Initially, I started the business with my mother, Jackie Evans, who worked at the town hall in the immigration department. She gave me the idea to set up Mallorca Solutions. We’re a team of eight now based in Son Bugadelles, we moved our base here two years ago.
Initially we set up to assist people through the bureaucracy involved in applications for NIE numbers, residency, driving licenses etc. We can take you through the process and in many cases attend the appointments with you. For our British clients, there has been lots of work resulting from Brexit. Recently we have expanded to include property sales, rentals, and now we are insurance brokers as well.
Today we are here to talk about visas, specifically the Golden visa, and the Digital nomad visa. Go!
The top line of a nomad visa is basically that with the rise in homeworking, Spain has identified an opportunity where people can stay working for their companies in the UK or America or South America or wherever, and move here and work remotely and be part of the Spanish system.
The scheme is just beginning and the application process is in its early stages, but we are able to apply now. There are two different ways that you can apply. You can apply directly from Spain, within 90 days of your tourist allowance.
Or you can apply through the Spanish embassy in your resident country before you travel to Spain, either way Mallorca Solutions can assist, but it is easier to do it when you are already here, and in that case you have the possibility of a three year visa, rather than just one year with an application from you resident country.
How do you qualify for a nomad visa?
If you’re on a contract with a foreign company, you need proof that you’ve been working with the company for at least three months, and in your contract, there is a clause there that allows you to work remotely, but that company has to have been trading for a minimum of one year,
If you’re self-employed, you’re going to need proof that you’re working for at least one company, which must be trading outside of Spain. The conditions of that contract has to include the specification of the possibility of you working remotely. And there has to be proof of experience that you can do the job. So you need to demonstrate either the experience or the technical knowledge for the job. So if you went to university, you’re going to need a graduate certificate, professional qualifications etc. You would also need to prove that you’ve got a clean criminal record check, and that you’ve not been banned from entering Spain. You need private medical insurance, health insurance. Family members can also apply.
You have to prove that you can maintain yourself financially here. You need to show that you’ve got the funds to cover twice the the minimum wage, if you’re then bringing your partner over, then you would need to add on 75% of that, again, to cover the costs that for every additional member after that is another 25%. So it all adds up.
How long do you think it’s going to take between applying for Nomad visa or getting it?
How long is a piece of string in Spain?! With most applications we do have timelines that they officially publish, and they don’t tend to meet them. This is a new thing for Spain so our guess is they’re finding their feet but what they have said is the approval time is 20 business days, approximately. So it’s very quick. After that, we then have to make appointments for the next two stages of the process.
OK, so that’s the nomad visa, tell us about the golden visa.
It’s an investment visa, it has the nickname of the golden visa. It lets you work and live here as a resident, and there’s no minimum time that you need to be here in Spain. With the other residencies and visas you have been here for a minimum amount of time but the golden visa gives you that freedom. This was already available to non-European citizens; it’s now available to UK.citizens.
How much do you have to invest?
You have to invest a minimum of €500,000 in property that can be on more than one property, but it has to be a minimum investment of €500k per person.
You have to have purchased that property after the 28th of September 2013. You don’t need to invest now, you can apply for it if you already own the property, but it has to be on the purchase price, not the current market value. It needs to have no mortgage or debt tied to the property, but you could have had a mortgage and paid it off.
Are there any other ways?
There are other ways of doing it by investing and public debt and shares and investment funds. The minimum on that is €1 Million. Or in the public debt €2 million. Mallorca solutions are currently working on property investments that might be interesting for some clients.
Do you have many people applying this way?
We have quite a few applications, with a few in process currently, and we have a lot of initial inquiries from people considering buying properties.
If you’re coming here to buy a home, you potentially have a free visa really. So you might as well. Even if you’re not intending to live in Spain, the fact that you might have bought yourself a qualifying property means you can apply, because then you’re not subject to the 90 day rule, you just need to visit once a year, you don’t have to worry about counting stamps on your passport, you can work here as well.
OK that’s a lot to take in, at one go. If I’m interested, what do I do next?
It’s a complicated subject, that is subject to change, and we can only cover some of the details here, and it will vary to an extent depending on personal circumstances.
Come and see us and we can help you through the process. We have great coffee and biscuits. Contact us at mallorcasolutions.com, or call us on 971 131 644.
No comments
To be able to write a comment, you have to be registered and logged in
Currently there are no comments.