Spain Golden Visa: Why It Ended and What Existing Holders Can Still Do
- Spain Golden Visa at a Glance
- Is the Spain Golden Visa Still Available?
- What Happens If You Already Hold a Spain Golden Visa?
- Which Visa Replaces the Spain Golden Visa?
- Do Golden Visa Holders Pay Tax in Spain?
- Frequently Asked Questions About the Spanish Golden Visa
- How Greenback Helps Americans With Spanish Investments
Spain’s golden visa ended on 3 April 2025. Ley Orgánica 1/2025 closed every investor residence route to new applicants, including €500,000 in property, €1 million in shares or bank deposits, and €2 million in Spanish public debt, and buying a home in Spain no longer comes with the right to live there.
If you already hold one, your permit stays valid for its full term and can still be renewed under the rules in place when it was first issued, as long as you keep the investment. Family members who apply after the cutoff now go through Spain’s general immigration rules. Anyone planning a move today qualifies on income, work, or family grounds, and those routes, along with everything else about life there, are mapped out in our living in Spain hub.
Spain Golden Visa at a Glance
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Is the Spain golden visa still available? | No. Spain stopped accepting golden visa applications on 3 April 2025. |
| Can you still get residency in Spain by buying property? | No. Owning Spanish property gives you no residence permit today. |
| What happens to golden visas issued before April 2025? | They remain valid and can be renewed under the original rules, provided the investment is maintained. |
| Can family still join a Spain golden visa holder? | Families who already hold residence keep it. New family applications are processed under Spain’s general immigration rules. |
| Do golden visa holders pay tax in Spain? | Only on Spanish income, unless they spend more than 183 days a year in Spain or keep their main interests there. |
| What replaced the Spain golden visa? | Nothing for investors. Americans now use the non-lucrative, digital nomad, work or family routes. |
Is the Spain Golden Visa Still Available?
The Spanish golden visa is no longer available: Ley Orgánica 1/2025, published on 3 January 2025, closed it to new applicants from 3 April 2025 for all investment types. Announcing the date, Spain’s housing minister said the golden visa “afecta al derecho a la vivienda,” meaning it affected the right to housing.
The golden visa was never only a property visa. It offered residence for any of four investments, and all four closed on the same day:
| Investment | Minimum | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish public debt | €2 million | Closed |
| Shares, investment funds or bank deposits in Spain | €1 million | Closed |
| Spanish real estate | €500,000 free of any mortgage or other charge (borrowing above that was allowed) | Closed |
| A business project of general interest | No fixed amount | Closed |
You may still find pages that list golden visa requirements, including some consulate pages that show the old checklist under a notice of the repeal. Those requirements describe a route that no longer takes applications.
What Happens If You Already Hold a Spain Golden Visa?
If you already hold a golden visa, it remains valid for the full term for which it was issued, and any renewal is determined by the rules in force when your first permit was granted. Spain’s Ministry of Inclusion set out how that works in criteria issued on 10 June 2025.
Renewing Your Golden Visa
The Ministry approves renewals when the original permit met all requirements at the time of issuance. Under the original rules, a renewal runs for five years at a time and asks you to show:
- The investment is still in place: at the qualifying amount, and for property, €500,000 of value, free of any mortgage. Borrowing against the value above that was allowed, and a fall in market value does not count against you.
- Health insurance: public cover, or a private policy from a company licensed in Spain.
- Enough money to live on: for you and any family members on your permit.
- A clean criminal record: in Spain and in any country you have lived in during the last five years.
The Ministry’s renewal guidance for permits under the same law allows you to file between 60 days before your permit expires and 90 days after. The unit that handles these permits, the UGE, has 20 days to decide, and silence after that counts as approval.
Selling or Changing Your Investment
You can change the investment without losing your permit, within limits. The June 2025 criteria allow a move between any two types other than property, and a move from property to another type, provided the new investment meets the minimum. A move from another type into property is not accepted. Selling a Spanish property also triggers Spanish and U.S. tax, so plan both sides before the money moves.
Family Members
Family members who already hold residence through your golden visa keep it. Applications filed after 3 April 2025 are refused under the investor route and must instead use Spain’s general rules; the Ministry applies the same rule to marriages and births after that date. A spouse you marry or a child born after April 2025 would usually apply through family reunification, the general route that allows a legal resident with at least 1 year of residency to sponsor close relatives.
Does Golden Visa Time Count Toward Long-Term Residence?
Your years on a golden visa count toward long-term residence only if you meet the presence test: no single absence of more than 6 months and no more than ten months away over the five years. A holder who lives mostly outside Spain will usually not qualify, however long the permit has been renewed.
Where these rules come from: the published text of Ley Orgánica 1/2025, Spain’s official summary of the change, and the Ministry’s investor residence page, which carries the June 2025 criteria. These are administrative criteria and can change, so confirm a pending or unusual case with a Spanish immigration lawyer.
Which Visa Replaces the Spain Golden Visa?
Nothing replaces the golden visa for investors. Americans who want to live in Spain now choose a route based on how they will support themselves there:
- Savings, a pension, or passive income: the non-lucrative visa.
- Remote work for employers or clients outside Spain: the digital nomad visa.
- A job or a startup in Spain: a work or entrepreneur permit, which can also open the Beckham Law flat tax rate.
- A Spanish or EU spouse, partner, or parent: family residence.
- A Spanish parent: Spanish citizenship by descent, which can remove the need for a visa altogether.
Income floors, work rights, and the path to permanent residency for each route are compared on our moving to Spain page.
Do Golden Visa Holders Pay Tax in Spain?
A golden visa does not make you a Spanish tax resident. Spain considers you a resident once you have spent 183 days there in a calendar year, or when your main business or economic interests are in Spain. A holder who lives mainly in the U.S. stays a non-resident and pays Spain’s non-resident tax on Spanish income only, such as rent or a gain on a sale. The rates are in our Spanish tax system guide, and selling a Spanish home as a non-resident has its own section on capital gains tax in Spain.
The U.S. taxes that same income, because it taxes citizens wherever they live, and credits the Spanish tax under the U.S.-Spain tax treaty. The forms involved, including the FBAR for your Spanish accounts, are covered in U.S. expat taxes in Spain.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Spanish Golden Visa
A purchase before 3 April 2025 does not qualify on its own. Only applications filed before that date are decided under the old rules; buying without applying gives you no right to the visa.
A child born after 3 April 2025 cannot be added under the investor route and must instead apply under Spain’s general rules, usually through family reunification.
A golden visa holder can switch at the minimum amount, except for property: the Ministry does not accept a move from any other investment type into real estate.
An American can settle in Spain for good through the non-lucrative, digital nomad, work, or family routes, each of which can become a long-term residence once you have lived in Spain legally for five years.
How Greenback Helps Americans With Spanish Investments
Greenback prepares the U.S. returns of Americans with a Spanish home, rental, or investment, wherever they live. We report your Spanish rent and any sale, apply the Spanish tax as a Foreign Tax Credit, and file the FBAR and Form 8938 where they apply.
Living in the U.S. with a Spanish golden visa?
The information here is general and is not tax, legal, or immigration advice. Transitional rules for existing golden visa holders are administrative criteria that can change; confirm your position with a Spanish immigration lawyer and speak with a qualified tax professional about your situation.
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