Investment Visa Options: Spanish Entrepreneur’s Act

December 22, 2016


In 2013 the Spanish government enacted a law which, amongst other things, drastically altered the Spanish immigration system. The Spanish Entrepreneur’s Act was one of the measures designed to assist with the recovery of the economy. As a consequence, apart from accelerating the immigration routes for highly-qualified professionals and researchers, it introduced several types of residence permits through investment options.

Basic requirements applicable to all the categories

  • Must be over 18 years old
  • Must stay in Spain regularly
  • Must not have a criminal record in any of the countries in which the applicant has lived in the past five years
  • Must have a private or public medical insurance with an entity authorised to provide these services in Spain
  • Apart from the investment, it is necessary to have enough financial means to support yourself and your family. In 2016, the quantities are €2130 monthly for the main applicant plus €532 monthly for each dependent.

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Analysis

The process takes about 3 months, with the residence permit approved in generally 20 business days and the visa approved in 10 business days. However, there have been some recent delays due to a high volume of applications. The applications for the family dependents are submitted at the same time as the main applicant, allowing the family to move together to Spain without further processing steps.

The initial resident permit is valid for two years and can be renewed as long as the conditions of the investment are maintained. The renewals are given with a five-year validity. The residence permit in Spain allows non-EU nationals to travel in the Schengen zone for business and tourist purposes for a maximum of 90 days within a 180-day rolling period, without the need to apply for a Schengen visa.

Although this type of permit doesn’t grant special concessions in terms of obtaining citizenship, international agreements do apply. Therefore, if the applicant resides in Spain and is from an Ibero-American country or the Philippines, citizenship can be obtained in just two years. This also applies to dependents.

If you would like assistance with an investor visa application, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected].