Spanish Consulates in the US: Which One Covers Your State

Spain has nine consulates general that cover the United States: Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco and Washington DC on the mainland, plus one in Puerto Rico. Each state belongs to exactly one of them, and you apply to the one that covers the state where you live. The table below lists all fifty states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Which consulate covers your state

The list comes from the jurisdiction page the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs publishes for the consulates in the US. The Los Angeles consulate’s own jurisdiction page gives the same areas for Southern California, Arizona, Colorado and Utah.

Consulate General	Jurisdiction
Boston	Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
Chicago	Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin
Houston	Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas
Los Angeles	Southern California (Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties), Arizona, Colorado, Utah
Miami	Florida, Georgia, South Carolina
New York	Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania
San Francisco	Alaska, California (the rest of the state, outside the Los Angeles counties above), Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, and US possessions in the Pacific
Washington DC	District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia
Puerto Rico (San Juan)	Puerto Rico, Culebra and Vieques, and the Virgin Islands

California is the only state split between two consulates. A resident of San Diego or Bakersfield applies in Los Angeles; a resident of Sacramento or Fresno applies in San Francisco. Check your county against the Los Angeles list if you live in the south of the state.

You apply where you live

The consulates state this rule on their visa pages. The Los Angeles consulate says it “is competent to accept visa applications from individuals residing in the consular jurisdiction,” and its list of documents asks for proof of residence in that area: a state ID, a driver’s license or a student ID. The Boston consulate asks the same for study visas and says an applicant must be a permanent student or a legal resident in its five states.

In practice:

• Use the consulate for your state of residence, not the one that is closest or has shorter waits.
• Bring proof that you live there, such as a driver’s license or a lease. A recent utility bill or lease is what Boston accepts from students living in its area but studying elsewhere.
• If you are moving states before applying, apply after the move so the proof of address matches the consulate.
• Non-US citizens also show legal US residence. The Los Angeles consulate says B-1/B-2 visitors must apply in their home country instead.

The Boston consulate adds that you do not need a private manager to deal with it. Its home page states that such intermediaries “cannot obtain extraordinary appointments” or speed anything up.

How appointments work: BLS

For visas, the consulate you apply to often does not take the application itself. It is received by BLS, a private company the consulates use as their visa center.

• Los Angeles. For the non-lucrative visa, applications “are in person by appointment only at BLS” at 5455 Wilshire Boulevard, suite 1011, Los Angeles. BLS gives you proof of receipt; the consulate then decides.
• Boston. Individual study visa applicants book through the BLS Spain Global portal (usa.blsspainglobal.com) and submit the file at BLS Boston, 15 Court Square, suite 520. The consulate says that if you see no free slots, they are full and the consulate will not answer requests for an earlier date. It also says Spain has no paid or expedited appointments.
• Fees. BLS charges its own service fee on top of the visa fee. Boston’s study visa page says this fee is added to the consular fee, and optional services cost extra. The visa fee itself depends on nationality and is set by the consulate: Boston’s page lists USD 160 for American citizens, while the Los Angeles page links to its own fee sheet. Check the page for your consulate before paying.

The consulates do not all work the same way. Boston’s home page says some procedures start at BLS and others at the consulate, and that consular appointments are requested by email. Always read the visa section of your own consulate’s website first: it says whether to book through BLS and where to submit the file.

What each consulate handles

Besides visas, consulates deal with Spanish citizens’ paperwork: passports, powers of attorney and civil registry. They can also take NIE requests: the Los Angeles page notes that a NIE “may be requested directly in Spain or at the Consular Office of the applicant’s country of residence,” by appointment. See the NIE guide for the process.

Honorary consulates are not an alternative. The Los Angeles consulate states that its honorary consulates in San Diego, Phoenix, Denver and Salt Lake City “do not process visas.”

Which visa guide to read next

Visa requirements are set by Spanish law, but each consulate publishes its own checklist and appointment process. Start with the visa you are applying for:

• Non-lucrative visa: income, insurance and documents.
• Digital nomad visa: for remote workers with foreign clients or an employer abroad.
• Student visa: the route Boston’s page describes, with its batch and individual options.

Then open the visa page of the consulate that covers your state, which is the source for its current document list and fees.