Procedure · Autorización de residencia para actividad empresarial
Entrepreneur residence permit in Spain (residencia para emprendedores)
Three years to start or run a business in Spain. The gate is not an investment figure but a favourable ENISA report saying the activity is innovative or of special economic interest.
Checked at source ·
- Official fee
- Processing fee for the authorisation. No investment amount is fixed: the test is the ENISA report, not a sum of money
- Official name
- Autorización de residencia para actividad empresarial
- Forms
- —
- Steps
- 9
- Documents required
- 5
Source: Boletín Oficial del Estado — Ley 14/2013, de apoyo a los emprendedores — sección de movilidad internacional, arts. 61 a 76 (texto consolidado). Checked .
Who needs one
Non-EU nationals who want to start, develop or direct an economic activity in Spain as an entrepreneur, whether they are already here or applying from abroad.
Step by step
First, the article that no longer exists
Article 68 of this law — entry and stay to start a business — was repealed with effect from 23 December 2022. A good deal of English-language material still describes it as the preliminary step of the entrepreneur route, a one-year stay to get a project off the ground before applying for residence. That step does not exist. What exists is the residence permit below.
What the permit is
A residence permit for business activity, valid throughout Spain, for those who want to start, develop or direct an economic activity as an entrepreneur. It is open both to people applying to enter Spain and to people already here holding a stay or residence authorisation or a visa.
The gate is a report, not a bank balance
An entrepreneurial activity means one that is innovative and/or of special economic interest for Spain, and that has a favourable report from ENISA saying so. The application goes to the Large Companies and Strategic Collectives Unit, which requests that report itself. The report is mandatory and must be issued within ten working days. No minimum investment is fixed anywhere in the law, so any figure you are quoted for this permit is someone's practice or estimate rather than the rule.
What ENISA actually weighs
Three things. Your professional profile and your involvement in the project — and where there are several partners, the participation of each one is assessed, including partners who are not applying for any visa or permit. The business plan: a description of the project, of the product or service it develops, and of its financing, including the investment required and the possible sources of it. And the elements that generate added value for the Spanish economy, innovation, or investment opportunities.
Apply electronically, yourself or through a representative
The application is made by the person concerned or through a legal representative, electronically, to the Large Companies and Strategic Collectives Unit. There is no provincial Immigration Office in this route.
Where: Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos, electronically
From abroad it is one application, not two
Where you are outside Spain, the authorisation and the visa are applied for simultaneously through a single submission, which starts the processing of the authorisation and the visa consecutively. Once the authorisation is granted, you apply for the corresponding residence visa.
The other requirements
The general requirements of the mobility section apply — the standard conditions on criminal record, health insurance and means — together with whatever the sector's own rules require in order to start the activity in question. A business that needs a licence still needs the licence.
Three years, then two, then permanent residence
The permit runs three years. After that you can apply to renew for two years while the conditions that created the right still hold, and permanent residence becomes available at five years.
The procedure: twenty days, silence granting
Decided within a maximum of twenty days from the electronic filing, and granted by silence if that passes. Filing extends whatever residence or stay you already hold until the procedure is decided — so applying from inside Spain while an existing permit runs down does not leave a gap. Where the permit runs more than six months the foreigner identity card must be applied for, and for the first six months a passport alone is enough to register with Social Security if you have no NIE yet.
Documents you need
Business plan
Describing the project, the product or service it develops, and its financing — including the investment required and its possible sources. This is what ENISA reads.
Evidence of your professional profile and involvement
And, where there are several partners, of each partner's participation — including partners who are not applying for a visa or permit themselves.
Evidence of added value, innovation or investment opportunity
The elements ENISA weighs in deciding whether the activity qualifies.
The sector's own requirements
Whatever the rules for that activity require in order to start it lawfully — licences, registrations, professional qualifications.
The general mobility-section requirements
Criminal record certificate, health insurance and sufficient means, as for every permit in this section.
Common questions
How much do I need to invest for the entrepreneur visa in Spain?
The law fixes no amount. The test is whether the activity is innovative or of special economic interest to Spain, certified by a favourable ENISA report. The investment required does appear in the file — as part of the business plan's financing section — but there is no threshold to clear.
Is there still a one-year stay to start a business first?
No. Article 68, which provided for entry and stay to start a business, was repealed with effect from 23 December 2022. Material describing it as a first step is describing something that no longer exists.
Who decides whether my project qualifies?
ENISA, in a mandatory report that the Large Companies and Strategic Collectives Unit requests on its own initiative and that must be issued within ten working days. It weighs your profile and involvement, the business plan and financing, and the added value, innovation or investment opportunity for the Spanish economy.
Can I apply from inside Spain?
Yes, if you hold a stay or residence authorisation or a visa. From abroad, the authorisation and the visa are applied for through a single submission that processes them consecutively.
How long does it last?
Three years, renewable for two while the conditions still hold, with permanent residence available at five years.
How long does the decision take?
A maximum of twenty days from the electronic filing, and silence grants the authorisation. Filing also extends any residence or stay you already hold until the decision.
What if I have business partners?
Their participation is assessed too — including partners who are not themselves applying for any visa or authorisation. The assessment looks at the project as a whole, not only at the applicant.
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from one of these. We do not cite other guides, because a copy gives us no way to notice when the original changes.
- Ley 14/2013, de apoyo a los emprendedores — sección de movilidad internacional, arts. 61 a 76 (texto consolidado)Boletín Oficial del Estado
- Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos — movilidad internacionalMinisterio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones
This is information, not advice
Your own case depends on your nationality, your current status and your history with the administration — none of which a web page can see. Confirm anything that matters with the responsible authority or a qualified professional before you act on it.