Important Notice: 

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to severely affect our embassy’s capacity to process routine visa applications.  Individuals who have been present in 32 countries, including Spain, remain subject to restrictions on entry to the United States due to 212(f) Presidential Proclamations. Consequently, the embassy is conducting J-1 visa interviews only for applicants who qualify for National Interest Exceptions (NIEs) to the Presidential Proclamations. Summer Work and Travel and Camp Counselor programs do not qualify for exceptions to the proclamations. As a result, we are not conducting visa interviews for non-academic J-1 visa programs, including Summer Work and Travel and Camp Counselor. We will re-evaluate this posture should 212(f) restrictions be lifted, but do expect that our capacity to conduct visa interviews will remain extremely limited for many months.

Starting January 26, 2021, all travelers (age 2 and older) including U.S. citizens and residents, will be required to present a negative viral COVID-19 test taken within 3 days prior to departure on their U.S.-bound flight itinerary. This new order does not waive the requirement for a National Interest Exception. You can find more FAQs about the testing requirement here. See details from the CDC here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html

Waivers to the testing requirement may be granted by the CDC on an extremely limited basis when extraordinary emergency travel (like an emergency medical evacuation) must occur to preserve someone’s health and safety, and testing cannot be completed before travel. There are no waivers available for individuals who test positive for COVID-19.  Individuals – or air carriers seeking to allow boarding by potentially qualifying individuals – who believe they meet the criteria for a waiver should contact the U.S. Embassy at spaincdcwaivers@state.gov and provide the information below.  The U.S. Embassy will then submit the request to the CDC for consideration.

The following information must be provided for each passenger:

1. Name (family name/surname, given name), passport number and country
2. Cell phone number including country code of passenger or head of household if family unit
3. Email address of passenger or head of household if family unit
4. U.S. destination address
   1. Is U.S. destination home address?
5. Departure date
6. Flight itinerary
7. Name of submitting entity if different from passenger
8. Name of company submitting on behalf of passenger(s) (if applicable)
9. Name of point of contact submitting on behalf of passenger(s) (if applicable)
10. Phone and email address for POC submitting waiver request on behalf of passenger(s) (if applicable)
11. Purpose of travel to the U.S. (provide brief explanation of why urgent travel is needed and how travel will contribute to health and safety of passengers(s))
12. Justification for testing waiver (e.g. no testing available, impact on health and safety)
13. Documentation to support justification for test waiver, if available (e.g. medical records or orders for medical evacuation)

Travel by foreign nationals to the United States from Spain currently is limited by one or a combination of the following: a) the Presidential Proclamation prohibiting travel to the United States from the European Schengen zone; b) the Presidential Proclamations suspending issuance of several types of U.S. visas.

We have no information about when any of these limitations will be lifted. These proclamations do not apply to U.S. citizens or U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs).

U.S. Embassy Madrid will begin a phased resumption of some visa services on July 20, 2020 and offer visa appointments to those applicants who qualify for an exception to the COVID-19 Presidential Proclamations. The health and safety of both our visa applicants and workforce remain our highest priority and we will be enforcing strict social distancing measures and require masks covering mouth and nose while in our facility. While U.S. Embassy Madrid aims to process cases as soon as practicable, there is likely to be increased wait times for completing such services due to substantial backlogs. The MRV fee is valid and may be used to schedule an interview appointment in the country where it was purchased within one year of the date of payment. Please note travel for the primary purpose of tourism remains suspended. See here for more information and links to information regarding new, updated exceptions to the proclamations.

The U.S. Mission to Spain and Andorra understands that many visa applicants have paid the visa application processing fee and are still waiting to schedule a visa appointment. We are working diligently to restore all routine visa operations as quickly and safely as possible. In the meantime, rest assured that the U.S. Mission to Spain and Andorra will extend the validity of your payment (known as the MRV fee) will be extended until September 30, 2022, to allow all applicants who cannot schedule a visa appointment because of the suspension of routine consular operations an opportunity to schedule and/or attend a visa appointment with the already paid fee. Please continue to monitor this site for information on when we will return to routine visa operations.

COVID-19 Visa FAQ

The Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in Madrid is responsible for providing visa services to those seeking to enter the United States for a temporary period and for those wishing to take up indefinite or permanent residence in the United States.

Most visitors to the United States enter the country on a tourist or business visitor visa (B1/B2 visas), but there are visa categories corresponding to every purpose of travel, including students (F1) and temporary foreign workers (H1B).

Please visit our Global Support Services (GSS) website for complete information on applying for a nonimmigrant U.S. visa, including a directory of nonimmigrant visa categories.