Spain offers long term residence permits on economic interest under Law 14/2013, so called golden visas. Spain has further expanded the scope of the scheme and these visas are available for various categories not just for real estate investment.
- Investors.
- Entrepreneurs.
- Highly qualified professionals.
- Researchers.
- Workers subject to intra-corporate transfers within the same undertaking or group of undertakings.
Applications for residence permits regulated by Law 14/2013 must be filed through the electronic office of the Ministry of Employment and Social Security.
Investors
Investors must make a significant investment under the following categories
- Public debt (€2 million in Govt bonds, shares and treasury securities)
- Shares (€1 million).
- Investment funds, investment funds of closeend type or venture capital funds set up in Spain (€1 million).
- Bank deposits (€1 million).
- Real estate (€500,000).
- Business projects: there is no minimum investment requirement, they must be of general interest: This must create social and economic impact on the geographical area where they are made. by job creation or significant contribution to scientific and/or technological innovation
Residence Permits
- Real estate assets not formalized: visa/residence permit: 6 months.
- Visa: 1 year.
- Residence permit: 2 years
- Renewal of the residence permit: 5 years.
Extensions or Renewals does not require effective residence in Spain
Fast Processing Times
Spain makes very fast decisions on applications through efficient streamlined processing:
- Visa decisions are made and notified within 10 working days.
- Residence permit decisions are made within 20 working days.
It is also one of the fastest golden visa schemes in Europe
Statistics
In 2018, a total of 10,379 residence authorizations granted under economic interest, of which 21.9% issued to investors.
A total of 2,273 foreign investors were granted residence permits in 2018 for financial assets in real estate and investments category. More than 80% of investments were made into real estate market by Russians and Chinese. Spain is the most popular choice for russian property investors.
Spain Golden visa statistics for 2018 – Flow of residence authorizations to foreigners
| 2018 | Investors |
| China | 790 |
| Russia | 580 |
| Venezuela | 70 |
| India | 8 |
Source: Ministry of Migration, Employment and Social Security
Between 2013 and 2014, a total of 531 visas and/or residence permits were issued, which were distributed as follows: 490 for property investments, 29 for investments in financial assets and 12 for projects in the general interest. These were mainly issued to Russian and Chinese investors, according to the evaluation report published by Spain Government.
Residence permits granted to investors surged by 25% in 2018 compared to the previous year.
Golden Visas approved for investments in Spain from Sep 2013 to 2018.
| Golden Visa Investors | |
| 2014 | 531 |
| 2015 | 646 |
| 2016 | 1206 |
| 2017 | 1804 |
| 2018 | 2273 |
Source: Ministry of Migration, Employment and Social Security Annual Report
