Spanish Golden Visa
On the 30th of September 2013, the Spanish Parliament approved a new law (Law 14/2013), which seeks to encourage new business initiatives within an international scope and regulates how to obtain a residence permit when investing in Spain.
By means of the new Law, non-European citizens could be entitled to obtain said permit (allowing to travel within the 26 country Schengen zone), whenever they are prepared to carry out a significant capital investment in Spain.
Only certain types of investment are included in this group. Those would be the following:
(1) Real Estate investments of a minimum amount of 500,000.00 EUR (per person, excluding loans/mortgages).
(2) Investments in Spanish Public Debt or in Spanish companies. When investing on Spanish Public Debt, the minimum amount is 2,000,000.00 EUR; when investing on shares of Spanish Companies, the minimum amount is 1,000,000.00 EUR.
(3) Investment in Projects that could be considered of public interest.
The initial visa is valid for one year and can be extended and renewed as residency every two years. The requirement for renewal is that the person is under the same circumstances as when obtaining visa on the first place and that the person has travelled to Spain at least once during the first year of residency.
Applicants will also need to meet all other requirements for becoming resident, i.e. hold a public or private health insurance, have sufficient resources for themselves and their family members, and showing a clean criminal record.
In principle the minimum real estate investment is 500.000 EUR per person for a residence permit, but in case of a family, further study should be carried out to prove that the head of the family is able to show commitment to support the rest of the family (spouse and children under 18) through a Sponsorship letter.
Acquisition of real estate may be done through an investment company vehicle, whenever the company is not incorporated in a tax haven jurisdiction, and that the applicant for the residence permit holds the voting majority rights, being entitled to appoint the majority of the members within the Board of Directors.
General Requirements
The application for the Residence Visa must be submitted to the competent consulate of Spain in the country where the foreigner lives and the following general procedure will be needed:
- Investment in Spain and registration
- Preparation of application file
- Pre-check
- Consulate appointment (home country)
- Immigration Spain
- Spanish Police station
- Collection residence permit
