No appointments available in Madrid to submit documents

Hi,
My wife is applying for an EEA family permit in Spain. I have worked and lived there for 6 months and we have all our supporting documents. We also have completed the online form and all there is left to do is book an appointment, however i have been trying for 2 weeks to book an appointment but all its say that there are no appointments available at the center. I have contacted world bridge services and all they have told me is to keep trying online. i have been trying and i'm quite frustrated by seeing the same message over and over. I have also emailed the British consulate in Madrid and the have not replied. please someone help me, me and my wife are really frustrated at the poor service provided and asking if there is anyone with more info please reply with it.

Thanks

Hi,

When that happened to me with the visa section in Bogotá, Colombia I wrote a complaint to the ECM regarding the lack of appointments and reminded him of the obligation of the UK government to provide an accelerated procedure for EEA family permits which they obviously were in breach of and asked for the contact information of his superior in case he could not provide me with an appointment within the next three days.

Suddenly there were appointments available the very next day and they had booked me an appointment as I had requested.

Eldane

eldane wrote:Hi,

When that happened to me with the visa section in Bogotá, Colombia I wrote a complaint to the ECM regarding the lack of appointments and reminded him of the obligation of the UK government to provide an accelerated procedure for EEA family permits which they obviously were in breach of and asked for the contact information of his superior in case he could not provide me with an appointment within the next three days.

Suddenly there were appointments available the very next day and they had booked me an appointment as I had requested.

Eldane

Hi,
Thank you for the info, world bridge services is the company who issues appointments and is in charge of the visa center, is that who i make a complaint to? and also i don't really know what to say to them, could you please help me?

Many thanks

- Ben

WorldBridge are responsible for the operations...the overarching policy/strategy should be dealt with by the Embassy themselves.

Try to find a number/email and contact the Embassy directly. You often have to think creatively, e.g. try to call other unrelated numbers/email unrelated departments in the hope that they will pass on your complaint/query. I hope you have already contacted WorldBridge directly and informed them of what the above poster has already noted:

"complaint to the ECM regarding the lack of appointments and reminded him of the obligation of the UK government to provide an accelerated procedure for EEA family permits which they obviously were in breach of and asked for the contact information of his superior in case he could not provide me with an appointment within the next three days."

You should exhaust all these avenues first and report back.

chaoclive wrote:WorldBridge are responsible for the operations...the overarching policy/strategy should be dealt with by the Embassy themselves.

Try to find a number/email and contact the Embassy directly. You often have to think creatively, e.g. try to call other unrelated numbers/email unrelated departments in the hope that they will pass on your complaint/query. I hope you have already contacted WorldBridge directly and informed them of what the above poster has already noted:

"complaint to the ECM regarding the lack of appointments and reminded him of the obligation of the UK government to provide an accelerated procedure for EEA family permits which they obviously were in breach of and asked for the contact information of his superior in case he could not provide me with an appointment within the next three days."

You should exhaust all these avenues first and report back.

Hi,
I have been in contact with world bridge twice, both times they told me my email was being forwarded to a higher authority, i received an email back for this higher authority which said " we only book appointments through the online process. We cannot give you one by email, please be patient and keep trying" which is quite appalling actually. I contacted the British embassy through email and phone call, the operator told me to check for appointments at 8am, 12pm and 4pm (Spain time) and they should have some up then, i have been going on the visa4uk website 3 times a day for almost 3 weeks now and it says the same thing. They also told me to contact worldbridge and that worldbridge could help me. After nearly 3 weeks i still haven't got a reply for the email i sent to the embassy.
What am i supposed to do now?

Many thanks

- Ben

Oh dear...that is a bit of a mess.

Is there anyway you can be firmer with the people on the Embassy phone line? Make sure that you have told them that they have an obligation to provide the visa quickly. This cannot happen if you can't get an appointment. Mention that you are considering contacting Solvit and then make a complaint to the EU.

In the meantime, I suggest that you contact Your Advice Europe to see what they say. They may be able to give you some advice on what you can do: http://europa.eu/youreurope/advice/enquiry_en.htm. They are quite quick, about a week. Explain the details and ask what you can do.

I have the same problem. Today my wife and I filled her application and when we went to book the appointment in MADRID it said No Appointments available. Hope they fix it soon, I'm outside the country now so call them is not the best option.

I will keep an eye on this topic, Ben let me know any updates on the subject.

Regards,

Any updates on the subject? Is Madrid consulate still with no appointments?

Regards,