Moving to Spain to work for yourself, the self-employment permit

Key rules

• Permit length: The first self-employment permit is valid for 1 year and renews for 2 years.
• Business plan: Your business plan carries the application, so it must be detailed, realistic and backed by funds.
• Silence: If the office does not answer within the legal maximum, that silence counts as a refusal.
• Entry: An appeal does not let you enter Spain while it is pending.

Is this permit right for you?

The permit is for people from outside the EU who want to live in Spain and work for themselves. It is hard to get. The decision rests almost entirely on your business plan and the money and paperwork behind it. The decision is discretionary: you must meet every listed requirement, and the office can still refuse a plan it judges not viable.

No official approval rate is published. The route is difficult: treat it as a project that needs real preparation, not a form to fill in. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens, and UK citizens with Withdrawal Agreement rights, do not use this permit.

What the office assesses

The office looks at five things:

• Viability. Can the business work in Spain?
• Investment. Is what you plan to invest enough for this type of activity?
• Jobs. How many jobs will the business create?
• Income. Will the expected income support you, and your family if they come with you?
• Your right to operate. You must hold, or be able to get, the licences and authorisations the activity needs. Where the activity is regulated, you need the matching professional qualifications. You must also have no criminal record.

The most common reasons for refusal are weak or unrealistic plans, too little money, missing licences, and an activity that does not match your qualifications.

Where you apply and who decides

You apply at the Spanish consulate in the country where you live. If you are already in Spain with a student permit (after at least 1 year in Spain) or a residence and work permit as an employee (after at least 1 year), you can apply in Spain through the immigration office (Oficina de Extranjería) of the province where you will work. Tourists and other short-stay visitors, people without a valid status and holders of non-lucrative residence must apply at a consulate abroad. The consulate receives your file and issues the visa. The immigration office or the government delegation decides.

How the process runs

1. Prepare the business plan and documents. Foreign documents follow the rules for the issuing country in Proving investment and qualifications.
2. Apply at the consulate, or in Spain if you are legally present.
3. Wait for the decision. You may get a request for more documents, so answer quickly.
4. Collect the visa, which is valid for 3 months.
5. Enter Spain within the visa's validity.
6. Register with Social Security (RETA) and with the tax office within 3 months of entering Spain.
7. Apply for your foreigner ID card (TIE) within 1 month of entering Spain.

Fees

The national visa fee of €80 is paid at the consulate, and only if you apply abroad. The residence authorisation costs €73.78, paid with modelo 790 code 038. The TIE card costs €16.40, paid with modelo 790 código 012 before your fingerprint appointment.

How long a decision takes

The office has 3 months to decide an ordinary self-employed application, and silence after that counts as a refusal. A request for more documents extends the time. Do not plan to enter Spain or start trading before the visa is in your hands.

How long the permit lasts

Your first permit lasts 1 year and each renewal 2 years. To renew, you show that the activity continues, that you are up to date with Social Security and tax, and that your income is enough. After 5 years of legal residence you can ask for a long-term residence permit.

If you are refused

After a written refusal you have two alternatives: a recurso de reposición (reconsideration) with the office that refused you within 1 month of the notification, or an appeal to the administrative court within 2 months. If the office stays silent for 3 months, that silence counts as a refusal: you can file the recurso de reposición at any time, with no deadline, or appeal to court within 6 months. Appealing does not give you the right to enter Spain while the case is pending. You can also apply again at any time with a stronger file.

If you are coming with a spouse or children

Your family can apply together with you or after you. You must show the means and housing to support them: income of at least 150% of the public income indicator (IPREM) for you and your first family member plus 50% for each further one, and a lease or title deed for adequate housing. Each relationship has its own rule:

• Spouse: automatic right, proved by the marriage certificate, legalised or apostilled and sworn-translated as the issuing country requires. Your spouse receives a residence permit that includes the right to work.
• Registered partner: the same right as a spouse, including the right to work, proved by the partnership registration certificate with the same legalisation and translation.
• Unmarried, unregistered partner: no automatic right; the file is decided case by case, and you prove a durable relationship with documents such as a joint lease, a child together or at least 1 year of living together.
• Children: minor children, and adult children who cannot provide for themselves; the birth certificate showing you as a parent. For an adult child, add a disability certificate or other proof that you support them.
• Dependent parents and other dependants: decided case by case; you prove that you support them with records of money sent and that they have no income of their own.

Children aged 6 to 16 must be enrolled in school, and can enrol in a public school as soon as they live in Spain.

Documents you need

• Application form, completed for the self-employed permit.

• Valid passport.

• A detailed business plan covering viability, investment and jobs.

• Proof of funds.

• Licences or authorisations needed to run the activity, and professional qualifications where the activity is regulated.

• Criminal record certificate covering the last 5 years, from the country where you lived.

• Full-cover health insurance with a Spanish insurer.

• Proof that you paid the fee.

• Proof of your address in Spain or in your country of residence.