Updates: 1st September, 2015, 09:05 AM PST
Golden Visa - Spain residence permit for Non-EU citizens
After approval by both Houses of the Spanish Parliament and publication in the Bank of Spain’s Official Gazette, the law allowing non-EU investors to apply for Spanish residency.
Here you can see the amending Spanish law 14/2013, of 27 September, to support entrepreneurs and internationalization, the official newsletter no. 180, Wednesday July 29, 2015 Section I. page 64529 BOLETÍN OFICIAL DEL ESTADO.
SERVICES OFFERED TO GOLDEN VISA CUSTOMERS BUYING THROUGH SPAIN-PROPERTY.COM:
- Four star hotel accommodation for up to 10 nights, for you and a family member.
- Airport drop-off and pick-up with transfers to your accommodation.
- Dedicated Property Consultant to guide you around your chosen location.
- Professional help to find the right property in the right area, for you and your family.
- Introduction of external lawyer and other professionals independent from Spain-property.com for any legal or fiscal service.
- When all legal matters concerning the property purchase and Golden Visa is completed, we will refund you the entire cost of the hotel room, If your entire purchase is made through Spain-property.com.
THIS IS THE FIRST STEP IN THE STANDARD PROCEDURE:
- You start up the procedure, by download and filling out this application APPLICATION FOR SCHENGEN VISA.
- Remember to apply for a business visa.
- Initially you should just send it to us as a draft along with a copy of your passport.
- Once you know the date for arrival and departures in Spain we will help you to fill in the rest if anything have to be corrected.
- In addition to the application should be submitted an invitation letter from the lawyer you are assigned, and who will take care of the Golden Visa procedure in Spain.
BEFORE YOU COME TO SPAIN:
Before your travel to Spain you should get to know which region of Spain is the best place for you and your family. Your viewing tour will depend on how well you know the region. Depending on your requirements, we will show you round of some different areas, looking at local facilities, schools, university, golf, banks, beaches, shopping center, etc, - whatever you’d like to see.
FINDING YOUR PERFECT SPANISH HOME OR INVESTMENT:
We recommend you spend at least two, three days viewing properties. When your decision is to go ahead and buy, you just have to pay a holding deposit to take the property off the market. Normally € 5- 10,000.
ESSENTIAL RULES OF SPANISH INVESTMENT VISA:
- The minimum investment must be at least € 500,000.
- On top of the purchase price you need to add 11 - 12%, which goes to the normal purchase costs, which includes, tax, stamp duty, VAT, notary and lawyer.
- Investments may be spread over several properties for a total purchase price of at least € 500,000.
- You can do your investment via a foreign company if you can prove that you own the majority of this company.
- There is a certain flexibility to borrow part of the money you need from your home country or from a country outside Spain.
- Spanish residence visas may be issued to the immediate family, including spouse or non married partners.
- Spanish residence visas may be issued to children up to 18 years, economically dependent adult children and economically dependent parents.
- The act also includes your children over 18 years old who, due to health issues, are not objectively capable of looking after themselves..
- There is no requirement for minimum stays ordering to renew the visa. This means that it is optional to stay in Spain.
- The Spanish visa does not need to be renewed within five years.
- As there is no law on minimum stay is not necessary to be tax resident.
- Permanent residence will be granted after five years if you have followed the rules.
- Your property investment can be sold after five years when you have achieved permanent residency.
- The visa allows access to unlimited travel throughout the EU Schengen visa countries.
- You can obtain visas from the moment of signing the contract of sale (unregistered deeds).
- The official documentation for investment visa will not take more than ten, maximum 15 working days herreafter.
- The first card is issued for two years but the next 5 years if the investment is held.
- You and your family which is covered under the Golden Visa will have the right to work in Spain from the first day.
- Refusal of Spanish investment visa will usually only be justified by an unclean criminal record.
- Spanish citizenship will be given after an additional five years of permanent residency.
- The applicant must be able to prove that having traveled to Spain at least once in the first two years, and once more in the three subsequent years.
- While a Spanish citizen you automatically get an European citizenship.
- After 5 years, the family can live, work or study anywhere in Europe within the EU.
- A recommended lawyer will take care of the application for residence, and the full Golden Visa program, residence for the family, etc. The totally cost for this is € 1,500 + 21% VAT.
- If the same lawyer takes care of both the property purchase and the application for the Golden Visa residence, you will be able to save the above mentioned cost.
THE APPLICANT MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS:
- Not to have entered or stayed illegally in Spanish territory.
- Have to be 18 years or over.
- Not to have been refused entry in any of the Schengen countries.
- Have public or private health insurance authorized to operate in Spain.
- Have sufficient economic means to cover personal and family living expenses.
- Proof of the investment must be made through a Registry of Property certificate attesting ownership. Or, if the ownership title is not yet registered, via a copy of the acquisition public deed and proof of filing the deed in the Registry.
