Investor Visa Application
What is an investor visa?
Through this procedure you can apply for a visa authorization. If granted, you will obtain a 1-year permit to, if you wish, reside and work throughout the national territory.
These authorizations are regulated by Law 14/2013 on support for entrepreneurs and their internationalization, which facilitates entry and stay in Spain for reasons of economic interest, including for investors, among others.
Benefits
Foreign nationals who are not resident in the EU and who make a significant capital investment in one of the following forms:
- Initial investment ≥ €1 million in Spanish public debt securities, shares, investment funds, or bank deposits with Spanish entities.
- Acquisition of real estate in Spain.
- Business project (investors with a business project).
If you apply for the visa as a legal entity:
- Make an investment of €500,000 or more in real estate.
- Make an initial investment of at least:
- €2 million in Spanish public debt securities.
- €1 million in shares or equity interests of Spanish capital companies carrying out a real business activity.
- €1 million in investment funds, closed-end investment funds, or venture capital funds incorporated in Spain.
- €1 million in bank deposits with Spanish financial institutions.
Submit a business project to be carried out in Spain that is considered and accredited as being of general interest.
General documentation:
- Completed, dated and signed national visa application form.
- Recent passport-style photo with a white background.
- Original, stamped documentation enabling verification of regular and sufficient income, or proof of assets that guarantee income.
- Financial means to cover living expenses during the period of residence in Spain, according to the following thresholds: for the applicant’s maintenance, monthly 400% of IPREM, and for family members 100% of IPREM.
If you apply for the visa as a natural person:
- For the acquisition of real estate in Spain:
- Certificate showing continuous information on ownership and encumbrances from the corresponding Land Registry. The certificate must not be older than three months.
- Deed of sale executed before a notary, original and photocopy.
- If, at the time of applying, registration of the acquisition in the Land Registry is still in process, it will be sufficient to submit the above certificate showing that the filing entry is still valid, together with documentation proving payment of the corresponding taxes.
- If you are a foreign national applicant and you have not completed the purchase, but there is a pre-contract with a guarantee through a deposit (arras) or another legally accepted means formalized in a deed, you must submit such pre-contract along with a certificate from a financial institution established in Spain proving that the applicant holds an unavailable bank deposit for the required amount.
- If the investment is made as a married couple under a community property regime (gananciales) or similar, and the investment does not reach at least double the applicable thresholds, it will be deemed to have been made by one spouse, and the other may apply for a residence visa as a family member.
- For investment in financial assets, you must prove that you have made the investment for the minimum required amount as follows:
- For investment in unlisted shares or equity interests: submit the investment declaration filed with the Investments Registry of the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness.
- For investment in listed shares: submit a certificate from the financial intermediary, duly registered with the Spanish Securities Market Commission (CNMV) or the Bank of Spain, stating that the interested party has made the investment for the purposes of this regulation.
- For investment in public debt: submit a certificate from the financial institution or the Bank of Spain stating that you are the sole holder of the investment for a period of 5 years or more.
- For investment in investment funds, closed-end investment funds or venture capital funds incorporated in Spain, duly registered with the CNMV: submit a certificate stating that the interested party has made an investment of at least €1 million in one or more funds under its management.
- For investment in a bank deposit: submit a certificate from the financial institution confirming that you are the sole holder of the bank deposit.
- These certificates must be dated no more than 60 days prior to submission of the application.
- For investment in business projects:
- Business Project Report Application Form.
- Copy of ID document or passport.
- If you are not the applicant, attach the authorization document allowing you to submit documentation on their behalf, together with your ID/passport.
- Applicant’s CV detailing education and professional experience.
- Business project to be developed in Spain, justifying at least one of the following conditions:
- Job creation.
- Investment with a relevant socioeconomic impact in the geographical area where the activity will be carried out.
- Relevant contribution to scientific and/or technological innovation.
- Appointment of a Representative for Business Project Management.
If you apply for the visa as a legal entity:
- Report proving that the visa beneficiary directly or indirectly holds the majority of voting rights and has the power to appoint or remove the majority of members of the managing body.
