Details About the Spanish Golden Visa – Investor Visa
Non-EU investors are now allowed to apply for Spanish residency. Find a reliable Spanish real estate agent like Coldwell Banker and be in touch with them before you even set foot in Spain. You can do some research online and get a rough idea of the area where you prefer to invest. Plan a trip to Spain to go property hunting.
Since changes in regulations there are now four types of Golden Visa – Investor Visa; Entrepreneur Visa; Highly Qualified Professional Visa and Expat Visa.
Once you have chosen your ideal property you will need to pay a holding deposit which effectively takes the property off the market. This deposit can be a percentage of the property value or about €5,000-€10,000.
Spanish Investment Visa
This is a one year visa granted after you have made a purchase of €500,000 in Spanish property. With this visa you can spend one year in Spain and travel freely in the Schengen countries of the EU for up to 90 days out of 180 days. There is no minimum time that you have to spend in Spain during the year however if at the end of the first year you want to apply for a residency permit you will have to show that you have visited Spain at least once in that year.
Investor Visa Requirements
You need to make a minimum investment of €500,000 of your own money. In addition you will require about 12%-15% for the incidental fees like lawyers, realtor fees, tax, stamp duty, notary and VAT. Lawyers usually take about €1,500 plus 21% VAT for handling the Investor Visa application. You may invest the whole €500,000 in one property or several properties. If you are a major share holder in a company you may be able to make the purchase through your company. If you need to borrow some of the money for the purchase it should be from a country other than Spain. Since the recent changes in the Golden Visa laws your immediate family, including spouses, life-partners, children up to 18 years old, older children who are economically dependent and elderly parents who are economically dependent on you can also be granted the visa when you apply for one. You and your family will have the right to work in Spain from the moment you receive your visa. There is no minimum stay required in Spain and you don’t need to renew the Spanish visa within five years. As there is no minimum stay in Spain there is no need to be a registered resident tax payer. With the Golden Visa you have unlimited travel in the EU Shengen countries. Usually only those with a criminal record are rejected when applying for a Spanish Investment Visa.
Once you have signed your purchase agreement you can apply for the Golden Visa. The Investment Visa will take 10-15 days.
Initially you will receive the investment visa for two years and if after that time you are still the owner of Spanish property you can apply for an additional three years and then another five years. You can apply for permanent residency after the additional five years of permanent residency. To gain permanent residency you will have to prove that you visited Spain once in those two years and at least once in the following three years. After the first 5 years you and your family can work, live and study anywhere in the EU.
Residency Permit
After the first year of your Investment Visa you can apply for a residence visa for two years. This can be renewed indefinitely so long as you maintain your €500,000 investment in Spain. You will also need to show that you have traveled to Spain at least once in the previous 12 months however there is no minimum length of stay and you can conduct real estate purchases and sales within that time.
Long Term Residency
After five years of residency you can apply for permanent residency; after 10 years you can apply for Spanish citizenship. For this you will need to show that you have lived in the country for at least six months.
Staying in Spain Long Term
After your first five years of residency you can apply for permanent residency. After ten years you can apply for Spanish citizenship.
One you have relieved your permanent residency you are free to sell your property and are not required to maintain ownership of property in Spain.
Note that residency is different to citizenship – residency grants you the right to live in Spain and travel freely to Spain and other Schengen countries in the EU. Citizenship can be applied for later and allows you to reside in other EU countries as well as Spain.
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Spain has been an attractive location for foreign property investors for many years partly due to the Spanish Golden Visa; a visa of residence granted to any foreigner who has bought property worth at least €500,000. Recently the regulations regarding the Golden Visa have been tweaked and experts are saying that these changes will be to the advantage of future property buyers in Spain. The Spanish residency investor scheme or Golden Visa has generated almost €800 million in property investments in Spain from non-EU property buyers. Whether it is a good thing that foreigners can “buy” themselves residency by purchasing Spanish property is up for debate. The Golden Visa is not without its limitations, the residency it grants has restrictions but it can start you off on the long road towards permanent Spanish citizenship. The Golden Visa was originally introduced in 2013 in an effort to attract foreign investment and stimulate the property market in Spain following the infamous property market crash of 2007.
Read more about changes to the Spanish Golden Visa scheme....
Was the Initiation of the Spanish Property Golden Visa a Success?
The Golden Visa took off slowly at first attracting only the bravest of investors. Others stayed away, wary of any pitfalls the new law might hold and waiting to see if the scheme worked out. Many investors were scared off by the bureaucracy involved in obtaining the Golden Visa and the complex procedure they would have to go through. After a slow start with just 530 investors the scheme took off and has since attracted many property investors as well as the average man-on-the-street looking for a new life abroad. Most of the initial investors were from Russia, China and the Arab nations. However the Spanish government realized that they needed to simplify the scheme and make it more appealing to potential investors so they initiated some much-needed changes. The largest potential investment market is China and the Chinese felt that the Golden Visa scheme in Spain wasn’t as attractive as similar schemes offered in other EU countries. The potential investors felt like obstacles were being put in their path every step of the way. The government felt the need to sweeten the deal and so certain minor, yet significant changes were made to the Golden Visa laws.
Golden Visa Adjustments:
· The Golden Visa residency permit now includes the right to work in Spain.
· Common law partners, grown children, economic dependents and parents can now be included in the Golden Visa.
· Once there is a deposit contract (arrass) and funds in a Spanish bank you can now get a six month visa.
· The visa need only be renewed every five years and there is no need to physically be in the country in order to renew it. In the past it needed to be renewed every two years.
· You can request a residency permit from Spain rather than having to get an investor visa from abroad first.
· The investor no longer needs to leave Spain during the process or requesting or renewing.
Other Golden Visa Schemes
Spain wasn’t the first European nation to try out the Golden Visa scheme; Portugal began a similar scheme in 2012 attracting a high number of keen investors while Hungary also saw several thousand investors taking advantage of the Hungarian version of the Golden Visa. Again with Portugal and Hungary the investors were mainly from the East, Eastern Europe and the Arab nations.
Facts and Figures about the Spanish Golden Visa Property Investment Scheme
Since 2013 when the Golden Visa was launched and August 2015 11,411 Golden Visas have been issued generating foreign investment in Spain to the tune of €2,173 million. 5,856 of the Golden Visas granted were to property investors and 5,555 were to families. Figures continue to rise proving that the few minor adjustments to the Golden Visa scheme have made it more accessible and attractive to foreign investors.
