Your investment opportunity and definitive visa with the Spain Golden Visa

Golden Visa, the first step for your business in Spain

The Golden Visa is a residence permit that allows you to live and work legally in Spain. What sets the Golden Visa apart is that it’s intended for investors interested in properties or other types of assets in Spain. Many countries of the European Union have started offering these visas in an effort to attract investors and entrepreneurs, including Malta, United Kingdom, Portugal and the one we will be talking about, Spain. In this article, we will explain the process to obtain a Golden Visa in Spain.

This option has been available in Spain since 2013, progressively increasing its popularity. Getting a visa tends to be a slow process full of numerous and strict requirements, and application approvals can take months. But the benefits, speed, and ease of the process attract entrepreneurs who want to take the first step in their residency process. The Golden Visa has a fluid and easy process once you meet the main requirement. Here is what this process looks like:

Requirements to obtain the Golden Visa: Explained  Simply

The main requirement to be able to apply for the Golden Visa is the investment, but we will talk about this in detail further on, and we will focus on the other common requirements of the investment modalities that you will need for the authorization to be approved. All turned-in documents must be translated by a sworn translator. You will need:

• Have health insurance that with sufficient coverage such as repatriation, no deficiencies, and no co-payments.
• Fill in the official visa application form.
• You must have valid passports, for you and your direct relatives —including direct relatives is one of the benefits of the Golden Visa.
• Having no criminal records in both Spain and other countries during the last five years.
• Demonstrate that you have enough financial stability to maintain your expenses and family members who benefit from the Golden Visa. To calculate if an applicant has sufficient financial means, check the following:
  • The Holder or main applicant needs to have at least 400% of the Public Rent Indicator for Multiple Effects (IPREM by its Spanish acronym) which is €564.90 per month. that would have to be multiplied by the residence time, which is usually 2 years. This results in the minimum amount of €54,230.40 for 2 years.
  • For each family member, the main applicant would need to have 100% of the IPREM. This results in an additional minimum amount of €13,557.60 for each of their relatives for 2 years.

The Golden visa grants access to a residence permit of a special nature because it’s regulated in Law 14/2013 on entrepreneur support. The Unit of Large Enterprises (UGE) will be responsible for deciding if the residence permit is granted.

Types of investments that make you suitable for the Golden Visa

A €500,000 real estate investment will make you suitable for the visa, but that’s not the only alternative. In addition to real estate investment, you can invest in:

• Public debt
• Bank deposits
• Shares or participations in Spanish companies
• Carrying out a business project of general interest for country development.

Depending on which option you choose, the documents that prove the investment are going to be different.

Real estate investment

Despite the other alternatives, investing €500,000 in real estate is still the most popular option. The concept is simple and fast; you must invest half a million euros or more in the purchase of one or several properties. To prove the purchase of the real estate you will need its certificate of acquisition of the property from the Property Registry. It’s important to clarify that in order to apply for the Golden Visa, all taxes must have been settled and you cannot use a bank loan or mortgage to meet the requirement. These taxes include the added value, the patrimonial transitions (if applicable), and of course the taxes of legal acts in Spain.

Investment in public debt

In recent years this performance has dropped a lot, but investing €2,000,000 in public debt also makes you suitable to apply for the Golden Visa. To accredit this type of investment, you will need a certificate from a financial institution or the Bank of Spain itself that endorses the operation and that you are the owner of the purchase.

This would be a fairly safe form of investment, and it may be the alternative you are looking for. Bank deposits are financial products. To qualify for the Golden Visa, you have to deposit €1,000,000 in a bank account. In addition to that, you will need a certificate from the financial institution that proves that you are the sole holder of the deposit.

Project investment with high socioeconomic impact

You can also qualify for the Golden Visa with enough initiative and vision for a business project. But not just any project, it has to be an entrepreneurship that shows a notable socio-economic impact. This investment has to go hand in hand with being of general interest and being developed in Spain. Likewise, it must generate jobs that are relevant to the scientific and/or technological innovation of the country. In addition to accrediting the investment per project with a high socioeconomic impact, you will need to have a financial intermediary who is registered with the Bank of Spain or with the National Securities Market Commission. The intermediary must verify the validity of your investment, based on the rules.

