Spain Golden Visa

Non-EU nationals who completed a qualifying investment could obtain Spanish residence under the investor visa, formally part of the entrepreneur law framework. Organic Law 1/2025 abolished the category, the abolition took effect on 3 April 2025, and new Golden Visa applications are not accepted as of 13 Aug 2026.

Guides written before 2026 describe the old rules, and those descriptions no longer reflect the legal position. The abolition instrument took effect on 3 April 2025.

Permits valid on the effective date remain valid for their original period, and renewals are processed under the rules in force when the initial authorization was granted. Holders who qualified before 3 April 2025 therefore keep a functioning status even though the door is shut behind them.

Against a short tourist stay, the investor visa carried a 1-year validity and led into renewable residence. That residence track is what no longer exists for new applicants as of 13 Aug 2026.

Eligibility for the historical program turned on a one-time qualifying investment, with three statutory thresholds in force until 3 April 2025. Since that date, no new applicant can qualify under any threshold, because Organic Law 1/2025 removed the category entirely.

• Real estate: EUR 500,000 one-time investment in unencumbered property, meaning free of mortgages and charges up to that amount.
• Companies, funds or bank deposits: EUR 1,000,000 one-time investment in Spanish company shares, investment funds or a Spanish bank deposit.
• Public debt: EUR 2,000,000 one-time investment in Spanish government bonds.

Proof took the form of the transaction evidence itself: title deeds for property, certificates for share or fund positions, and bond or deposit confirmations for the financial routes. The investment had to be completed before the visa application was filed at the consulate.

Beyond capital, the main applicant had to show financial means of 400% of IPREM, with an additional 100% of IPREM per accompanying family member. IPREM is Spain's indexed public income reference, so the euro figure moved with each annual update, and the current IPREM value is not documented here.

Family math under the historical rules worked as follows.

• Main applicant: 400% of IPREM in proven financial means.
• First family member: an additional 100% of IPREM.
• Each further family member: another 100% of IPREM on top.

Exclusions operated on two levels. Anyone applying after 3 April 2025 is excluded because the category no longer exists, and under the historical rules applicants with a criminal record in any country of residence during the past 5 years failed the background requirement.

Applicants unable to show health insurance from an entity authorized to operate in Spain were also refused, as were those who could not prove residence in the consular district where they filed. Both conditions were documentary, so a file missing either proof failed regardless of the size of the investment behind it.

No post-abolition threshold exists for this category. Any investment figure for new applicants after 3 April 2025 is not documented, because the route itself is closed.

The historical document file was fixed by the consular checklist, and every item below was mandatory at submission. The checklist matters now mainly for legacy holders reconstructing their file for renewal under the rules in force when the initial authorization was granted.

• National visa application form: the standard national visa form, completed and signed, one per applicant including each family member.
• Passport: valid for at least 1 year, issued within the last 10 years, and containing at least 2 blank pages.
• Proof of investment: evidence of the completed qualifying transaction, matching the route used, whether property, financial instruments or public debt.
• Proof of financial means: documentation meeting the income threshold for the main applicant plus the per-family-member increment.
• Criminal-record certificate: from the country or countries of residence during the past 5 years, covering every jurisdiction lived in over that period.
• Health insurance: a policy from a public or private entity authorized to operate in Spain, with coverage valid in Spanish territory.
• Proof of consular-district residence: evidence that the applicant lived in the district of the Spanish Consular Office where the application was lodged.

The criminal-record certificate had to span the full 5-year lookback, so an applicant with three countries of residence in that window needed three certificates. A gap of even one jurisdiction broke the coverage rule and stalled the file.

The passport conditions were cumulative: 1 year of remaining validity, an issue date no more than 10 years back, and 2 blank pages. A passport meeting two of the three still failed.

The documented charges for the historical investor visa appear in the table below, with amounts as of 13 Aug 2026. The only published fee specific to the category was the EUR 80 application fee.

A realistic historical total for a single applicant on the property route, before transaction costs, broke down as follows:

• Real-estate investment: EUR 500,000 one-time, as of 13 Aug 2026.
• Application fee: EUR 80 one-time, as of 13 Aug 2026.
• Combined floor: EUR 500,080, as of 13 Aug 2026.

The financial-means test of 400% of IPREM was a showing of funds, not a payment, so it never entered the cost column. The same applies to the 100% of IPREM increment per family member.

Applications were filed in person at the Spanish Consular Office for the district where the applicant lived, and that in-person rule had no remote alternative. The sequence below reflects the historical process that applied until 3 April 2025.

1. Complete the qualifying investment first, on the chosen route, and hold the transaction evidence before filing.
2. Gather the document file: national visa application form, passport with 1 year of validity, 2 blank pages and an issue date within 10 years, criminal-record certificates covering the past 5 years, health insurance and proof of consular-district residence.
3. Document financial means at 400% of IPREM for the main applicant plus 100% of IPREM per family member.
4. Book and attend the appointment in person at the Spanish Consular Office for the district of residence.
5. Pay the EUR 80 application fee at submission.
6. On approval, receive the investor visa with a 1-year validity, then move into the residence-authorization phase in Spain.

The investment had to precede the application, not follow it, which made the sequence capital-first and paperwork-second. An applicant who filed before completing the transaction had no qualifying investment to evidence.

Why applications get rejected

• Criminal record in any country of residence during the past 5 years, or a certificate that fails to cover the full 5-year window.
• Passport failing one of the three tests: less than 1 year of validity, issued more than 10 years ago, or fewer than 2 blank pages.
• Health insurance from an entity not authorized to operate in Spain.
• No proof of residence in the consular district where the application was filed.
• Financial means below 400% of IPREM for the main applicant, or missing the 100% of IPREM increment for a family member.
• Property carrying a mortgage or charge, so the real-estate investment was not unencumbered.

The historical investor visa carried a 1-year validity from issuance, after which the holder moved into the residence-authorization stage in Spain. That 1-year figure is the only validity length documented for the category.

Permits already valid on 3 April 2025 remain valid for their original period under Organic Law 1/2025. Nothing in the abolition instrument shortens a permit that was live on the effective date.

Renewals of legacy permits are processed under the rules in force when the initial authorization was granted. The renewal rulebook for each holder is therefore fixed by the date the initial authorization was granted, not by any post-abolition standard.

Beyond the 1-year visa validity, no further duration figures are documented for this category. Legacy renewal length, the renewal filing deadline, any minimum physical presence and any maximum cumulative stay are not documented in the material behind this page.

No tax regime specific to this investor category is documented in the material behind this page. Spain publishes no investor-visa tax schedule separate from its general residence rules, and the applicable resident bands and non-resident rates for 2026 are not published here.

The investment thresholds were qualifying capital deployments under the program rules, not payments to the state, and none of them was a tax event. The only documented payment to the state was the application fee.

Legacy holders renewing under the rules in force when the initial authorization was granted carry whatever tax position their residence status created under general law. The abolition on 3 April 2025 changed immigration eligibility, not the tax treatment of people already resident.