- Not to be in an irregular situation in Spanish territory.
- Be over 18 years of age.
- No criminal record in Spain or in the countries where the applicant has resided during the last two years, for offences under Spanish law. Additionally, a sworn declaration of no criminal record during the last five years must be submitted.
- Not to be listed as inadmissible in the territory of countries with which Spain has signed an agreement to that effect.
- Hold public or private health insurance contracted with an insurance company authorized to operate in Spain.
- Have sufficient financial resources for yourself and your family members during your period of residence in Spain.
- Pay the fee for processing the authorization or visa.
Steps to follow
Step 1. Request and submission of the project assessment report
Download, complete and sign one of the reports, depending on whether you will process it as a natural person or a legal entity:
Once completed, you must submit the project assessment report to the corresponding Spanish Economic and Trade Office.
Step 2. Visa application and fee payment
Go to the “Embassies and Consulates” section of the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation and download, complete and sign the national visa application form, specifying the reason for travel. If travelling with family members, you must submit one application per family member.
After completing the application form, you must pay the fee at banks, savings banks and credit cooperatives. The fee amount depends on the applicant’s circumstances.
Step 3. Appointment and submission of documentation
You must submit the visa application in person. Exceptionally, for duly justified reasons, it may be permitted for the application to be submitted through an accredited representative.
To submit visa documentation at the consular office, you must book an appointment in advance.
Step 4. Notification
Once the documentation has been submitted and the corresponding fee paid, the residence visa will be issued within 10 working days, and you may collect it from the relevant consular office or receive it at your home address.
Leave the country immediately.
Under the general immigration regime, the following family members may be reunited (minimum 1 year of residence, plus an application by the sponsoring person for an additional year of residence):
The foreign national may reunite the following family members in Spain:
a) Their spouse, provided they are not separated in fact or by law and the marriage has not been entered into fraudulently. Under no circumstances may more than one spouse be reunited, even if the foreign national’s personal law allows this type of marriage. A foreign resident who is married in second or subsequent marriages may only reunite the new spouse and their family members if they prove that the dissolution of the previous marriages took place after a legal procedure establishing the situation of the former spouse and their family members in relation to the common dwelling, spousal maintenance and child support for dependent minor or adult children.
b) The person with whom they maintain an affective relationship analogous to marriage. For these purposes, such a relationship is deemed to exist when:
- 1.º The relationship is registered in a public registry established for that purpose and the registration has not been cancelled; or
- 2.º The validity of an unregistered relationship is proven, established prior to the start of the sponsor’s residence in Spain. For these purposes, without prejudice to any legally admissible means of proof, documents issued by a public authority will prevail. The provisions applicable to spouses in the second and third paragraphs of section (a) above also apply here. The situations of marriage and an analogous affective relationship are incompatible for these purposes.
c) Their children, or those of their spouse/partner, including adopted children, provided they are under 18 at the time of application, or have a disability and are objectively unable to provide for their own needs due to their health condition. Where the children belong to only one spouse/partner, it is additionally required that such person exercises sole parental authority or has been granted custody and that the children are effectively dependent on them. In the case of adopted children, it must be proven that the adoption decision contains the elements necessary to produce effects in Spain.
d) Persons legally represented by the sponsor when they are under 18 at the time of application or have a disability and are objectively unable to provide for their own needs due to their health condition, provided that the legal act giving rise to the representative powers is not contrary to the principles of the Spanish legal system.
e) First-degree ascendants (parents) of the sponsor or of the spouse/partner, when they are dependent, over 65, and there are reasons justifying the need to authorize their residence in Spain. Exceptionally, for humanitarian reasons, ascendants under 65 may be reunited if they meet the remaining requirements. Humanitarian reasons may be deemed to exist, among other cases, when the ascendants lived with the sponsor in the country of origin at the time the latter obtained the authorization; when they are incapacitated and guardianship has been granted by the competent authority in the country of origin to the foreign national or to the reunified spouse/partner; or when they are objectively unable to provide for their own needs.
