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⚖️ Law 14/2013 · residency permits in SpainUGE: the unit behind Law 14/2013 residency permits
The UGE — the Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos, officially UGE-CE — is a unit of Spain’s Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration. It decides applications for the Digital Nomad residency permit, the Startup residency permit (the startup visa) for entrepreneurs, the EU Blue Card and permits for family members. Applications are filed online. By law a decision is due within 20 working days, and without one the permit counts as granted — except for entrepreneurs, whose clock stops while ENISA reviews the business plan. In practice a decision currently takes about 8 weeks.
UGE deadlines at a glance
- Decision, by law
- 20 working days Article 76.1, Law 14/2013
- Decision, in practice
- About 8 weeks Our files, September 2026
- No decision in time
- Counts as granted (positive silence) Not for the Startup residency permit
- ENISA report for entrepreneurs
- Up to 90 days in practice By law, 10 working days
Which residency permits the UGE decides
The UGE handles the permits Law 14/2013 created for remote workers, entrepreneurs and highly qualified professionals, and the permits of their families. Applications go in online, and the decision is signed by the Dirección General de Migraciones.
Digital Nomad residency permit
For people who work remotely for a company or for clients outside Spain, as employees or as freelancers. The law calls them international teleworkers (teletrabajador de carácter internacional). Requirements and income thresholds are in the Digital Nomad guide.
Startup residency permit (the startup visa)
For founders of an innovative business in Spain. Besides the UGE, the state company ENISA reviews the business plan and issues a report, and there is no decision without it. The full picture is in the Startup residency permit guide.
EU Blue Card
For highly qualified professionals with a contract or a firm job offer in Spain for at least 6 months. In Spanish it is the Tarjeta azul-UE.
Family members
A spouse or partner, children and dependent parents of the holder of any of these permits. They can apply together with the main applicant or later. Each family member has their own file and their own decision.
How long a UGE decision takes
By law the UGE has 20 working days, and positive silence if it misses them. In practice a decision takes longer, and for entrepreneurs the ENISA report stops the clock.
By law: 20 working days
The count starts on the day you file online. Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays do not count, and we count holidays on the calendar of Madrid, where the UGE sits.
No decision in time: positive silence
By law, if 20 working days pass with no decision and the clock was not suspended, the permit counts as granted. This is positive silence, and it applies to the Digital Nomad residency permit and the other permits on this page — but not to the Startup residency permit (see below). How to count the date and file the request is on the silencio positivo page.
In practice: about 8 weeks
On our files in September 2026, a decision takes about 8 weeks from filing. It depends on the UGE’s workload and on whether a requerimiento was sent.
Entrepreneurs: do not count on positive silence
For the Startup residency permit, the UGE asks ENISA for a report on the business plan, and the 20 days stop while it waits. By law ENISA has 10 working days; in practice its report can take up to 90 days. So the 20 days do not run out in the usual way, and positive silence is not something to plan on. The UGE has to tell you about the suspension.
A requerimiento can also stop the clock
If the UGE asks you for documents, the 20 days can be suspended while you answer. How to answer is on the requerimiento page.
If the decision is a refusal
A refusal can be appealed with a recurso de alzada within 1 month of the day it was served on you. How to count that month and what comes after it: appeal deadlines after a UGE refusal.
Where to look for UGE notifications
The UGE sends its notifications to your account in the Ministry’s electronic office. A notification counts as served even if you never open it, so you have to go and look.
Check the UGE electronic office
Notifications arrive in your account in the UGE electronic office, under Ver Notificaciones. A requerimiento, a notice of suspension and the decision itself all appear there. Something may occasionally show up in DEHú too, but don’t rely on it — check the UGE electronic office.
Served the moment you open it
A notification counts as served when you open it. Open it on day 4, and day 4 is the service date.
10 calendar days to open it
If you do not open a notification within 10 calendar days, it counts as served and the file moves on. That is article 43.2 of Law 39/2015, and the days here are calendar days, not working days.
The e-mail may not arrive
You may get an e-mail alert about a new notification, but these e-mails sometimes do not arrive. That matters, because an unopened notification still counts as served after 10 calendar days, e-mail or no e-mail. So open Ver Notificaciones yourself every few days.
While a file is open, log in to the UGE electronic office and open Ver Notificaciones every few days. The 10 working days to answer a requerimiento can be running while your inbox stays quiet.
A residency permit in Spain, not a visa at a consulate
If you are already lawfully in Spain, the residency permit is processed directly by the UGE — no visa. Neither entrepreneurs nor remote workers need a separate visa in this case. A consular visa is a different path, for people applying from abroad.
