What is non-lucrative residency?
Non-lucrative is one of the best forms of residency for non-Europeans, by which they can obtain Spanish residency without any investment, but they need just to prove their financial ability to afford staying in Spain.
In this type of residence, the first residence card is a one-year, the second and third residence cards are two-years each, and after the end of these five years (temporary residence period), the applicant is given a five-year or permanent residence card.
During the temporary residence period, the applicant does not have a work permit, but after one year, he / she can apply for a work permit in accordance with the type of activity he / she wants to do (starting a personal or employment business) and apply for a residence card with a work permit.
Upon completion of the temporary residence period and receiving permanent residence, the applicant will be allowed to work automatically without requesting or modifying the residence.
Who can apply for residence permit in Spain?
All people over the age of 18 can apply for residency in Spain independently if they have satisfied financial and employment conditions. Children under the age of 18 and over the age of 18 who are students and under the legal guardianship of their parents can also apply for residency in Spain.
What are the necessary conditions for obtaining non-lucrative residency?
The applicant must prove to the Spanish Government that he / she is financially able to live in Spain for six months of the year without working in Spain. This include the following:
- Having clear sources of income to prove that the applicant still has income without the need for a physical presence in his origin living country. (For example, income from renting a property or shop, interest on a bank deposit, or any business or job with proven documents to present at embassy). Also, a set of assets of family members can be presented.
- Having balance in the applicant’s bank account is required to be presented to the embassy based on the bank’s financial statement letter. This amount varies according to the number of people in the file.
What are the benefits of this type of residency?
- Having this residence, the applicant and his / her companions have all the necessary rights to live in Spain, whether renting or buying an apartment or property, starting any business, registering a company and brand, opening a bank account, buying a car and obtaining a driving license. Also, enrolling in public and private schools and universities, etc.
- This type of residence allows you to travel to all Schengen EU-countries without a visa. Another benefit is the ease of obtaining visas from other countries such as United Kingdom, United States, Canada and Australia at their embassies in Spain.
- It is interesting to know that in order to obtain this type of residence, there is no need to invest in Spain (e.g buying a property), and fluency in Spanish and English are not an obligation.
- This type of residence also facilitates your access to job opportunities in other European countries.
What to do after obtaining the residence visa from the Spain Embassy?
In case of receiving positive answer from embassy, the applicant will be given a 90-day residence visa. It is recommended that the applicant should travel to Spain at least 45 days after receiving the visa and apply for his / her residence card.
What are the reasons for rejecting the case?
If the applicant submits all the documents according to the list provided by the company, he / she will not be rejected unless he / she does not submit a document, or presents a fake document, or does not answer the interviewer’s question correctly on the day of the interview at the embassy.
Will the Spanish government collect taxes from holders of this type of residence?
No, non-lucrative residence basically does not have a work permit and is tax-free. If the applicant later want to work legally in Spain and will have a certain income, must pay the relevant taxes.
What is the cost of living in Spain?
The cost of living varies according to people lifestyle. But in general you can consider the following:
The cost of renting a flat starts from 500€ depends on the city, neighborhood, location, building age, area, furnishings or not, number of bedrooms, and other facilities.
The cost of a supermarket for 2 people is about 100€ per month and for every additional person, add about 30€ per month.
Tuition fees for public universities are around 1,000€ per year and for private universities at least 2,000€ per year.
The cost of private health insurance is about 500-600 € per year for every person depending on the insurance company.
The following link is a valid reference for examining the cost of living in Spain:
