Spain is a country with one of the most attractive lifestyles and climates. The healthcare system, quality of life, and culture make living in Spain one of the best places to live at any time in your life. Spain as a member of the EU offers safety and security to its citizens.
Spain also could be the perfect location for setting up your own business. Spain offers you a huge range of opportunities from being a café owner or tradesperson serving other ex-pats and holidaymakers or starting a new online venture.
It can be a wonderful experience to head to Spain for a healthier way of life or any other of the great reasons for making Spain the best place for you to live and work. Whether you are moving here for a career opportunity, telework, planning for your retirement or are simply looking for a change, Spain is a great choice.
Following Brexit and the end of the transition period, the UK is now considered as a third country so you need a visa to live and/ or work here. One of the visas that you can apply for is the “Golden visa”
The essential requirement for this kind of visa, allowing you to live and work here is that you have to have a minimum investment is 500 000 euros in a property. This investment could be made in one or more properties and could be for private residential or commercial property.
This visa for obtaining Spanish residency can be spread so as to include your direct family, that means spouse and children up to 18 years of age. This visa includes your children over 18 years old who, due to health issues, are not objectively capable of looking after themselves.
Another advantage of this kind of visa is that there is no requirement for minimum yearly stays in order to keep the visa. This means that you can choose how long you want to stay in Spain.
The Golden Visa is granted for a period of 5 years and there is no minimum period of stay abroad to be considered as a non tax resident. Permanent residence will normally be granted after five years if you have followed the rules.
Your property can be sold after five years, after you have achieved permanent residency.
Refusal of this Golden Visa will usually only be justified for having a criminal record.
The applicant must be able to prove that they have travelled to Spain at least once in the first two years and once more in the three subsequent years. You can apply for this visa wherever you live in the world.
You and your family can live, work or study anywhere within the EU. To apply for the Golden Visa must not have entered or stayed illegally in Spanish territory. You must also be aged 18 or over.
In case that you have been refused entry to any of the Schengen countries or you have a criminal record in Spain or your country the Golden Visa will be refused.
You must have public or private health insurance authorised to operate in Spain and also you must have sufficient economic means to cover personal and family living expenses.
As always this isn’t legal advice. If you would like to know more about the Golden Visa here in Spain give us a call or email us at [email protected]. We can also help find the right property for you and act for you in the purchase process. If you wish to deal direct with the seller of a property one of our bilingual team will be able to assist
Marisa Moreno Senior Lawyer and Consul for Denmark
www.justlawsolicitors.com covering the whole of Spain since 1992.
I am a British citizen living in Ottawa Canada and I am looking into retiring to Spain in 2022, any advice on that
Yes, we can help you with the visa and finding buying or renting a property. Please contact us at [email protected]. regards