Getting an investor’s residence permit Golden Visa in Spain when buying property

For starters, it is possible to apply for a Golden visa or a residence permit for an investor if the investment in real estate amounts to more than 500,000 euros. It is important that the real estate is acquired after the validity of the Law of Entrepreneurship since the 28th September 2013.

The combination of buying a property allows it to be very diverse: it can be a single property worth 500,000 euros or more, or a combination of different properties, and it does not matter whether residential or commercial real estate has become the subject of the investment. The main condition is that the total value without taxes and fees for the purchase of the real estate ranges between 500,000 euros. The type of property does not matter, it is the amount of investment that gives the right to obtain residency. It is important to keep in mind that when calculating the value of investments, the amount of 500,000 euros must be the net value of property, without taxes (such as VAT or the transfer of the ITP title to the real estate purchased item), or any other implicit sale. The expenses (for notary, real estate agent, real estate registry, lawyer) are not taken into account.

Lets look at specific examples

Example 1.
A client from Alicante bought several properties: an apartment with a value of 100,000 euros, a garage with a cost of 25,000 euros and a commercial property (bar-restaurant) with a value of 375,000 euros. As a result, the amount of the investment amounted to 500,000 euros. Consequently, the amount of the transaction is enough to request a Gold Visa at the Consulate of Spain in the country of residence of the investor, or upon entering Spain.

Example 2.
A client from Marbella, who bought a Town house from a developer for an amount of 517,000 euros, paid no attention to the fact that the final price he paid was 470,000 euros the net value of the property plus 47,000 euros of VAT, which is paid directly to the developer, therefore, to apply for the investor’s residence permit, he must still buy real estate for at least 30,000 euros.

It is also necessary to take into account that when applying for an investor visa and then an investor residence permit, in the case of a family where the distribution of the property is 50% to 50%, either spouse can be an investor, the second spouse can obtain residency as a member of the family of an investor just like minor children. You also have the right to request residence visas and permit for the family members of the investor in this case, the residence permit of the investor and the members of his family can avail of the following opportunities:

• The right to work in Spain.
• The right of residency.
• The right to travel in the Schengen area.

It will be possible to extend the residence permit regardless of whether the investor or his family spent more than 6 months in Spain or not. This is the advantage of this law, which means it is not an obligatory requirement to be in the territory of Spain. To extend it, it is enough for the investor of a 2 years residence permit to visit the sunny country at least once and retain his original investment. The extension of the residence can be requested 60 days before the expiration date of the investor’s card, the second extended card of the investor will be valid for 5 years visa / residence permit for members of the investor’s family. It is worth paying attention to the fact that, in accordance with the amendments to the law of July 2015, adult children who are not married and are in the support of the investor, as well as the civil spouse and the investor’s parents on their dependence can get the residence permit as family members of the investor.
In this case, the residence permit of the investor and the members of his family can avail of the following opportunities:

• The right to work in Spain.
• The right of residence.
• The right to travel in the Schengen area.

It will be possible to extend the residence permit regardless of whether the investor or his family spent more than 6 months in Spain or not. This is the advantage of this law, which does not obligatorily require you to be remain in the territory of Spain. To extend it, it is enough for the investor for 2 years of a residence permit to visit the sunny country at least once and retain his original investment. The extension of the residency can be requested 60 days before the expiration date of the investor’s card, the second extended card of the investor will be valid for 5 years.

Both legal persons and legal entities have the right to purchase real estate and receive residence on their basis. In the case of a legal entity, the right to obtain a residence permit as an investor who owns more than 51% of the shares of the company. In the event that a legal entity makes an investment, this legal entity can not register in the territory of a country that is an offshore zone in relation to Spain. Legal entities from other countries can also invest in real estate.

Example 3. A client from Barcelona is 100% the co-founder of the Spanish company LLL, which acquired land for an amount of 500,000 euros in 2015, the client can request a residence permit from the investor.

Example 4. Peter, Robert, Max opened the company LAS FLORES SL, their shares of the company are 70% for Robert, 15% for Peter and 15 for Max. LAS FLORES SL, in turn, acquired the ground floor of the building for office rental, for a value of 500,000 euros. Consequently, Robert can apply for the investors residence permit as an investor through a legal entity.

Investors who are in the process of acquiring real estate can also apply for a temporary residence permit for an investor (6 months). It is enough to get a deposit contract and show that there are enough funds in the account to make a complete investment. Keep in mind that a residence permit is issued only for 6 months and after the final investment in real estate, you can apply for a residence permit for an investor for 2 years.

Example 5. Maria signed a deposit agreement on the basis of which she made a deposit to the seller for an amount of 50,000 euros (10% of the total value of real estate for an amount of 500,000 euros). The main sale contract will be signed 3 months after the signing of the deposit agreement. Maria can request a temporary residence permit from the investor, if she proves that her account in Spain has the remaining amount of 450,000 euros, plus an additional minimum of 60,000 euros for the costs of its acquisition.

If you have any queries, please contact us here at Pro Spain Consulting.