How much does a Spanish visa medical certificate really cost?
Two browser tabs. One says £79. The other says £280. Same document, same country, and no obvious explanation for the gap. It's a frustrating place to be, and the reason usually isn't that one provider is greedy and the other is generous. It's that they're quoting for different amounts of the job.
Before we start: this article is about the paperwork and the process behind visa medical certificates. It is not medical advice, and nothing here should be used to work out whether you personally have or don't have any condition. If you have a question about your own health, speak to your GP or another qualified clinician.
We write from official sources, including published consulate checklists, government guidance and the legislation itself, and we link to them so you can check for yourself. Those sources change, sometimes without notice, so always confirm the current requirements with the authority handling your application before you pay for anything.
There are four separate costs in a Spanish visa medical certificate: the GP consultation and certificate, the FCDO apostille, the sworn Spanish translation, and postage.
Advertised prices usually cover only the first. Compare the total for all four, because the cheapest certificate is very often not the cheapest outcome.
The four parts of the bill
1. The consultation and certificate
The doctor's time and the document itself. This is the figure providers advertise, and it varies a lot depending on whether you're getting a live consultation or a questionnaire someone reviews later, and whether the wording is already tailored to the consulate.
2. The FCDO apostille
A government fee set by the FCDO, plus whatever a service charges to handle it for you. There's a slower postal route and a faster one through registered providers. The fee itself is public, so you can check the current figure on gov.uk.
One thing affects this more than anything else: whether your doctor's signature is already on the FCDO's records. If it isn't, the document has to be certified by a solicitor first, which adds both a fee and several days.
3. The sworn Spanish translation
Spain requires translation by a sworn translator accredited by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This isn't optional and a general agency won't satisfy it. Usually charged per document.
4. Postage and handling
Sometimes folded into the headline price, sometimes not. Check whether the signed original gets posted to you, and whether tracked postage costs extra.
Where the hidden costs live
The rejected certificate. The biggest hidden cost by far is having to start again. Wrong wording, a missing stamp, or a document that's aged past its validity window means paying for the certificate, the apostille and the translation a second time. That turns a modest saving into a genuinely painful loss.
Other things that quietly add up:
- Solicitor certification, where the doctor's signature isn't on FCDO records
- Express handling, if the standard apostille route is too slow for your appointment
- Multiple applicants. Everyone on the application needs their own certificate, apostille and translation. A family of four is four of everything
- Courier costs, if you're posting documents back and forth between three different providers
Five questions to ask any provider
Before you pay anyone, us included, these five will tell you what you're actually buying.
1. Is this a live consultation with a doctor, or a questionnaire reviewed afterwards?
2. Is the apostille included, or arranged separately?
3. Is the sworn translation included?
4. Is the doctor's signature on the FCDO's records, or will solicitor certification be needed?
5. Do I get a signed original by post, or only a PDF?
That last one matters more than people expect. Some consulates want to see the original document, and a printed PDF isn't the same thing.
Is the cheapest option a false economy?
Not always, and we're not going to pretend otherwise. If your own GP will write the certificate for a modest fee, and you've got time to arrange the apostille and translation yourself, that's genuinely the cheapest route and there's nothing wrong with taking it.
Where it becomes a false economy is when you're working to a deadline. Coordinating three separate providers, each with their own turnaround, while a validity clock runs down in the background, is exactly where things go wrong. What an inclusive service is really selling you isn't the document. It's not having to hold all of that in your head.
Work out which of those two problems you actually have, and spend accordingly.
Questions people ask us
Q How much is the FCDO apostille itself?
It's a published government fee. Check the current figure on gov.uk. Services charge a handling fee on top of that.
Q Can I do the apostille myself to save money?
Yes. It's a postal process and it's cheaper. It's also slower, so leave plenty of time.
Q Is there a family discount?
Worth asking. Everyone needs their own document, but some providers reduce the per person cost for multiple applicants.
Q Why are some certificates so cheap?
Usually because there's no live consultation, or the apostille and translation aren't included. Neither is necessarily wrong. Just check what you're getting.
Q What if it gets rejected? Do I get a refund?
Depends on the provider and the reason. Ask before you buy, and get the answer in writing.
Where this information comes from. We write these articles from official sources: the published checklists of the consulate or embassy concerned, UK government guidance, and the text of the legislation itself. Where we have relied on a particular source, we link to it so you can read it yourself.
Those sources change, sometimes without notice, and different consulates sometimes apply the same rules differently. Everything above reflects our understanding on the date shown at the top of this page.
This article covers the process and the paperwork only. It is not medical advice, legal advice or immigration advice, and we are not immigration advisers. For anything concerning your own health, speak to your GP or another qualified clinician. For what your own application requires, confirm directly with the authority handling it before you order anything or book travel.
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One price, everything included
Consultation, certificate, signed original by post, and apostille and sworn translation arranged if you need them.
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