Investment in shares or participation in Spanish companies

As with the investment in bank deposits, you can invest €1,000,000 to acquire shares or participation in a Spanish company. These two instruments will see their value increased according to the sales or activities that the corporation achieves to improve its economic balance. To be able to prove it, you need to obtain a certificate from the National Securities Market Commission that supports the intermediary who managed the purchase of the share. If it’s a participation, then you will have to process an investment declaration from the Investment Registry of the Ministry of Economy.

The efficiency of the Golden Visa and its significant benefits

The Golden Visa has been very well accepted because it guarantees two things: efficiency and simplicity.

When talking about the application process benefits, it’s impossible not to emphasize repeatedly how fast it is compared to other Visas. Another point that talks about the efficiency is the possibility of renewing the residence without taking into account periods of absence of the investor from Spain. But the Golden Visa has many additional benefits that make it even more attractive:

Once the requirements are met, your Golden Visa will arrive in a few days

The Golden Visa is not limited only to the fact that the procedures of your application are fast, but also the time in which it’s processed. With certainty, you will be able to obtain your Spanish residence within 10 days in the case of a visa and 20 days in the case of a residence permit.

Your family members can also enjoy the benefits of the Golden Visa

Golden Visa not only gives the residence permit to you as the holder, your spouse and children will also receive residency when they are included in the program. Although there are some important exceptions: your children must be minors. You could include your parents and older children, but you must show that they depend on you for one or more reasons.

Ease of movement

As a holder of a Golden Visa, you will have the benefit of moving freely throughout the Schengen area. You have access to twenty-six different countries that comprise the area. One day you can be in France, the next in Germany and then return to Spain.

You don’t have to stay a minimum time in Spain

The Golden Visa doesn’t require you to reside for a specific time in Spain to preserve the validity of the authorization, it’s enough to enter the country only once a year. Forget about the cumbersome imposition of staying in Spain for six months to keep the document valid.

You don’t need to apply for the Golden Visa personally

You don’t need to be in Spain to apply for the Golden Visa. As long as you have an attorney in charge of receiving the necessary documentation, you can carry out the procedures remotely without any problem. Even with the 1-year investor visa, you can work in Spain.

After renewing the Golden Visa for the second time, you can apply for Spanish citizenship

When you receive the Golden Visa, you must renew it after two years, and the subsequent renewal after five years. The second renewal makes you a valid candidate for permanent residence. Remember, if you want to acquire Spanish nationality by residence, you will have to be in Spain continuously. For nationality, there are several cases of residence (10, 5, 2, and 1 year). If you are granted nationality, you will be one step away from obtaining a Spanish ID and passport.

If you meet any of these requirements, the Golden Visa is your best option

The Golden Visa’s benefits and its characteristics is clearly the best option for you, but if you still doubt it, here’s a list of things that guarantee you can choose it if you comply with any of them.   

• You have an ambitious project within the technology and/or scientific sector that you want to develop in Spain.
• You have extensive experience in finance, and you are interested in investing in shares or participations in Spanish companies.
• You know how to take advantage of investments in public debt, and you are interested in entering a high capital.
• You know the banking field, you have experience in finance, and you see your opportunity to invest in bank deposits.
• You want to boost your next business here in Spain, start the next big step with your family residing in this country.

How we can help you to make the process easier and faster?

Do you lack time to complete the necessary Golden Visa paperwork? Or maybe you need help with some parts of the process?

It may be that you want to do the whole operation remotely from your current country of residence. Whatever the case may be, we can help you with more than the information in this article, which we encourage you to continue to consult, but also by offering you professional assistance, which will give you peace of mind that every step of the process will go smoothly. If you want to know about the most frequently asked questions regarding the Golden Visa, you can go here. In this other article, we explain to you how to apply for a residence permit in more detail.