Schengen Visa Appointments in London: Every Centre and How to Find a Slot

Where can you apply for a Schengen visa in London?

You can apply for any of the 29 Schengen countries in London, but there is no single centre. Each country uses its own provider, and those providers sit in different parts of the city, from the City of London to Southwark and Wandsworth.

The table below lists the London submission points as checked in October 2026. Addresses change, so the one printed on your booking confirmation always wins.

Every other VFS Global country, including Croatia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal and the Nordic and Baltic states, also has a London submission point. VFS often runs several countries from shared premises and moves centres from time to time, so take the street address from the VFS page for your country and your appointment letter rather than an old map listing.

Note: Germany and Belgium each have their own TLScontact booking site, separate from France’s. Belgium’s site lists the same Wandsworth address; Germany’s gives its own. Register on the right country’s site and go by the London address it gives you.

Two embassies also take a limited number of applications directly. The Czech Republic embassy at 26-30 Kensington Palace Gardens handles a few categories itself by emailed appointment (family members of EU citizens, holders of diplomatic, service or official passports, official delegations and urgent humanitarian cases); ordinary tourist and business visitors use VFS at 66 Wilson Street. Slovenia’s embassy at 17 Dartmouth Street, SW1H 9BL, accepts applications by email appointment alongside VFS.

If you are not sure which country to apply to, settle that first: it is your main destination, meaning the longest stay, or your first point of entry if stays are equal. Our guide on which country to apply to explains the rule.

Do you have to use a London centre?

For some countries London is compulsory, for some it is forbidden unless you live in the right area, and for most it is simply one choice among several. Where you live, not your nationality, decides this.

Spain is the rule people most often get wrong. Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds and Nottingham all belong to the Manchester consulate, so BLS London will not accept those residents, however convenient the train. Bring proof of address that matches the centre you book, such as a recent council tax bill or bank statement.

How do you book a London appointment?

You book on the official system for your country, free of charge and in your own name. The steps are much the same across providers:

1. Fill in any online form first. France uses France-Visas, Denmark uses ApplyVisa and Norway uses UDI’s Application Portal Norway (you pay the visa fee online in both), Iceland uses visa.government.is, Lithuania uses MIGRIS, Croatia uses crovisa.mvep.hr, and Romania’s e-Viza portal (evisa.mae.ro) is the form, the upload and the booking in one.
2. Register with your own email address on the provider’s site, or through the booking route VFS sets out for Italy.
3. Enter your details exactly as in your passport. Centres turn away bookings that do not match.
4. Select London and the short-stay category, then choose a date (or, for France and Germany, wait for one to be allocated).
5. Save the confirmation with the address and arrival instructions.

Five London systems work differently:

• France: since 1 August 2026, TLScontact London (and Manchester; Edinburgh since 11 September 2026) allocates short-stay slots from a queue. You complete the France-Visas form, register, wait, and have 12 hours to pay the service fee and confirm once a slot is offered. Data is deleted if nothing is allocated within 60 days.
• Germany: since 1 June 2026, TLScontact London and Manchester allocate short-stay slots from a waiting list. You do not choose the date, and you have 24 hours to pay the service fee once a slot is offered or it is cancelled.
• Italy: the Consulate General says appointments are managed only by VFS Global. Book through the link on the consulate’s visa page or the VFS Italy UK site and follow the route it sets out; if it directs you to its Italy Global app, download it only from the VFS link.
• Poland: you book on e-Konsulat. Tourist and visit slots are released every Sunday at 11:00; business, conference and family-of-Polish-nationals appointments are allocated on Sundays and Wednesdays.
• Luxembourg and Slovenia (embassy route): you request an appointment by email and are offered a time.

Important: Schengen Visa Support does not book, hold or supply visa appointments, and nobody can legitimately sell you one. We help you create your account and complete the booking on the official system in your own name, and we make sure your file is ready for the day.

When are London slots hardest to find?

London is the busiest place in the UK to apply, so it books up first. The pressure is seasonal and predictable, which means you can plan around it.

You can apply no earlier than 6 months and no later than 15 calendar days before you travel. In the busy months, beginning only a few weeks out leaves little margin. Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Germany are usually under the most pressure, simply because they are the most popular destinations.

What can you do if London has no appointments?

Keep checking, widen your search to other centres where your country allows it, or move your dates. Do not change the country you apply to just to get a slot: applying to a country that is not your main destination is a common refusal ground.

• Check at different times of day. Cancellations and new releases appear without notice on most systems.
• Try Manchester or Edinburgh if permitted. For France, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands, a regional slot is often available sooner (for Greece, only if GVCW’s system offers you that centre for your address). Files are couriered to London afterwards, which VFS says adds about 2 days and GVCW says adds about 5 days for Greece, with passports from Greece’s regional centres returned by courier only. Our Manchester and Edinburgh guides cover those centres.
• Have your file ready before you book. A short-notice slot is only useful if your documents are complete. Start with our documents checklist.
• Hold off on non-refundable flights until you have an appointment date.
• Reschedule or cancel through your account if you cannot attend, so the slot goes back into the pool.

For the full picture across every UK city, see our UK appointments guide.

What happens at a London visa centre on the day?

You go through a security check, hand over your file and passport, pay the fees and give fingerprints and a photo. Allow time for queues at the busiest centres, especially in spring and summer.

Practical points for London:

• Arrive about 15 minutes early. Late arrivals can be turned away, and you will have to book again.
• Travel by public transport. The City centres (Wilson Street, St Andrew Street, Bouverie Street) are inside the Congestion Charge zone and parking is scarce. If you are coming from outside London, a late-morning slot avoids peak fares and delays.
• Check the hours. BLS London takes submissions from 08:30 to 13:30, Monday to Friday, GVCW London from 09:00 to 13:00 (passport collection 16:00 to 17:00), and the VFS Czech centre lists 8.30am to 4pm, so afternoon slots do not exist at every centre.
• Bring originals and copies, your printed confirmation, a card for payment and proof of your UK status. Non-British residents now prove status with a UKVI eVisa share code rather than a BRP; see our eVisa share code guide. For what the biometrics step involves, read our biometrics appointment guide.
• Expect limits on bags. Large luggage is usually refused, so do not come straight from the airport with a suitcase.

You pay the visa fee of €90 for adults and €45 for children aged 6 to 11 (free under 6), charged in sterling at a rate each consulate sets, currently around £80 for an adult. The provider adds its own service charge, which differs by country: Belgium’s TLScontact fee, for example, was £34.70 in October 2026; check the live amount before you pay. Optional extras such as Premium Lounge, Prime Time early slots, courier return and SMS updates are sold by the centre, not by us, and none of them affects the decision.

How long does it take after a London appointment?

The consulate decides most applications within 15 calendar days, and can extend that to 45 if it needs more checks. London has one practical advantage: for countries whose deciding mission is in London, your file usually does not need a courier transfer first (Denmark’s embassy still allows a day each way even for London files).

Your passport stays with the centre or consulate until the decision, so do not book other trips abroad in that period. You either collect it in person or pay for courier return. A few countries decide outside the London mission: Sweden’s files are decided by the Swedish Migration Agency, the Netherlands’ by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Consular Services Organisation, and Belgium can refer a file to the Immigration Office in Brussels, which can add time. See our processing time guide for what slows decisions down.

How do you get your London application ready?

London rewards people who are organised: slots appear and vanish quickly, and a complete file means you can take the first suitable date. Schengen Visa Support is an independent UK visa admin support service. We prepare your personal checklist, complete your form, review your documents and guide you through the official booking in your own name. See how it works or our pricing.