What is the Golden Visa?

The Golden visa is given to residents in third-world countries and is a type of residency or citizenship offered by various countries to attract foreign investment. Often, individuals can obtain residency or citizenship by making a financial investment such as buying a property, which also is the most usual way to get a Golden Visa. 

By investing a minimum of € 500,000 in real estate you can acquire residency rights in Spain, keeping in mind that you must meet the other requirements.

Requirements to receive the Golden Visa

To be granted a Spanish Golden Visa, it is not enough just to invest. You shall also meet some personal requirements.

• You must be at least 18 years old. The legal age in Spain is 18.
• You must demonstrate that you have adequate financial resources.
  • This means proving that you can cover all living expenses, including residence in Spain and travel costs, for all individuals involved in your Golden Visa application.
• You must have private health insurance.
  • The insurance provider must be authorized to operate in Spain.
  • The insurance should not include any co-payments.
  • The waiting period for hospitalization must be 6 months or less.
  • Travel insurance is not accepted.
• You must not have entered or stayed illegally in Spain.
• You must not have been refused entry to any Schengen country.
• You must have a clean criminal record, both in Spain and in your current country of residence, at least for the last 5 years.

What can you do with a Golden Visa?

With your Golden Visa in Spain, you receive a residency permit, which allows you and your closest relatives to legally live in Spain. Your closest relatives in speaking are.

• Your spouse or partner.
• Your children under 18 years of age.
• Adult children, who are depending on you.
  • Physically or mentally disabled children.
  • Children who are economically dependent on you. These children don’t work nor have they formed a family unit for themself, this needs to be proven.
• Elderly dependent parents. 

You and your close relatives can live in Spain and enjoy the following rights:

• The right to reside in Spain.
• The authorization to work in Spain, whether as a freelancer or an employee.
• The freedom to travel within the Schengen area, which is a group of 26 European countries that have suppressed their international borders, so people can have free and unlimited movement. All 26 countries share common laws and rules to control the borders and crime within the zone.  
• The ability to extend rights and benefits to family members.
• Access to public services such as education and healthcare. You can choose public services which are free of charge and you can choose private which costs. 
• The opportunity to apply for Spanish citizenship after 10 years. However, there are some requirements, such as you must have lived a minimum of 183 days each year in Spain, for the last 10 years.

Path to Citizenship:

If your application is successful, you will first receive the Golden Visa permitting your residency in Spain for one year. During the first year, you must visit Spain and exchange the visa for a residency permit, which will be valid for two years, just as long as you maintain the investment and continue to meet all the requirements. This two-year residency permit is renewable. 

The application process. 

First, you will need to be committed to investing, but the investment doesn’t need to have been performed. 

Then, you need to fill out the application form, along with a list of required documents about yourself, your family and your investment to submit to the embassy, consulate or representative assisting you with the process. These documents need to either be translated into Spanish by a certified translator or originally be in Spanish. 

The documents:

• Spain Visa Application form
• Two passport-size pictures. 
  • 40mm x 30mm – Passport size.
  • No grey colour tones.
  • Head aligned in the middle and the entire face should be visible.
  • White background.
• Photocopy of the personal information page of your passport.
  • The passport must be valid for the initial period, you intend in Spain. 
  • There must be at least two blank pages. 
• A copy of your residence permit, if you are not a citizen of the country you currently live in. 
• Documents that prove you have sufficient income to support your family and yourself, during the intended time spent in Spain.
• Your clean criminal record.
  • It must be issued within three months before the application.
• Proof that you have health insurance.
• Proof of payment of the visa fee.
• The document related to your investment.

Then at last, once the document has been submitted to the authority, you are gonna wait up to 20 days before obtaining a resolution for your Golden Visa. Once the resolution is received, there’s a period of one month, during which you will need to apply for the Golden Visa Spain at the Spanish consulate located in your current country. 

You must also travel to Spain and submit your application with the approval. 

Within one month, you will also need to obtain your TIE (Foreigner’s identity card) and take your fingerprints at a police station. 

FAQ

Can I buy a property in Spain as a US/UK citizen?

Yes, you can buy property in Spain whether you are a UK, US or another third-world country citizen.

Is there another way to get a Golden Visa?

No, you will need to make some kind of investment in Spain and meet all the requirements to get the Golden Visa. There are different kinds of investments and here there are some requirements for the amount spent but the application and personal requirements aren’t different. 

Can I stay longer than 1 year in Spain?

During the first year, once you are in Spain you can exchange the visa for a residency permit, which is valid for two years. After those two years, you will be able to extend your residence permit for another 5 years. No rules saying, how many days you need to spend per year in Spain, it only says that during your period of residence, you do need to have been there at least once. You can extend your residence permit for another 5 years, as many times as you like, as long as you still have your investment.