Get Spanish Residency

Schengen refers to the EU passport-free zone covering most of the European Countries. If you are a third country national, you must apply for a Schengen Visa prior to travel to the EU.  A short stay Schengen visa allows you to stay in Spain for a period of up to 90 days in any given 180 day period of time.

Spain is one of the 26 member countries in the Schengen area; Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Sweden and Switzerland.

This visa is also valid for travel in the other Schengen area countries within the authorized time period.

These visas are requested, for example for tourist visits, business, family, medical services, attendance at conferences or meetings.

An application for a Schengen Visa must be done in person at the embassy or consulate of the destination country. It can take six weeks or more before the visa is issued.

When applying for a Schengen Visa there the passport must be valid for the three month period beyond the expiry date of the visa. Passports will be stamped upon entry and exit into Spain.

Nationals from Canada, US, New Zealand and Australia do not need a short stay visa to enter Spain unless they intend to stay longer than 90 days then they will need a long stay visa.

It is possible to extend a short-stay Schengen visas depending upon the reason. According to the Schengen visa policy, acceptable reasons to extend a Schengen short-stay visa are as follows:

• Late Entry
• Humanitarian Reasons
• Force Majeure
• Important Personal Reasons

There are different types of short stay-stay Schengen visas:

• Single entry – entry once the Schengen area in the given time period and expires once you leave so you cannot return.
• Double entry – allows entry into the Schengen Area twice, which means you can enter the Schengen area, leave and enter again without any problems within the term of the visa. Once you have left the country for the second time the visa expires.
• Multiple entry – allows entry the Schengen member states as many times as you wish for a period of up to 90 days in each 180 day period.

There are two types:

1). Temporary Residence.
The foreigner who is authorized to stay in Spain for a period of more than ninety days and less than five years is in the situation of temporary residence, without prejudice to what is established in terms of stay for studies, mobility of students, internships not labour or volunteer services.

Among others, the following stand out:

Non-Lucrative temporary residence authorisation.

• It starts in this Consular Office.
• It requires some amounts for support.
• It prevents the realization of work or professional activities.
• Its term of resolution is three months.

Authorisation of temporary residence for family reunification.

The regrouped people are:

• The spouse, the person who maintains an affectionate relationship with the sponsor(applicant), provided that the relationship is registered in a public registry or the unregistered relationship established prior to the beginning of the residence of the sponsor is accredited.
• Your children, represented legally by the sponsor, under 18 or disabled.
• First-degree ascendants, when they are in their charge and over 65 years of age, and the need to authorize their residence is justified.

The procedure starts at the Immigration Office with a request from the sponsor.

In this case the visa applicant has the period of validity of the visa to enter the Spanish territory and once in it within a month must request the Identity Card.

• Authorisation of temporary residence and work for others. – The procedure must be initiated by the employer before the competent authority, in the province in which the benefit is to be performed.
• Authorisation of temporary residence and employment for a fixed-term employee – This authorisation can be requested by foreigners over 16 years of age, who will work for others in campaign activities or seasons.
• Authorisation of temporary residence and self-employment. – This type of authorisation allows foreigners over 18 to remain in Spain on their own, for a period of more than 90 days and less than 5 years, and to exercise a lucrative activity on their own during this period. This application must be submitted personally, with the official model before the Consular Office that corresponds to the consular demarcation in which he is a resident.

Residence for Investors Act of Entrepreneurs or Golden Visa

The residence visa for investors, commonly known as Gold Visa, is a special residence visa for investors that allows them to reside for one year throughout the national territory. The visa will be processed at the Consulate of Spain in the country of origin or residence.

2). Long-term Residence.

A foreigner who has been authorized to reside and work in Spain indefinitely under the same conditions as Spaniards is in a situation of long-term residence.

The procedure is initiated in the Immigration Office of the province in which the applicant reside.

Recovery of long-term residence in the case of persons who have lost their residence due to having stayed more than 12 months and less than five years outside of Spain.

Visa fees will be paid once the application is approved.

It is the valid visa to transit through the international transit zones of one or several airports of the Member States, without accessing the national territory.

Allows the stay during stopovers or flights links.

It only allows entry without the right to stay overnight.

For detailed information on the different types of residence, please contact our office.