Many dream of life in Spain. Whether it’s relaxing in an Andalusian finca, indulging in Madrid’s rich culture or Barcelona’s urban beaches, Spain has something for everyone. This blog explains how to get a visa in Spain for you and your family.
You and your family can enjoy what Spain has to offer through the country’s Golden Visa program. This immigration regime allows people and their families to relocate and legally live in Spain if they make an investment in Spain.
In this blog, we answer the main questions about moving to Spain on a Golden Visa with your spouse or partner.
Table of contents
Expats can obtain a Golden Visa by investing €500,000 or more in real estate. The investment cannot include mortgages or fees and the investor’s family members also gain the right to reside and work in Spain. This includes:
- spouses
- couples who can show they are in a long-term and stable relationship (known as stable couples)
- and dependent children.
What happens when the investment is jointly made by a married couple?
Many couples consider their assets to be equal. While one person may have financially contributed more, the asset is owned equally by both partners because they making a life together.
However, the legality of this understanding depends on the laws governing marriages in the applicant’s home country. Some countries recognise matrimonial property ownership on the basis that assets are jointly owned. Others apply a different split or allow people to use pre-nuptial agreements to determine asset ownership.
The Spanish government has simplified this complex situation with a straightforward remedy.
If a married couple legally shares ownership of their assets and invests €500,000 or more in Spanish real estate together, one spouse can apply for the Golden Visa as the main applicant. The accompanying family member” can apply as part of the main applicant’s visa submission.
This means that both partners can legally reside and work in Spain but one individual is the principal applicant.
What if we both invest €500,000 each?
Under this scenario, you can both apply for a Golden Visa as the main applicant and independently of the economic laws that govern their marriage.
Our local Marriage Laws don’t combine our assets, what does this mean for us?
Some governments don’t always view the contribution of a couple’s assets equally. Therefore, each person has a different value of asset ownership. The officials call this “the Regime of the Separation of Assets.”
So under this situation, if only one spouse is able to make a €500,000 investment, they are the main applicants and the partner be the “accompanying family member”.
If both spouses can invest €500,000 each, then they can both apply as main applicants for the Golden Visa.
The Regime of the Separation of Assets is often the most difficult challenge for couples looking to move to Spain with a Golden Visa. The complexity of their local countries laws makes the process trickier. However, our lawyers have worked on many different cases involving different legal forms of asset ownership.
Lexidy LegalTech Boutique has a team of lawyers to guide you and your spouse through the process with ease. Don’t overprocess the process. Instead, let us clarify your doubts and guide you through to your new life in Spain.
