Spain Explained

Spanish residency for the self-employed and businesses

Last updated on February 19th, 2020 at 01:38 am.

This is the fourth article of a series of five articles on Spanish residency for EU and British citizens. David Ruiz of Torrevieja Translations explains the process and what you need to comply.  

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The table of contents is:

Today’s article will only concentrate on EU and British self-employed and business in Spain.

You can review the common requirements for all the groups by clicking on Spanish Residency Overview.

Finance

Your first requirement is to demonstrate how you will fund your life in Spain.

Exclusive requirements for EU and British self-employed and business

As for pensioners and workers, there are two key requirements: Financial means and health cover, but here there are two additional scenarios: in Spain or abroad.

Self-employed in Spain

Generally, you will need to provide the stamped document you obtained from the tax office (Agencia Tributaria) when registered. In addition, you will need an up-to-date ‘Vida Laboral’ in Spanish.

Another important requirement is a bank statement from the last three months, fully stamped. This must be from the Spanish bank you are using to carry out your activities in Spain.

Self-employed abroad

Just answer this question: how are you getting your income? You will need documentation to show how you are getting income. For instance, let’s say that you have five properties in the UK. In this case, you’d need to bring the original tenancy contracts and photocopies.

Also, you’d have to provide a bank statement of the last three months to show where the money from your tenants goes, for example into a UK bank account.  You will also need to show another statement of your Spanish bank account where you’ll be sending the money too. This requirement can vary from one office to another.

Since you are going to be living in Spain, the police may require that you have a Spanish bank account and that you send money here.

Business in Spain

By ‘business’ I mean any other form of legal business such as a limited company. Bring the original statutes of the company and one photocopy. This is something you should have from the notary, when you official constituted the company. If you have a limited business, you are either self-employed or an employee of your business. For the self-employed option, you will need what I mentioned in the previous section ‘Self-employed abroad’.

If you are an employee of your company, you will need the same documentation as if you were a regular employee. Click here to review the previous article on workers.

Business abroad

This is the same as for self-employed abroad. You must be able to demonstrate how you are receiving your income and provide evidence of it. This might include business statutes or bank accounts, for example. I would not take anything for granted and check with the police first.

Health cover

Your second requirement is to show how your health will be covered.

Self-employed in Spain

When you registered as self-employed at the Spanish Social Security, you received an official certificate or a stamped document. You will need this to demonstrate eligibility for state health care.

Self-employed abroad

You will need a private insurance plan that grants full cover in Spain, with no co-payments. Just be careful with the type of plan you get, as it could not be enough for the police. That’s why a preliminary visit is always so important.

Business in Spain

As mentioned earlier, in Spain, if you have a limited business, you are either self-employed or an employee of your business. For the self-employed option, you will need what I mentioned in the previous section ‘Self-employed abroad’. For the employee, you will have to provide the same kind of documentation as if you were a regular employee. Click here to review the previous article on workers.

Business abroad

This is the same as for ‘self-employed’ abroad, you will need to take private insurance which grants full cover in Spain, with no co-payments.

Please note, requirements for both financial and health cover can significantly change from one police station to another. Therefore, you should take this article as a guide only, and speak with the police first of all to avoid taking unnecessary documentation.

You may need to provide official translations. Find out at your relevant office.

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Will You Need an Interpreter?

It depends on whether the police speak English or not. However, my recommendation is that you take one if you are within this group of applicants for residency. This group is perhaps the most complex one because of the amount of requirements. So it would be easy to misunderstand what the police told you to bring.

If you don’t speak Spanish, my advice is that you always take good interpreters with you to all the relevant procedures you go through in Spain. Mistakes can be made when you don’t speak the foreign language and that can cost you a lot of money and time wasted.

Click here to access the Ultimate Guide on Spanish Residency

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