working days experience lasted for about 5-6weeks. Really disgusting. Glad it’s over!

This poor review is for Indian passport renewal service where I had a difficult experience recently. Some documents required were not mentioned on the website(eg EP expiry date proof) so one goes back and forth printing this, waiting times were exceptionally high at the bls office and the staff was not customer centeric at all and rather rude. I could hear people arguing at 1 or 2 counters and complaining about the transparency of the process. When asked to speak with the residing officer, he looked at his phone and said he was busy. Please note the appointment slot is only for you to arrive but you need to stand in queue with other visa walk-ins to wait for your turn so plan your day accordingly and carry some snacks and water for the long waiting time.

Contrary to many of the reviews here, my experience was very good. My appointment was at 2PM. I reached there by 145PM.There were 3 persons in the queue which was outside the office. The security uncle was vey helpful and gave clear instructions. My turn came by 2PM. The reception did the entire checking and also helped with few printouts. The gentleman even took my photo($5- cheaper than CBD price- and came out well too!) and did complete the process in 10 minutes. After leaving the office, I went back in half hour for a clarification, the security uncle recognized me and immediately took me to the appropriate counter(out of the queue). The service, attitude was as good as VFS or any of the good VIAS/Passport agencies.

Just finished my visa application. I arrived one hour before my appointment time and finished before my appointment time. Staff and guard are both nice. Some tips: book appointment online but go earlier than the time. Not sure if they allow walk-ins so just book appointment and go early. Go straight to the door if there is a long queue outside and tell guard you are applying for schengen visa. Usually its the India visa application center which is very busy. For the payment, tell the staff you opt out of additional services and just go for basic service fee which accounts to 147.20sgd.

Staff excellent and friendly and fully understanding of the ridiculously antiquated process. Sadly 1 star due to this process. The online form was required to be submitted twice because India do not accept 1 month single entry applications nor 12 month single entry, only 12 month multiple entry so please keep in mind when submitting. Ask for the additional forms needed to be completed when you arrive so you don’t have to fill them at the counter. Also, it is CASH ONLY which is quite strange when the visa cost is S$350+. Time to complete from receiving my counter ticket at 9:32am was approx 3 hours. BLS please update your systems to avoid these frustrations more for your staff than the people that come and apply.

Provided info/guide in BLS website are very helpful and comprehensive. Services are fine but hope for some improvement for better application experience. Below insight that hopefully can help future applicant: a. Visa Application Center payment mode only in "Cash". b. Allow at least 3 weeks for visa processing. Both BLS and Spain Embassy clarified that processing is "15 Working Days" and not "15 Calendar Days". (Spain Embassy takes too long to release the result as compared to other EU embassy which is about 3-5 working days). c. Visa/Passport is by self-collection. My Timeline with the visa processing (in Calendar Days): a. Submission of application (1day) b. Visa processing (15days including 1 Public Holiday) c. Visa/Passport collection (1Day) Cheers!

Had very worst experience... We went there for Indian passport renewal of my 5 year old kid. My appointment time is 3.30pm. we arrived 5 min before and were shocked to see the queue . All of them also got appointment. We got our turn around 5.30pm to take token then again waited for 1 more hour to get our work done.. only 3 counters were active out of 8, those counters are also working very slow. They are accepting only cash, even nets also not accepting. Mean while my child became cranky and want to eat some snacks.. Horrible. Parents of small kids please go there with some snacks and also some drawing books or some other sort of entertainment.. One positive thing at the end is...after going to the counter the staff is very friendly and helpful. All work went out smoothly. Helped us with printouts also.

I've been to Europe many times and this is my worst visa experience. It's not cheap and it gives everyone a sour experience. Very disappointed that I have to write this bad review because the vendor that the Italy Embassy hired, BLS International, is not up to standard. There's no queue system and no air conditioning (it was a public holiday and the office looks even more run down with no A/C). I paid for the Premium Lounge - when I asked the staff what's the benefits, they mentioned "nothing really..." Appointment booking experience: I tried booking for an appointment, but it always gave me an error. Later, it dawned on me that the website didn't work on Safari. When I used Chrome, it worked. By the time I tried to book, the earliest slot is a month later. I tried to email and call them many times, and received no replies on both methods. Visa collection experience: I need to pay an extra to be able to collect the visa at *any* time, instead of on the allotted time which they don't follow anyway. Upon collecting, the staff couldn't find my passport at first and tried to blame it on me by asking if I received a call earlier that my passport is ready. I told them I checked my application status online and it says it's ready to collect - that's why I was collecting it. On Google Maps, it says the office is closed at 3.30pm, but it was actually still open when I collected my visa at 5pm.