British Consulate General San Francisco

The consulate is at 1 Sansome Street, Suite 850. Its district runs from the Bay Area to Montana, Wyoming and Alaska.

How to book an appointment at the British Consulate in San Francisco

At the British Consulate General in San Francisco, public access is by appointment only. Book first, then plan the trip.

An emergency travel document starts online (£125). You are then told whether to come in. Notarial services are for cases where a local notary cannot help. San Francisco is the office whose gov.uk page lists issuing a certificate of no impediment, the document some countries ask of a British national before a wedding.

The number below is the press line on gov.uk, also shown by Google for the consulate. For consular matters, gov.uk directs you to the online contact form, which also handles emergencies around the clock.

How to cancel an appointment at the British Consulate in San Francisco

If the date stops working for you, say so early.

There is no published cancellation procedure. Reply through your appointment emails or use the contact form. On an emergency travel document, new travel dates mean reapplying and paying £125 again.

Getting to the British Consulate in San Francisco

1 Sansome Street, Suite 850, San Francisco is where the British Consulate General in San Francisco receives visitors who have an appointment.

Ask for Suite 850 at 1 Sansome Street, ZIP 94104.

Real reviews of the British Consulate in San Francisco

San Francisco averages 2.7 stars from 63 reviews. Most of the five-star reviews we read are about emergency travel documents issued within a day or two; the one-star ones are mostly about visa calls.

Lost my passport at the airport and needed to fly abroad. Had an emergency document within two days, and as a dual citizen I would choose this over the U.S. emergency passport.

Robin H.

My passport was stolen from my car near San Jose. I called, they explained the online application, and I booked a slot that suited me.

Graham M.

Called about my daughter's student visa and was told it was an emergency line before the call ended.

Michele N.

Reviews read on 5 October 2026 and rewritten in our words; the full set is on the office's Google listing.

Opening hours of the British Consulate in San Francisco

gov.uk gives telephone hours for the British Consulate General in San Francisco and no walk-in hours, because there are none.

Phone lines open 9am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays. Visits are by appointment only, so the time that matters is the one on your confirmation.

For the rest of 2026, gov.uk lists these closures for British Consulate in San Francisco: Indigenous Peoples' Day (12 October), Thanksgiving (26 November), Privilege Day (27 November), Christmas Day and Boxing Day (28 December). Its list does not include Veterans Day (11 November).

Phone number of the British Consulate in San Francisco

+1 415 617 1300: the number gov.uk gives for its press team, which is also the one Google shows for the consulate (source).

For emergencies outside office hours, the FCDO in London answers 24 hours on +44 20 7008 5000, according to the travel advice for the USA. Passport questions go to HM Passport Office's Passport Adviceline, +44 300 222 0000.

What the British Consulate in San Francisco handles

The office handles a narrow set of services in person.

gov.uk lists emergency travel documents, notarial services and the certificate of no impediment. Passports are renewed online with HM Passport Office; visa biometrics are taken at VFS Global centers, including one in San Francisco.

UK visa biometrics are not taken at the consulate: VFS Global, the company that runs UK visa application centers here, lists one in San Francisco, open Monday to Friday.

gov.uk also mentions UK Government Offices in Seattle, which work on business and political ties and do no consular work: those cases come to the British Consulate General in San Francisco.

What you can settle without going

Online or by mail, these do not need a trip.