What is a Startup Residence Permit

A startup visa is an immigration program that allows a team with an innovative project or idea to obtain a residence permit. In turn, a residence permit allows you to legally live and do business from one to five years, depending on the country. If the project continues to operate, the residence permit is extended for an additional period.

Program participants can move with their families and get the right to work in the country.

It is important for developed countries to attract entrepreneurs, especially those involved in innovative projects. Therefore, these types of visas are often considered as a matter of priority. There is also a tendency to simplify procedures for obtaining this type of visa. Countries can provide preferential terms of taxation, financing and other development support to projects that have received a residence permit on this basis.

An important advantage of a startup visa is that a project may not have a working product or business; many countries consider projects even at the idea stage. Also, if the project is not implemented for some reason, the residence permit is retained.

Who is a Startup residence permit suitable for?
  • Entrepreneurs who want to develop a business in Spain or a global business from Spain
  • Self-employed/hired employees with remote income who are unable to apply for Spain’s digital nomad due to insufficient grounds
  • People who want to obtain a long-term residence permit in a safe jurisdiction, live in Europe, and decide where to go next
The advantages of Spain and the Spanish startup visa
  • A long period of residence permit. Initial for 3 years+extension for 2 more
  • The right to work in Spain for family members
  • One of the quickest retrieval processes
  • One of the highest application approval rates
  • You don’t have to defend your project yourself and report on progress
  • A residence permit issued for 3 years will not be taken away, even if you do not work on the project
Deadlines
3 years
2 years
The process of obtaining a residence permit can be divided into several stages:
  1. Collecting documents and preparing business materials (on average, a month, we do it)
  2. Arrive in Spain and apply online. If the necessary documents are prepared in advance, submission from Spain can be made in a few days. Then you can either stay in Spain while the application is being processed, or fly back
  3. Waiting for approval of the business plan (about 2 months)
  4. Sign up for fingerprints and obtaining a residence permit card (about 2 months)
  5. As a result, the whole journey to a residence permit can take 4-5 months
Yes. After 5 years of living in Spain, it will be possible to apply for permanent residence, and in 10 years for a passport
Yes, it is possible to leave, the main thing is to have a valid Schengen in order to return to Spain
Requirements
  1. Lack of EU citizenship
  2. Over 18 years old
  3. No criminal record
  4. The ability to enter Spain legally (any Schengen for any period)
  5. There are enough financial resources to live in Spain. It is necessary to show €31,752 for the main applicant, + €11,907 for a partner, + €3,969 for each additional family member in a bank account outside the Russian Federation and Belarus
  1. Innovative project
  2. The project is beneficial for the Spanish economy
  3. There is potential for scaling
  4. The team must have no more than 5 applicants (co-founders)
  5. Projects are considered from the idea stage to the stage when the business is already operating
  1. Business plan
  2. Completed application form
  3. A police clearance certificate with an apostille and a notarized translation into Spanish issued by the country of residence or residence where the entrepreneur has lived for more than 6 months during the past two years and a criminal record declaration from the countries where he has lived for the past 5 years
  4. Passport scan with all pages
  5. Bank statement (non-Russian and non-Belarusian) showing that the entrepreneur has at least 31,752 euros in his account for the main applicant
  6. Spanish health insurance
  7. Marriage certificate (if you are married) with an apostille and notarized translation into Spanish
  8. Declaration on maintaining family ties with a marriage partner
  9. Children's birth certificate (if you have children) with an apostille and notarized translation into Spanish
  10. Proof of payment of the submission fee with the NRC number
Additional costs at the stage of applying for a residence permit
  • Payment for Spanish medical insurance (500-1000 euros per person per year) – monthly payment is possible, if you cancel the insurance, no further payment is required (please specify in advance)
  • Visa fee (payable at a Spanish bank) per family member (€75 per person)
  • Document translation fee per family member (about €50 per person)
  • Fee for apostilling documents (about 25 euros per person)