Residence permit and visa in Spain

We recommend immigrants to always remain legal while residing in Spain. Do not enter the country without the required paperwork. There is a large population of illegal immigrants and this is a politically sensitive issue so there are efforts being made to prevent entry and to find and deport people living illegally in the country.

A non-EU citizen will need a visa to enter Spain, except if there exists an agreement between Spain and the foreign home country that indicates that a visa is not required. Applications for a residence visa must be placed before the Spanish Consulate of your home country before you
intend to enter Spain. They are handled by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y de Cooperación) through this Consulate office.
There are different types of visas, which are issued depending on what is your purpose for entering Spain: studying, working, tourism, investment, etc. Therefore, you should apply for your visa according to your needs. You will be required to produce specific documentation, depending on the type of visa you need and, afterwards, the visa-process will take some months depending on each case.

Regarding Self Employed

• We can apply and assist in obtaining a work and residency permit for any person with sufficient financial means to open a business in Spain.
• We offer advice in greater detail as to favorable business projects for residency application purposes.
• We can also introduce our clients to reputable independent agencies specialized in the purchase of suitable and appropriate existing businesses.
• Certificate of proof of financial means: In order to obtain this certificate, LABE Abogados will open a bank account for you in a high street bank where you will be able to deposit your funds. We will require a limited power of attorney to do so (but not to operate it) and to apply to the bank for the certificate proving that the funds have been lodged in accounts in the name of the applicants. As soon as the bank certificate is issued, you can export these funds back to your home country at any time, if you wish.
• Business Plan: We require the applicant to submit us a business plan which should mention the following: investors’ background, business description, initial investment, projections on the number of Spanish employees, targets and area of business. We recommend investors to form a Spanish S.L. Company as a corporate vehicle (Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada), with a minimum required start up share capital of 3,006 € (can be capitalized with movable goods or cash) and the shares being distributed between the investors. There are no restrictions for foreign nationals of any country to own shares in companies in Spain. For this, we will also require a power of attorney. The same one obtained for the Certificate of proof of financial means will work, soliciting that it also allows us to: incorporate companies, accept posts of administrators/directors in your name and take all necessary steps for the full registration of the said company in the appropriate provincial Companies House. This power of attorney should also authorize us to apply for your NIE number (Foreign Identification Numbers).

Current Spanish legislation determines that all applications are to be filed in the Consulate of the country of residency of the applicant. Therefore, it is necessary to assemble all the required paperwork prior to filing the application, which we recommend doing following the procedural steps explained below. These steps are to be carried out by LABE Abogados and the Applicant, simultaneously, in order to speed up the process.

Regarding Salaried Work or Trusted Corporate Role

• Our specialized lawyers will analyze individually the case and will comment on the most important aspects
  concerning this type of residency, in particular, the gathering of the documentation.
• Once the necessary documentation has been gathered, the file will be submitted to the Foreigners Department of the province of the company address. The Foreigners Department will analyze the paperwork submitted by the company (employer) in order to verify if the legal requisites have been complied with.
• Immigration lawyers from LABE Abogados will be in touch with the Spanish immigration authorities to make sure the file is acted upon and to maximize a successful outcome.
• Our office will advise as soon as the application is decided upon.
• On successful outcome of the application, the applicant must request a visa in the Consulate, within one month.
  from approval.
• Once the applicant is in Spain, it is necessary to apply for the residency card, within one month from arrival. You can also download our guide in PDF «Spain Live & Work«