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Hello, I am in Spain right now and doing my research on Spain Golden Visa scheme. I read that by buying minimum 500k euros worth of Spanish properties, I would get renewable residency permits that after five years lead to PERMANENT residency and after 10 years lead to Spanish citizenship.
I was told that the investor would NOT have to reside in Spain, and only make occasional visits to renew his/her residency permit.
But I’m finding out that the opposite is true. I’ve been told in order to get PERMANENT residency after five years, authorities expect the investor to have lived in Spain at least 10 months of each of the preceding five years! I was further told that this is one of the major differences between the Golden Visa schemes of Spain and Portugal. Portugal only requires annual 7-day or 14-day visits but to get PERMANENT residency in Spain (and not just renewable residency permits), one has to actually live in Spain.
But most of the websites promoting Spain’s scheme are not mentioning this requirement for permanent residency in order to get permanent residency permit.
I am writing to hopefully get a definitive answer. Please clarify whether the above information is correct.
Thank you in advance.
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According to Engel & Volckers, you do not need to reside in Spain for any specific period of time. You only need to maintain your investment of €500,000. “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.”
Sotheby’s agrees – no minimum stay required.
https://www.barcelona-sothebysrealty.com/residence-permit-golden-visa-spain
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Hello,
You are correct.
The way I look at it: with 570k euros (500k + tax & fees) the non-resident investor is just buying TEMPORARY visa-free travel to Europe. That’s all and even that goes away if you sell the investment. The investor is not building toward a future of not having to worry about renewing residency permits every two years.
But look at the marketing and it can give you the opposite impression. For a long time I thought spending 570k would give me the right to apply for permanent residency after five years. NO. Permanent residency is offered only to investors who live in Spain.
So if you have to live here anyway, why even bother invest the money when you can do it through the non-lucrative Type-D visa?
For the person who wants a solid future in Europe but can’t live in Spain, the Golden Visa scheme does not make sense.
But the marketing makes you think it does. I’d say the Spanish have devised a very clever trick.
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