Humanitarian reasons will also be deemed to exist when the ascendant family member of the sponsor (or of the spouse/partner) is the spouse/partner of the other ascendant family member and the latter is over 65. In such case, family reunification residence authorization applications may be submitted jointly; however, applying the age-requirement exception for the ascendant under 65 will be conditional upon the authorization of the other ascendant being granted. If the competent body has doubts about the existence of another exception, it will request a prior consultation from the Directorate-General for Immigration.
Family members will be considered dependent on the sponsor when the sponsor proves that, at least during the last year of their residence in Spain, they have transferred funds or covered expenses for the family member representing at least 51% of the per capita GDP, calculated annually, of the family member’s country of residence, in accordance with the indicators established by Spain’s National Statistics Institute.
Foreign nationals holding a long-stay visa or a residence permit issued by a Member State may, on the basis of that permit and a valid travel document, move freely for up to three months in any six-month period within the territory of the other Member States, provided that:
- They meet the entry conditions set out in points (a), (c) and (e) of Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/399 (Schengen Borders Code); and
- They are not included in the national list of non-admissible persons of the Member State concerned.
Entry conditions include:
- Holding a valid travel document that entitles the holder to cross the border and that:
- will remain valid for at least three months after the intended date of departure from the territory of the Member States (in duly justified emergencies this requirement may be waived);
- was issued within the previous ten years;
- Holding documents justifying the purpose and conditions of the intended stay and having sufficient means of subsistence for the intended stay and for return to the country of origin, or transit to a third country where admission is guaranteed, or being in a position to acquire such means lawfully.
- Not being recorded as non-admissible in the Schengen Information System (SIS).
- Not posing a threat to public policy, internal security, public health or the international relations of any Member State, and in particular not being recorded as non-admissible in national databases of any Member State for the same reasons.
- It should also be noted that a Member State may impose by law an obligation for third-country nationals to declare their presence in its territory, in accordance with Article 22 of the Schengen Convention. Spain has imposed this obligation.
Initial applications for the entrepreneur visa are processed at the Spanish consulate in the country of residence, by submitting the national visa form and the required documentation.
Applications for residence authorizations under Law 14/2013 must be submitted through the electronic headquarters of the Ministry of Employment and Social Security, where you can find all information on electronic processing:
https://sede.administracionespublicas.gob.es/procedimientos/index/categoria/34
Depending on the type of authorization, the applicant may be:
- For initial authorizations:
- In the case of investors and entrepreneurs, the foreign national themselves.
- For highly qualified professionals, researchers or intra-company transfers, the company or entity requiring the foreign national’s services.
- For family authorizations:
- If submitted together with the main holder’s application, the applicant will be the holder (investors/entrepreneurs) or the company/entity (highly qualified professionals, researchers or intra-company transfers).
- If submitted at another time, it may be one of the above or the family member themselves.
- Renewals are submitted by the foreign national who holds the authorization (family members renew their own authorization).
Applications may be submitted by the interested party or through a representative.
National visa application forms are available on the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, under the “Embassies and Consulates” section. The official form to be submitted is the National Visa Application Form.
During residence in Spain, the foreign national must have healthcare coverage, either through the public healthcare system or private insurance.
Proof of insurance is not required when there is an expectation that the foreign national (and their family members) will be insured under the National Health System, due to registration with Social Security as a result of an employment contract or professional relationship.
In the case of entrepreneurs, if the activity is not to be started immediately, limited-validity insurance policies (e.g., travel insurance, often valid for three months) are accepted.
In other cases, public or private health insurance must be taken out with an insurance company authorized to operate in Spain, providing coverage equivalent to that of the National
Health System and for the duration of the authorization or at least one renewable year (travel insurance is not valid).
For queries regarding Social Security contributions, you may consult the relevant website.
The law does not set a specific amount or specific documentation. Therefore, you may prove sufficient financial means by any legally admissible evidence, for example: a job offer, payslips, updated average annual bank account balances, deposits, etc.
All documents must be translated into Spanish. Foreign public documents must also bear the Hague Apostille or, failing that, be legalized through diplomatic channels.
More information on document legalization can be found at the relevant link.
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