Golden Visa – Spanish Residence by investing 500,000€ in Spanish Real Estate

• October 28, 2014

International investors can now gain a residency visa for Spain through the purchase of Spanish property. The visa is available to anyone investing a minimum of 500,000 Euros in property.

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 or properties in Spain.

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.

ESSENTIAL RULES OF SPANISH INVESTMENT VISA:

1. The minimum investment must be at 500,000€.
2. On top of the amount of investment you need to add 11 – 12%, which goes to the purchase cost, including tax, stamp duty, VAT, notary and lawyer.
3. Investments may be spread over several properties for a total purchase price of at least 500,000€.
4. Spanish residence visas may be issued to the immediate family, including spouse and children up to 18 years.
5. There is no requirement for minimum stays ordering to renew the visa. This means that it is optional to stay in Spain.
6. The Spanish visa does not need to be renewed within five years.
7. As there is no law on minimum stay is not necessary to be tax resident.
8. Permanent residence can be granted after five years if you have followed the rules.
9. Your property investment can be sold after five years when you have achieved permanent residency.
10. The visa allows access to unlimited travel throughout the EU Schengen visa countries.
11. The entire application procedure for investment visa applicants will not take more than twenty days.
12. Investments must be documented before applying for Spanish investment visa.
13. Refusal of Spanish investment visa will usually only be justified by an unclean criminal record.
14. Spanish citizenship can be given after an additional five years of permanent residency.
15. 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.
16. While a Spanish citizen you automatically get an European citizenship.
17. After this time (2 x 5 years), the family can live, work or study anywhere in Europe within the EU.
18. We recommended lawyer to take care of the application for residence, and the full Golden Visa program, residence for the family, etc. The totally cost for this is ~ € 1,800 + 21% VAT.

THE APPLICANT MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS:

1. Not to have entered or stayed illegally in Spanish territory.
2. Have to be 18 years or over.
3. Not to have been refused entry in any of the Schengen countries.
4. Have public or private health insurance authorized to operate in Spain.
5. Have sufficient economic means to cover personal and family living expenses.
6. 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.

RESIDENCE VISA FOR INVESTORS (YEAR 1)
First 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 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 organize 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 obtain 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 authorized 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.