Startup Visa Spain

A residency permit. "Startup visa" and "entrepreneur visa" are the words people search for, and we use them on this page for the same reason, but the law calls it residencia para emprendedores — the Startup residency permit.

The distinction is practical rather than pedantic. The Unidad de Grandes Empresas (UGE) in Spain decides the authorisation in every case. If you are lawfully in Spain — a tourist stay counts — you file online with it, with no consular step, and filing extends your current status until the decision. If you apply from outside Spain, the UGE decides that same authorisation and the Spanish consulate where you live then issues the residence visa you enter with. Either way what comes back is a decision on a residency permit, after which you give fingerprints in Spain and collect a TIE card. More on who decides and how long it takes: the UGE explained.

The government fee is €73.26. You also pay for health insurance, an apostilled criminal record certificate, and sworn translations. The total rarely exceeds €300–600. At roughly 8 weeks end to end, it is a low-cost route for entrepreneurs to test.

Several founders can apply together. Three co-founders (CEO, CTO, CMO) is a typical setup that works well. Up to 5 can apply for complex tech projects with substantial R&D, or when every founder has proven entrepreneurial experience. Each founder gets an individual residence permit with full work rights in Spain.

It is checked only when you renew the residence permit. You must at least open a company and start some activity. If you do nothing there are no sanctions, but you will not be able to renew.

ENISA assesses the technological core of a project, not the industry it sits in: what you built yourself, where the technical risk lies, and whether the solution can grow without costs rising in step. Present that part of your project — your own development, your data, your product — rather than a general business description. If there is no technological core, repackaging will not create one: ENISA asks for evidence, and what works best is a running project with a product, customers, and a team. If that is not your situation, it is worth looking at another route, such as the digital nomad residence permit.

Yes. The Startup residency permit covers your family. Eligible family members: spouse/partner, children under 18, financially dependent adult children over 18, and parents (with proof of dependency). All family members receive full Spanish residence permits with complete work authorization — both employment and self-employment rights. Family members may also apply for Beckham Law if they meet eligibility criteria.

Across the applications we have handled ourselves, the approval share runs at about 87% when there is a real, operating project behind the file. That is our own figure, not official data, and it is not a guarantee for your case. Timing: by law the deadline is 20 working days (art. 76.1 Ley 14/2013), suspended while the compulsory ENISA report is awaited (art. 22.1.d Ley 39/2015). In practice about 8 weeks end to end — roughly 5 weeks for the ENISA report and 3 weeks for the UGE decision — which is normal procedure rather than a delay. What actually moves the outcome: a working product or MVP, real customers or contracts, documented funding, proven team experience, and a clear innovation case.

Founders on the Startup residency permit can access Spain's Beckham Law — 24% flat tax for 6 years. Note: to qualify, founders typically structure through an SL company (Spanish limited company), receiving income as salary or administrator compensation. Corporate tax: 15% for first 4 profitable years (vs standard 25%), plus R&D deductions up to 42%. Without Beckham, personal income uses progressive rates (up to 47%). Tax structuring is complex — consult a Spanish tax advisor for your setup.

Both are residency permits granted in Spain by the UGE, so the difference is what each one lets you do rather than how you file. The Startup residency permit runs 3 years, sets no monthly income threshold — you show savings of €34,188 (2026) instead — covers your family, and lets you build a company in Spain and hire. The Digital Nomad residency permit (also up to 3 years when filed from Spain via the UGE) asks for proof of about €2,849/month and is built for remote work for clients or employers outside Spain, which limits local business activity.

The wait differs too, and ENISA is why. For the Digital Nomad residency permit the legal deadline is 20 working days, about 4 weeks. The Startup residency permit takes about 8 weeks in practice, because the UGE stops that clock while ENISA reports on the business plan. Both are lawful residence, so both count towards permanent residence and citizenship. If you are building a company here, the Startup residency permit fits; if you are working remotely for others, the Digital Nomad residency permit usually does.

Your legal stay is extended while the file is open. Article 76 of Ley 14/2013 provides that applying for one of these residency permits prolongs the stay or residence you already hold until the procedure is resolved, so you can remain in Spain through the review even after a Schengen visa expires. It does not give you travel rights back: plan on staying in Spain until the permit is granted. This is one of the practical reasons most applicants file from inside Spain rather than from abroad.

The Startup residency permit has no nationality restrictions. Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and other CIS citizens regularly receive approvals. In recent years, over 50% of approved applications have come from Russian and CIS passport holders. Spain evaluates projects on merit, not nationality. Focus on strong business plan, innovation, and genuine entrepreneurial activity — nationality is not a barrier.

Strongly not recommended. It reads as a lack of focus and uncertainty about the projects. The founder should be fully dedicated to one specific business. You can still present an existing business as experience.

Nobody can guarantee an approval — the decision is the UGE's. What you can control is the preparation: 1) Build working MVP before applying, 2) Secure real customers/contracts with documented revenue, 3) Show funding sources (personal, investors, grants), 4) Demonstrate team's tech expertise and previous experience, 5) Create detailed 3-year business plan with market analysis, 6) Highlight clear innovation and scalability, 7) Prepare all documents professionally. Thorough preparation is the single biggest factor in the outcome.

UGE may send a requerimiento for subsanación — for example, asking you to clarify the business plan or financial documents. Under art. 68 of Ley 39/2015, you have 10 working days from the notification date to respond (extendable by up to 5 more working days on reasoned request). If you do not respond in time, the application is considered withdrawn (desistido). We handle the requerimiento response for you, start to finish. How to count the days and where the notification arrives: responding to a UGE requerimiento.

Yes, but there is an important nuance for the Startup residency permit. Formally, a refusal (resolución denegatoria) can be appealed — you file a recurso de alzada within 1 month of the day the decision is served (how to count the date). But if the refusal is based on a negative assessment of the business plan, appealing is generally not worth it. It's far more effective — and this is both allowed and works well — to reapply for the residence permit, revising and updating the ENISA business plan based on the feedback. We review the reason for refusal and choose the right tactic: appeal or resubmission with a strengthened project.

After approval — once you're in Spain — you'll need to submit fingerprints (huellas) and get your TIE card, register your address (padrón) at the town hall, and set up a certificado digital / Cl@ve. The key step for the founder: register a company (usually an SL) within 6 months — no later — and register as an autónomo societario. It's exactly this ongoing activity that gets checked at renewal. We'll guide you through the right sequence and recommend trusted services, including SL incorporation and tax structure.

Yes. This is lawful residence in Spain, so the years count towards both milestones: 5 years of continuous lawful residence for permanent residence (residencia de larga duración) and 10 years for citizenship by residence, which is the general term applying to most nationalities under article 22 of the Civil Code. Switching permit type does not reset the clock — years spent on the Digital Nomad permit, the startup/entrepreneur permit and the highly qualified professional permit add together, including when you move from one to another. What matters is that lawful residence is not interrupted and that renewals are filed on time. Shorter citizenship terms exist for some nationalities: 2 years for citizens of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal, and for Sephardic Jews of Spanish origin; 1 year in cases such as marriage to a Spanish citizen or being born in Spain.