The UGE says so itself in its FAQ on the Digital Nomad residency permit: you cannot apply for the permit from your home country. From abroad you apply for a 1-year consular visa for remote work, and you can apply for the residency permit in Spain in the last 60 days of that visa.
The UGE’s FAQ on the Digital Nomad residency permit (PDF, in Spanish)Where you are
- Residency permit through the UGE, from Spain
- In Spain, lawfully
- Visa through a consulate, from abroad
- Outside Spain
Who decides
- Residency permit through the UGE, from Spain
- The UGE, with the decision signed by the Dirección General de Migraciones
- Visa through a consulate, from abroad
- A Spanish consulate
First grant
- Residency permit through the UGE, from Spain
- Digital Nomad residency permit: up to 3 years. Startup residency permit: 3 years
- Visa through a consulate, from abroad
- Digital Nomad visa: up to 1 year
Your current status
- Residency permit through the UGE, from Spain
- Filing extends your lawful stay until the decision
- Visa through a consulate, from abroad
- Does not arise: you apply before entering
After the decision
- Residency permit through the UGE, from Spain
- A permit longer than 6 months means applying for the foreigner’s identity card (TIE)
- Visa through a consulate, from abroad
- You live and work on the visa, then apply for the residency permit in Spain in its last 60 days
Renewal
- Residency permit through the UGE, from Spain
- For 2 years at a time, while the conditions hold
- Visa through a consulate, from abroad
- The visa is not renewed: you move to the residency permit
For entrepreneurs the law also has a path from abroad: the permit and the visa are requested in one application, and the visa is issued once the permit is granted. If you file from Spain, that step does not exist: the residency permit is processed directly by the UGE, and a grant is for 3 years.
Law 14/2013 says nothing about travelling outside Spain while a file is pending. We look at that question case by case.
If a requerimiento arrives
A requerimiento is the UGE asking you to fix the application or send more documents. You have 10 working days to answer. The next page covers how to count them, how to answer and what the UGE asks for most often.
Questions about the UGE
No. The UGE is a unit of a ministry in Spain, and applications reach it online. Consulates issue visas abroad. They are different bodies with different procedures.
Yes, as long as you are in Spain lawfully and your permitted stay has not run out. Check your own dates before you file.
Working days: Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays do not count. The 10 days you have to open an electronic notification, by contrast, are calendar days.
The UGE asks ENISA for a report on the business plan, and the clock stops until it arrives. By law ENISA has 10 working days; in practice it can take up to 90 days. That is also why positive silence does not work the usual way for the Startup residency permit. The UGE has to tell you about the suspension.
First check Ver Notificaciones in the UGE electronic office for a requerimiento or a notice of suspension. If there is nothing, that is common: in practice a decision currently takes about 8 weeks. By law, for every permit except the Startup residency permit, positive silence may already apply — how to check the date and file the request is on the silencio positivo page. If in doubt, get in touch and we will look at your file.
Bring us your file
We run Law 14/2013 applications from Barcelona: assembling the pack, watching the UGE electronic office and the deadlines, and answering requerimientos. This is consultancy support, not legal services.
Legal basis and official sources
- Which permits the UGE processes, the 20 days to decide and positive silence: article 76.1 of Law 14/2013.
- The Digital Nomad residency permit and visa: chapter V bis of Law 14/2013 (articles 74 bis to 74 quinquies).
- The Startup residency permit and the ENISA report: articles 69 and 70 of Law 14/2013.
- The EU Blue Card: articles 71 and 71 bis of Law 14/2013.
- Family members: article 62.4 of Law 14/2013.
- Suspending the period for a requerimiento or the ENISA report: article 22.1 of Law 39/2015.
- Electronic notifications and the 10 calendar days: articles 41 and 43 of Law 39/2015.
- Article 76 of Law 14/2013 — the procedure, the 20 days and positive silence (BOE)
- Chapter V bis of Law 14/2013 — the Digital Nomad visa and residency permit (BOE)
- Article 69 of Law 14/2013 — the Startup residency permit, filed with the UGE (BOE)
- Article 71 of Law 14/2013 — highly qualified professionals and the EU Blue Card (BOE)
- Article 62 of Law 14/2013 — family members (BOE)
- Article 43 of Law 39/2015 — electronic notifications (BOE)
- UGE-CE — international teleworkers, the unit’s own section (Ministry of Inclusion)
- UGE-CE — FAQ on the Digital Nomad residency permit, in Spanish (PDF)
This page sets out the procedure in the law and our experience as of September 2026; it is not a review of your file. Timing and decisions belong to the UGE, not to us, and we do not guarantee either.