Spain Freelance (Self-Employed) Visa

Spain's self-employment visa lets nationals of countries outside the EU, the European Economic Area and Switzerland who don't live in Spain move there to run their own business or practice a profession. The visa carries an initial residence and self-employment authorization.

Approval turns on the business itself: the planned investment, the licenses the activity needs and the applicant's qualifications, rather than a fixed income figure.

The first authorization lasts 1 year and is limited to one region and one sector of activity.

• Investment: No fixed amount. The applicant proves the planned investment is enough for the project, often with a viability report from a self-employed workers' association, and meets the licensing rules for the activity.
• Licenses: the requirements Spanish nationals must meet to open and run the planned activity.
• Qualifications: the professional qualification or experience the activity legally requires, plus membership of the relevant professional body where required.
• Jobs: the file shows the project's effect on employment, which can be the applicant's own self-employment.
• Clean record: no criminal record in Spain or in the countries lived in during the past five years.
• Status: at least 18, not in Spain irregularly, not listed as refused entry by a country that has an agreement with Spain and not bound by a no-return commitment.

The ministry's information sheet lists:

• Form: form EX-07, completed and signed.
• Passport: a copy of the full passport.
• Criminal record: certificates from the countries lived in during the five years before entering Spain.
• Licenses: for retail and the services listed in Ley 12/2012, run from premises of up to 750 square meters, a sworn declaration or prior notice to the authorities. For other activities, a list of the licenses needed and the status of each application.
• Qualifications: proof of training and, for professions regulated in Spain, recognition of the degree and professional body membership.
• Investment: proof that the planned investment is enough and of its effect on jobs. A viability report from one of the self-employed workers' associations ATA, UPTA, CIAE, OPA or UATAE is one accepted way to show this.

At the visa stage, applicants add a passport valid for at least one year, a criminal record certificate and a medical certificate. Documents from other countries need a sworn Spanish translation. Foreign public documents also need legalization or an apostille.

• Residence and work fee: form 790, code 052, section 2.1.3, due within 10 working days of filing.
• Self-employment fee: form 790, code 062, section 3.3.1, due in the same window. The ministry's information sheet doesn't state either amount.
• Visa fee: paid at the consulate.
• Social Security: contributions as a self-employed worker start once the holder registers in Spain.
• Setup costs: licenses, the viability report, translations, apostilles and the medical certificate.

In person at the Spanish consulate for the applicant's place of residence; the visa application also requests the residence and self-employment authorization. The authorization takes effect once the holder registers with Spanish Social Security within three months of entry.

1. File form EX-07 and the documents in person at the consulate.
2. Pay two fees within 10 working days: form 790, code 052, section 2.1.3, for residence and work; and form 790, code 062, section 3.3.1, for the self-employment work authorization.
3. The authorities in Spain decide within 3 months of receiving the file from the consulate. No answer by then means refusal.
4. After approval, the applicant has a month from the notice to complete the visa stage in person at the consulate, which decides within a month.
5. Collect the visa in person within a month of the notice. It's valid for three months, long enough to enter Spain and register with Social Security.
6. Within a month of registering with Social Security, apply in person for the foreigner identity card (TIE).

A holder who hasn't registered with Social Security within three months of entry must leave Spain.

• First authorization: 1 year, limited to one region and one sector. Working in several regions in the first year, in the same sector, needs a self-employment authorization for each.
• Renewal: Renewed permits last four years and allow employed or self-employed work anywhere in Spain, if the activity continued and taxes and Social Security are up to date. Requests go in during the two months before expiry. A request up to three months late is still accepted but can bring a penalty. Silence for three months counts as approval.
• Family: relatives can join through family reunification once the holder has lived in Spain for at least a year.

Long-term residence can be requested after five years of continuous legal residence in Spain.

A person who spends more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year, counting sporadic absences, is tax-resident there. So is anyone whose main base of activities or economic interests is in Spain. The tax agency applies the status to the whole calendar year.

Someone running a business from Spain can meet the economic-interests test even with fewer days in the country.

Spain's special regime for workers relocating to Spain covers moves for a job, a company directorship, an ENISA-rated entrepreneurial activity or highly qualified work for startups, training or research. An ordinary self-employed business isn't on that list.