The entrepreneur visa (Startup Visa) is the residence permit granted to non-EU foreigners (from outside the European Union) who want to develop their entrepreneurial business activity in Spain. It is an initial residential for 3 years that you can get as long as you open your totally innovative business in Spanish territory.
This type of visa is mainly a self-employment visa in Spain, designed for the development of a project that is a little more creative and innovative than what exists on the market.
Entrepreneur Visa in Spain in 2023: Requirements
Law 14/2013, the law that regulates all visas under the entrepreneurs law, establishes that the business idea plays a fundamental role in the application process.
Therefore, your business idea must strictly meet 3 main requirements:
- It must be innovative: if your service or product has a large technological component and its operations are based on algorithms or complex logistics operations, you are on the right track.
- The company you intend to create must be of special economic interest to Spain.
- The business must create investment opportunities.
Although the business idea is one of the fundamental parts, the other part is formed by the applicant (the foreign entrepreneur) and his professional profile. The requirements are:
- Demonstrate that they have sufficient training and qualifications to develop the business idea successfully.
- Demonstrate your level of studies and professional career to date.
- Explain the reasons why you have the motivation to open the business and how the idea has been developed.
Entrepreneur Visa in Spain in 2023: Application process
One of the main advantages of this visa is that there are two possible ways to start the procedure:
- You can start the application in your country of origin, sending all the documentation to the Spanish consulate, where they will give you the visa with which you can travel and enter Spain.
- You can get this permit directly from Spain with your tourist visa (or regular stay in the event that your country does not require a visa). This facilitates the process considerably.
In any case, once all the documentation has been sent, there is a 20-day period for the administration to analyze and resolve your request.
If after this period you do not receive a response from the UGE (the institution that manages it), you can appeal to positive silence (that is, your application will be considered an estimate, obtaining the permit without carrying out any type of extra procedure).
Once you have obtained your favorable resolution, you must make an appointment at the immigration office to register your fingerprints.
And finally, after 20-30 days, you will have to return to collect your TIE or physical residence card (providing ID photos, registration, and passport).
In addition, it is important to bear in mind that there is no minimum investment (neither in the company nor in the country in general) to open a business in Spain.
Documents needed to get the Startup Visa in Spain in 2023
The entrepreneur visa is requested at the UGE, the Large Companies and Strategic Sectors Unit located in Madrid.
However, it is not necessary to travel to the Spanish capital to deliver the documentation (it can be done through the electronic office).
The documents that you must provide to the Spanish consulate or the UGE so that your application is presented correctly and completely are the following:
- Complete passport (must be valid at the time of application).
- Private medical insurance without deficiencies or co-payments, contracted with a Spanish company for 1 year.
- Criminal record certificate from all countries in which one has resided during the last 5 years.
- That he/she has his own means to support himself and the business he is going to set up. We are talking about 100% of the IPREM: €7,200 for the main applicant, €5,400 for the spouse, and €3,600 for each child.
- The favorable report according to which your entrepreneurship idea is valid. If the business plan is approved by the Commercial Office, the document can be presented at the corresponding Immigration Office.
- Payment of the relevant fee.
- Application form.
Entrepreneur Visa Renewal
As we have mentioned before, this residence authorization is initially granted for 3 years, instead of 1 year as most residences under the general immigration law.
Therefore, once the 3 years have passed, if you want to continue living in Spain you must renew it.
The renewal consists of the same requirements as at the time of initial application; and it will grant you a card for 2 years (which once finished will be the door to obtain long-term residence, since you will already have been in Spanish territory for 5 years).
The only difference is that in this case there has been enough time to evaluate the performance of your company, so it will be important to justify and demonstrate what its performance is and an equally viable future projection.
This procedure is carried out between 60 days before and 90 days after the expiration of the initial card (although we recommend that you do it as soon as possible).
