How to obtain the resident permission in Spain

The worldwide crisis we have been suffering since the end of 2006 lead to the approval of new legislation in nearly every country within the European Union to attract people with high purchasing power into their country, for this reason, Spain has taken advance of this situation to adopt the Law 14/2013, of the 27^th of September, which supports the entrepreneurs and their internationalization. This Law was approved to increase the investments into our country.

This new Law includes different incentives offered to the foreigners intended to make Spain an attractive country to invest in, it was approved to attract businessman and property investors, as by investing a certain amount of money in our country they could obtain the resident visa for investors, this results quite interesting for the investors, as, if they comply with all the stipulated requirements, it is a way to obtain the resident permission within a short period of time.

The Law says that all foreign person, non-resident in a Member State, which means, those who come from a country out of the European Union (EU), over 18 years old, and who makes a significant investment of capital in Spain, could require a temporary resident visa which will provide the residence in Spain for a period of one year. The concession of this visa will allow living and working in Spain during this period and travel freely around the Schengen Space. This same visa can also be required by the investors spouse and children under age or economically dependent.

It would be considered as a significant investment, within others, the purchase of a property in Spain for an amount of 500.000,00 € or more for each requester, being able to make this investment through a judicial person (company), always if this company complies the conditions of the Spanish legislation.

We have to focus our attention in this sort of investments because it’s the most affordable and attractive detailed in the order, although there are other more complex options to obtain the residence, like for example, a company project accredited as a general interest, the purchase of a public debt for 2.000.000 €, or an investment in shares of a company with a capital for 1.000.000 €.

Regarding the purchase of a property, it´s not necessary to invest the 500.000 € in one sole property, the investor can buy various properties for a total amount of 500.000 €. It´s important to highlight that this amount will not be able to be financed by a Spanish bank, as this is the minimum amount to invest in order to obtain the visa, but on the other side, if the investment is higher, the amount over the 500.000 € could be financed by any public or private Spanish financial office.

Considering we are talking about an investment, there is nothing in the law that prohibits the leasing of the property, so, the owner could rent out the property in his own benefit if he wishes.

For all those who would like to take advantage of this situation, they must know they will need to comply the following conditions:

• The investor cannot be in an irregular legal situation within the Spanish territory.
• The investor must obtain a certificate to prove he doesn’t have any criminal records in Spain or any other country he has resided in for the previous 5 years.
• He must prove that he counts with enough economic resources to stay in the country for the resident period.
• He must pay the corresponding taxes for the visa.
• He must have a private medical insurance with coverage in our territory.
• After making the investment, he must supply a domain certificate of the property, which will be provided by the Property Register, and once he has obtained the certificate, it must be presented to the authorities within the following 90 days.

Once obtained and having passed the visa period, the investor could apply for the ´´Resident Authorization for investors´´, this will allow him to stay in Spain for another 2 years, always if the investment remains in the country, and he must visit Spain at least once a year. Once this extra period has finished, the investor will have the option to apply for another renovation of the visa for 2 more years.

Although you must know that this is a complex procedure and there are a lot of documents required to obtain this visa, and the process must be carried out carefully and each step must be followed, as the minimum mistake could mean the failure to obtain the visa. This is why we always recommend you to get help from expert advisors.

If you have found this article interesting, please feel free to share. And if you would like to receive more information, please come and visit us at our office in Marbella (Malaga), at RUIZ BALLESTEROS Lawyers and Tax Advisors, we would be delighted to answer all your questions.

Note: At the moment, the Schengen States are Spain, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Slovenia, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Island, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Sweden and Switzerland.