A family or a person from a Non-EU country can as investor get a Spanish residency Golden Visa through the purchase of a property in Spain, please contact us for MORE INFORMATION.
It should be noted that we can provide all necessary advice and services free of charge for persons / investors who are buying through the Real Estate Portal, Spain-property.com.
Please visit our selection of more than 3,500 qualifying Spanish homes at SPAIN-PROPERTY.COM, all over € 500,000. You can also visit this site of COMMERCIAL INVESTMENT PROPERTY which allows to obtain Golden Visa.
Since you can invest in several properties with a minimum investment of € 500,000, you can look into this site with APARTMENTS, this site with TOWNHOUSES, or this site with VILLAS, all under € 500,000.
Residency in Spain is granted under the new investor visa for investors spending a minimum of 500,000 Euros on a real estate property purchase. Residency means the right to live in Spain and travel freely to Spain which is within the Schengen visa area of Europe. It does not grant citizenship, which can be applied for at a later date. Citizenship in Spain can lead to residency in other European countries.
Residency in Spain under the golden investor visa program allows a real estate investor and his or her immediate family to live in Spain. The legislation has no minimum period of residence. Hence an investor can buy a property in Spain, travel freely to Spain at any point and his or her family can do the same. The family can live in Spain permanently, with access to schools both state and private following the English curriculum. Eventually citizenship can grant access to study elsewhere at universities in Europe including the UK.
RESIDENCE VISA FOR INVESTORS (YEAR 1):
First of all you get an ordinary 90-day visa so you can come to Spain to search for property, and once in Spain you sign a power of attorney (poder) giving your lawyer power to act on your behalf in the conveyancing and residency process.
However, if you don’t have time to come to Spain, and you have found a property that you are prepared to buy without visiting, you can organise a power of attorney from your home country (this is not possible from all countries) giving your lawyer power to act on your behalf in the conveyancing and residency process. Your lawyer can then buy the property on your behalf, so you don’t even have to come to Spain at this stage.
One you have bought a property that meets the investment criteria (more than €500,000 on the deeds), you need to apply for a one-year investor visa, which allows you to spend a year in Spain, and travel freely in the Schengen area for 90 days out of every 180 days. Your lawyer can get this for you.
Once you have obtained this visa, you are not obliged to spend a minimum amount of time in Spain during the year. However, to get the residency permit at the end of the year, you do have to visit Spain at least once in the year. So, do not apply for the one-year investor visa until you are sure that you will be coming to Spain in the next 12 months.
This one-year investor visa will be authorised in Diplomatic Missions and Consular Spanish Offices and can be issued for one, two or multiple entries into Spain.
These visa applications shall be processed and notification sent within 10 working days, except in case of applicants subject to prior consultation.
RESIDENCE AUTHORIZATION FOR INVESTORS (YEARS 2 TO 5 OR MORE):
Once an investment has been made, and after the first year, investors can apply for authorization to live in Spain for two years, renewable for another two years after that (and on), so long as the investment threshold of €500,000 is maintained (see below). For this application you have to be show that you have travelled to Spain at least once in the previous 12 months.
There is no limit to the amount of times this two-year residency can be renewed.
Properties can be bought and sold during this period, so long as the investment threshold is maintained.
There is no obligation to spend a minimum amount of time in Spain, so investors can remain tax resident outside of Spain, whilst benefiting from Spanish residency and the freedom of unlimited travel and stays in the EU.
Processing and granting the residence will be done by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Applications will be responded to within 20 working days from the submission of the application. If there is no answer in this period, the application shall be considered as accepted. The formal answer to the application can take up to 6 months, but in theory the application is considered accepted if there is no answer in 20 days.
LONG-TERM RESIDENCE AND SPANISH NATIONALITY (YEAR 5 ONWARDS, OPTIONAL):
After five years of continuous residence, investors can apply for permanent residence in Spain.
Likewise, after ten years of residence, Spanish nationality can be requested. In such cases, an effective justification of at least six months of residence must be provided, (unless due cause exists).
PROPERTY INVESTMENT - INVESTMENT THRESHOLD:
The investment threshold for real estate is €500,000 or more per investor.
To apply for residency, proof of the investment(s) must be provided with a Property Registry filing (certificate). If this certificate is not yet available, then the notarized deeds and proof that the deeds have been submitted to the Property Registry must be provided.
The investment can be comprised of:
- One or several properties.
- Of a residential, touristic, rural, commercial or industrial nature
- Rural land, developed land, buildings under construction, or decrepit buildings
FINANCING:
Investors must use at least €500,000 of their own funds, which must come from transparent sources that comply with existing legislation on money laundering and so on. Above that threshold there is no limit to debt financing, for instance with a mortgage in Spain.
How to move to Spain without Golden Visa: CLICK HERE
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