HOW TO OBTAIN RESIDENCY IN SPAIN FOR AN ENTREPRENEUR?

Accelerate your business with these expert tips "How to get residency in Spain for an entrepreneur"... Analyse and discover this TIP!

In Spain you will find everything you need to create your business and be successful: incredible gastronomy, a perfect climate all year round, a charming atmosphere, a very rich culture and a landscape that will never cease to amaze you (mountains and sea). Hence the large number of foreigners moving to Spain year after year. There are already 400,000 self-employed entrepreneurs in Spain. And perhaps, you too, would like to start your new life in Spain. Under what circumstances will you need a visa to be able to stay in Spain? 

In this TIP we will explain in detail everything you need to know. We will discuss the different alternatives and the requirements for each of them, with a special focus on those of you who want to set up a company. 

DO YOU REALLY NEED TO GET A RESIDENCE PERMIT?

To answer this question we have to divide it into two different options.

If you are a citizen of an EU member state, the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, no. You will only need your NIE (Número de Identificación Extranjero) and your NIE (Número de Identificación Extranjero). You will only need your Foreigner Identification Number (NIE) and your EU registration certificate (see TIP), but no visa or residence permit will be required to be able to reside legally in the country.

But what about citizens from countries outside the European Union? In that case, in order to be able to live and work legally in Spain, they need their residence card (see TIP).

There are three different types of visas in Spain in that sense. And you will get one or the other depending on the length of your stay in the country:

TOURIST OR SHORT-STAY VISA

The short-stay visa or Schengen visa allows non-EU citizens to stay in the country for 90 days. It is also called a tourist visa. Please note that the vast majority of permits cannot be obtained with a tourist visa. This means that, as a general rule, you cannot come to Spain on a short-stay visa and then obtain your residence permit; you have to apply for it from your home country. However, there are some exceptions, which we will explore below.

TEMPORARY RESIDENCE

Temporary residence will allow you to reside in Spain legally on a long-term basis, for more than 90 days but less than 5 years (the period in which you will have to obtain permanent residence or nationality). Temporary residence requires you to apply for a regular residence permit. These will give you the possibility to live and work legally in the country for 1 or 2 years. Once this period is over, and as long as you continue to meet the initial requirements, you can renew your temporary residence card for another one or two years.

PERMANENT RESIDENCE

After 5 years of uninterrupted residence in Spain with your card, you will no longer have to renew it every 2 years. This is when you will be able to apply for permanent residence, a permit that will allow you to live and work in Spain indefinitely. The requirements are really easy to fulfil. With your passport, current permit and the appropriate form you will get the long-stay card. However, although we have said that you must have lived in the country for 5 years, you should keep in mind that all years lived in Spain on the student visa count for half. Thus, permanent residence is the gateway to Spanish citizenship.

RESIDENCE IN SPAIN FOR NON-EU FOREIGNERS

Let us now explore in more detail the different residency options available to any non-EU citizen.

THERE ARE DIFFERENT TYPES OF VISAS AND RESIDENCE PERMITS IN SPAIN FOR THEM:

RESIDENCE PERMIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS (+)

Is it possible to set up your company in Spain and get your residence permit at the same time? The answer is yes, and it involves obtaining an entrepreneur's visa. If the project you would like to start is aligned with the socio-economic interests of the country, is innovative and includes a high degree of technology (demonstrated through the business plan), then you can easily get this card. However, if you simply want to set up a more conventional business, a self-employed work permit is the ideal option.

NON-PROFIT RESIDENCE VISA

Let's say you don't want to work in Spain. You would like to retire in the country or you simply have sufficient means not to have to carry out any economic activity. In that case, the non-profit residence visa will be your best option. Its requirements are very simple to fulfil:

• You must have private health insurance.
• Proof of sufficient funds is also required. The legal requirement is 26,000 euros, but depending on the consulate the amount may increase.

GOLDEN VISA FOR INVESTORS GOLDEN VISA OR GOLDEN ORO

Many of the application processes for residence permits in Spain can be tough: a lot of documentation, a lot of paperwork, a lot of requirements. However, there is a type of visa that solves this problem: the golden visa. You only need to invest €500,000 in the Spanish real estate market and you can get your visa. The investor permit is the easiest way to start living in Spain.

STUDENT VISA

Do you want to do your master's degree or doctorate in Spain, or are you planning to do research in the country? Under any of these situations you will be able to get your student visa. This residence permit allows citizens from outside the European Union to study or carry out research in Spain, while also allowing the possibility of working and doing paid internships. In addition, another advantage is that you can make the transition to a work permit afterwards, eliminating the complex requirements that exist when applying for this visa.

WORK PERMIT

Depending on your situation and the type of offer you have, there are different types of work permits that can allow you to live legally in Spain. Each has its own requirements and the application process varies:

• Regular work permit, which must be requested from the country of origin. It will be the employer, from Spain, who will have to initiate the legal process.
• If you have a job offer as a highly qualified worker, you can then start the process from Spain. This visa is granted to those who receive an offer as a manager or any other technical position, and who earn more than 40,000 euros per year.

As well as the skilled professional visa, you also have the EU Blue Card, which allows you to work in the entire European Union area.

EU FAMILY MEMBER

The EU family member residence card is the procedure by which an EU citizen can bring his/her partner, ascendants or descendants of first degree from outside the European Union to live with him/her in Spain. It is a very simple process with few requirements. Usually, couples are either married or in a common-law relationship in order to be eligible for this residence permit. 

RESIDENCE PERMIT IN SPAIN FOR MARRIAGE OR UNMARRIED PARTNERSHIP

Marrying a Spanish citizen (or an EU citizen) will help you get your Spanish card easily. But not only marriage, the constitution of an unmarried couple will also allow you to get the papers. In this sense, you can obtain residency through marriage under two different procedures:

• If your spouse is European, a visa as a family member of an EU citizen will be the appropriate option.
• However, you can also get residence if your spouse is from a non-EU country, but has lived in Spain for one year with his or her residence permit. Then, the procedure that will help you become a legal resident is the family reunification process.

RESIDENCY ON THE BASIS OF ARRAIGO

 If you have been living in Spain irregularly for a certain period of time, you can obtain residency by arraigo. After this process you will get a permit for exceptional circumstances. There are four different types:

1. Family roots, no time requirement
2. Arraigo laboral, if you have been living in Spain for 2 years and you have worked for a company irregularly. You will have to sue the company in order to continue with the process.
3. Social roots, if you have been in the country for 3 years and you have found a job offer.
4. Arraigo for training, if you commit yourself to start your studies in Spain. 

VISA FOR DIGITAL NOMADS OR TELEWORKERS (VIEW+TIP)