What is a Golden Visa?

It is a residence visa for non-EU citizens who invest in a real estate property in Spain of €500,000 or above.  The aim is to encourage foreign investors to buy property in exchange for easier access to a residence permit.  The visa will allow you to travel to Spain, with multiple trips for one year.  During this year you can apply for your permanent residence permit or citizenship.

Application requirements

To successfully apply for a golden visa you must meet the following requirements:

• Be over 18 years old
• You must be a resident from a country outside of the European Union.
• Have private medical insurance in Spain
• Have no criminal record
• Prove that you have sufficient funds to support yourself and any family members
• Invest in one of the following
  • Purchase a property in Spain worth €500,000 or more
  • Invest in public debt for €2,000,000 or more
  • Invest in Spanish shares for €1,000,000 or more
  • Start up a new business, (to create jobs, socioeconomic impact on the region, scientific or technologically based)

Documentation needed

Via real state you will need, proof of purchase, the certification of domains and charges of land registry, along with the deed of sale.

• Spain Visa Application Form
• Two passport-size pictures. Make sure they follow picture guidelines for a Spanish visa.
• Make sure the passport will be valid for the initial period of time you intend to spend in Spain and has at least two blank pages. You may also need a photocopy of the personal information page of your passport.
• If you are not a citizen of the country where you live: Your residence permit.
• Documents which prove you have sufficient income to support yourself and your family as you live in Spain.
• Police records, proving you have no criminal background. They must be issued within the three months prior to the application.
• Proof of health insurance (private or public) with an insurance company operating in Spain.
• Proof of payment of the visa fee.
• Any additional documents related to your specific case (investment or real estate purchase), as described below.

The documents you submit have to be translated into Spanish (if they are not already) by a certified translator and apostilled.

Duration of the visa

Once a Golden visa has been obtained you will have two years to legally reside in Spain, once this temporary period has been completed you can apply for a renewal which will allow you to legally reside in Spain for a further 5 years, for this you must prove you still own the property and have visited Spain at least once during the previous year.

The Golden visa is a way of obtaining Spanish nationality as after 10 years you will be able to apply for this.

Benefits of a Golden visa

The most notable benefit is preferential treatment, with this visa you get the residence permit via fast track, for both the initial visa and the renewals every two years.  This visa also allows free movement throughout the other 26 European countries of the Schengen area.  The other advantage is that the Golden visa allows your spouse, children under 18 and dependant elderly parents to be included, allows access to public schools, health care and any children born in Spain can obtain Spanish passports.

How long does it take?

Once all the documentation has been submitted correctly up to 20 days may elapse before a decision is made.  If the decision is favourable you have a period of one month to apply for the visa at the Spanish Consulate based in your country.  Once that has been done you can travel to Spain to present your Golden Visa.  From there you can obtain a TIE (Tarjeta de Identidad del Extranjero) which is an identity document.

Taxes

This will depend on the amount of time you spend in Spain during the year.  If you stay for over 6 months your worldwide assets and income will be taxed in Spain.  Less than 6 months then you only pay taxes on the real estate and assets you hold in Spain.  Please see my webpage about buying a property for more information