Spain vs Portugal Startup Visa

Spain's startup residence runs at roughly 8 weeks end to end: about 5 weeks for the mandatory ENISA report, then 3 weeks for the UGE decision. The legal deadline is 20 working days, suspended while that report is awaited.

Portugal's founder route, the StartUP Visa, varies more — commonly 90-120 days once you include finding an incubator and signing the incubation contract.

If a predictable timeline matters, Spain has the edge. A well-prepared Portuguese application with an incubator already lined up can still move quickly.

No. ENISA, a government agency, evaluates your project directly — no incubator partnership needed. That is a real advantage if you are an experienced founder who does not want incubator oversight.

Portugal's founder route, the StartUP Visa (art. 89.º(4)), requires an incubation contract with an IAPMEI-certified incubator. The Portuguese Tech Visa is a different scheme — employer certification for hired employees, with no incubator involved — and it is not a founder route.

If you already have a relationship with a certified Portuguese incubator, that is a genuine advantage on the Portuguese side.

Both founder routes cost the same in fees, because both end in the same article 89 residence permit. The D visa is €110 at the consulate, per the Foreign Ministry's fee page. Then AIMA charges €133 to receive and examine the application (item III.1.a) and €114.30 to grant the permit itself (III.1.c) — €357.30 per person in government fees, before VFS service charges, translations and apostilles.

Two things move that number. AIMA cuts every section III fee by 25% when you file through its digital channel, which takes the two AIMA items to €99.80 and €85.80. And the €307.20 figure that circulates in guides is not a permit fee at all: it is item III.1.b, examining a request to waive the consular residence visa. You pay it instead of the €110 D visa when you are already lawfully in Portugal and apply without a visa — so filing from inside costs roughly €200 more, not less.

AIMA's table re-indexes automatically each 1 March to the previous year's inflation, so check the current edition rather than a guide written last year.

Spain's Beckham Law gives startup founders a 24% flat tax for up to 6 years — if they structure correctly, through an SL company as autónomo societario (not autónomo profesional). Portugal's NHR regime has been replaced with narrower rules for new applicants. For tech founders willing to set up an SL, Spain's offer is competitive. Tax situations are personal — talk to tax advisors in both countries before deciding.

Portugal — Lisbon in particular — has historically been more crypto-friendly, with a larger Web3 community. Both countries now apply the MiCA regulation, and Spain's ENISA has approved blockchain projects. If the Web3 community and networking matter most, Lisbon wins. If you want a larger market, Spain is competitive.

Both countries let you include family, but the timing differs sharply — see the question on Portuguese family reunification below. On income, Spain asks for an uplift: 75% of SMI for the first dependant, 25% for each further one. Portugal has similar thresholds. Spain has more international schools, especially in Barcelona and Madrid; Portugal can be cheaper outside Lisbon. Both have good healthcare. Choose the country you want to live in, not the smoother visa process.

Yes, but it is not trivial. You would apply separately in the second country — residence in one EU state does not transfer to another. If you are unsure, ask yourself: where do you want to live, where are your customers, and where is your network? The startup visa is a 3-year commitment to building in that country.

Yes. Lei Orgânica 1/2026 has applied since 19 May 2026: seven years for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries and EU member states, ten for everyone else. It used to be five.

It also added an exam on language, culture and history, a solemn declaration of adherence to democratic rule-of-law principles, and a requirement to show you can support yourself.

One change matters more than the headline: article 15(4) was revoked. That provision counted your residence from the date you filed the permit application, so years spent waiting in AIMA's queue no longer count.

Applications filed before 19 May 2026 keep the old law. Spain is also ten years — but two for nationals of Ibero-American countries, Portugal, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and for Sephardim.

With no children, after two years. This is the new article 98 as worded by Lei 61/2025, in force since 23 October 2025: you may apply for reunification once you hold a permit valid for at least two years. For a spouse you lived with for 18 months before entering, it is 15 months.

There are exemptions, and the founder routes are not among them: dependent minors and incapacitated persons, their parents, and holders of the Tech Visa, Golden Visa and EU Blue Card. Neither D2 nor the StartUP Visa is on that list.

The reunification decision itself takes up to nine months.

In Spain the family applies alongside the main applicant from the start. For a founder with a partner this is probably the single most decision-relevant difference between the two countries.