The Spanish Golden Visa allows you to obtain a Spanish residency if you invest at least 500,000€ in your property. This is a secure method of keeping your residency for the long term. If you keep in line with the regulations of the Visa and maintain your property investment for the duration of this time, you will be entitled to residency in Spain for as long as you require.

Please note that you can still apply for a Golden Visa through property even if the purchase is not yet finalised – you can submit other documents, such as the preliminary contract and a letter from a Spanish bank, confirming that you have the necessary funds to complete the investment. If you’d like to find out more about this way of becoming a Spanish resident, contact our team of experts at Manzanares Lawyers, who will gladly give advice on obtaining a Spanish Golden Visa.

From 1st January 2021, the United Kingdom is no longer a part of the European Union. This means that UK nationals are treated as non-EU citizens. As a result, it is much tougher for citizens from many countries to emigrate to an EU-based country than it was previously. However, with the Spanish Golden Visa, you are still able to obtain a residence permit by investing in Spain.

As long as you hold your investment, you are entitled to both live and work in Spain during this time. These benefits also apply to your spouse and any children under 18 years old. The long process of Brexit has been a complicated time for everyone directly affected, so if you feel like you need more advice on how you can start a new life in Spain, please contact our expert lawyers today and we will happily give you the information you require.

The Spanish Golden Visa is applicable for anyone who is a non-EU, non-EEA, or non-Swiss citizen that is looking to live or work in Spain through investing, as well as their dependant family. Nationals from former Spanish colonies may be able to fast-track their Spanish citizenship with this Visa. There are some requirements that you have to meet in order to obtain this Visa, so the Spanish government can be assured that you and your family are a fit and proper addition for their country.

Firstly, you must be over the age of 18 to apply, without a criminal record. You also must hold valid medical insurance and have evidence of enough funds to support yourself and any family living in the country. If you are not sure whether you qualify for a Spanish Golden Visa, our professional team will be able to give you the information you need to make a clearer judgement. Just give us a call, email us, or fill out our online form for a quick response.

You can apply on behalf of your dependant family members at the same time as submitting your Golden Visa application as the primary investor. This requires providing evidentiary documentation of the family relation, such as a marriage certificate for a spouse or birth certificates for children under 18. Dependants can also include children over 18 or elderly parents, if you can prove that they are unable to provide for themselves (perhaps due to a health condition).

When you are granted a Golden Visa from the Spanish embassy in your country, you have 1 year to travel to Spain and register for a residency permit from the local authority in your area of investment. This permit will be valid for 2 years, then you must renew it every 2 years. If you live continuously in Spain for 6 months a year, for 5 consecutive years, you’ll be eligible to apply for permanent residency.

There are no stay requirements for the Golden Visa, so you do not need to live in Spain, but you do need to travel to the country when your permit renewal is due. If you want to become a permanent resident after 5 years or apply for Spanish citizenship after 10 years, you’ll need to live in the country for at least half the time.

It goes without saying that for the duration of your residence permits and renewals, you must maintain your Golden Visa investment. If you sell or liquidate your investments, you will no longer meet the eligibility requirements, and will therefore lose your Spanish residency. Once you achieve permanent residency or citizenship in Spain, you are free to disband your investments, as you will no longer need to renew your Golden Visa permits.

Unfortunately, you cannot apply for a Golden Visa if the initial investment is not made with your own money. In the case of real estate investment, though the property must be worth at least 500,000€, you must also be able to pay the additional taxes and legal fees that come with property purchases in Spain (totalling around 13% of the property value). However, if you’re purchasing a property worth more than 500,000€ then you can get a loan to finance expenses above this.

If you’re thinking of making a joint investment to get a Golden Visa, all individuals must still meet the minimum investment amount. For example, if you and a friend, family member, or business partner decide to joint-invest in Spanish property, you would still have to put in at least 500,000€ each in order for both parties to meet the Spanish Golden Visa requirements.

It’s possible to make the investment through a company if you have a controlling stake with majority voting rights, but the company must not be based in a tax haven. You must be able to demonstrate your direct control of the company to invest this way. However you choose to make the initial investment, you must maintain it to keep the Golden Visa. This means that if you sell the property you invested in when applying, you will have to re-invest in another 500,000€ of Spanish real estate.

Many people believe that they have to apply for a Golden Visa as soon as possible after meeting the investment requirements, as if the eligibility of their purchase has a time limit. However, the current laws don’t set a deadline on how soon you must submit the application after making an investment.

This means that you can use a Spanish real estate purchase or other qualifying investment dating back as far as 2014. The Spanish Golden Visa laws only came into force at the end of 2013, so any investments that may have otherwise qualified won’t be eligible if they happened earlier than this.

Though there are no time limits between investing in Spain and submitting your application, you’ll still have to meet all the other minimum requirements and provide proof of the investment. Since the law allows you to split the 500,000€ property investment across multiple properties, here is an example: you could have bought a Spanish house in 2021 for 300,000€, then waited a year and bought a Spanish apartment for €200,000 – then you’ll be ready to complete your visa application.