The Costa Property Podcast

#46 Spain is Scrapping the Golden Visa in 2025 – What This Means for You

• Warner and Sandra Laurie - WL Costa Properties Real Estate Spain • Episode 46

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The Golden Visa has been the fastest and simplest way to move to Spain, but in just a few months, it’s gone for good. 

If you’ve been planning to relocate using this route, this episode is a must-listen as time is running out. 

But don’t panic - there are still options, and today, we break them all down.

In this week's episode of The Costa Property Podcast, we’re joined by Regina Martín, top property lawyer on the Costa del Sol, to get the facts straight and help you understand exactly what this means for your Spanish property and relocation plans.

Tune in to discover:

✅ The exact date the Golden Visa ends—and what you MUST do before then.

✅ Step-by-step guide to applying successfully (before the deadline!).

✅ What happens if you already have a Golden Visa? Can you still renew?

✅ The best alternative visas for moving to Spain in 2025.


Links Mentioned in This Episode:

Need expert legal advice on your visa & property purchase? 

Contact Regina Martín at Benalmádena Lawyers:

🌍 Website: www.benalmadenalawyers.com

📩 Email: info@benalmadenalawyers.com


Ready to Make Your Move to Spain?


PS - Keep Up-to Date With Our Expert Insights!


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 So you may or you may not have seen the headlines that the Golden Visa is to be abolished. 

Sure,  it's enough to make anybody's head spin, but what's really going on and what does it mean for you if you wanted to apply for the Golden Visa this year? 

 Now that's what we're diving into today and I'm delighted to welcome back Regina Martín 

our resident solicitor from Benamadna Lawyers to help us to really get the facts straight.

So by the end of this episode, you'll feel a whole lot clearer and maybe even a little bit excited about what's coming next. When I first heard the whispers about this, I thought, oh, there goes another big change, something else to keep us all on our toes. But the more I've learned, the more I've realized that change isn't actually always a bad thing.

It's just a different way of thinking about things. And today we are going to talk through what actually this means and what this means for you. If you were planning on applying for your golden visa in  📍 2025. But first things first, as usual, our first stop of the day is our Spanish word of the day. And today's word is the Spanish word for lawyer.

It's abogado. It's a handy one to know if you're navigating the ins and outs of visas and property laws as part of your big dream to move to the Costa del

Sol. Let's jump into today's episode.  Now, many of

you will remember Regina Martin Gonzalez from the previous episode of the Cost of Property podcast.  Regina is a Spanish solicitor who's providing expert conveyance and property law services here. in the Costa del Sol since 1992.  She is an absolute expert when it comes to navigating the legalities of purchasing or selling a property in Spain.

For us, Regina is the go to person for anything when the law changes in Spain. It is a pleasure, Regina, to have you on the show again, and how are you? Wonderful, thank you for having me. No problem. So today we're going to be talking about everything Golden Visa. I know we touched on this in July when the announcement came that they were going to abolish the Golden Visa. 

And now we're in early January. We now have confirmation that the Golden Visa will be terminated on the 3rd of April. 2025.  So we just wanted to get you on the show again just to have your overview of it and what this means for people looking to access the Golden Visa for the future. It is true, it is true that the Golden Visa will terminate The program of golden visa will terminate on the 3rd of April 2025. 

It is true that from that date on we will not be able to request to apply for new visas, but up till that day we are still applying for visas. So we still have time to apply for this kind of visa. In fact, I was just granted one last week  without any kind of effort, simply ABCD. The papers were there.  If you are thinking about getting this kind of visa, and you can invest 500, You need to tell your lawyer that you are intending to apply for this visa so that the timing is perfect.

Because we lawyers are used to preparing both cases together, the purchase and the golden visa, so that while we are Checking the property and doing the due diligence so that the property you are going to acquire is okay. At the same time, we are requesting you to prepare the documents needed so that the day that you buy the property, immediately we apply for the Golden Visa.

And this is a very straightforward thing to do. There are several points. If you have them, you got it.  There is no trick about it. It's easy, and it gives you a lot of benefits, which will terminate on the 3rd of April for those that have not applied.  The people that have already applied before that date, even if they have not been granted the Golden Visa date,  They will be considered as if the law had not changed for them. 

Right? That is one thing. People that have the golden visa, the resident card of investor, and they think that they will be needing to renew, they will be able to renew because they have done it before this program was off, and this program will always be with them. As long as you keep the investment, for instance, if you bought a property, a villa, you shouldn't sell that villa while you have this golden visa, at least until you apply again for your renovation. 

Anyhow, even if golden visas are very nice, very comfortable for people that can invest an amount of money, there are many other kinds of visas. That you can get in order to live permanently in Spain or part-time in Spain without to think about the 9,180 day rule. Right? Which is absurd. We are not used, we humans are not used to that kind of counting all the time.

You have the student visa that you can get up until you are 100 years old. In order to learn Spanish, for instance, you can get the non lucrative visa. You can get a, a visa for digital normals. There are many kinds of documents that you can apply. The only thing about going on a visa was, or is still,  that it is the simplicity of the system.

And also that you can choose between living all the time in Spain and becoming a tax resident in Spain or simply coming wherever you want and keep your tax residency wherever you come from.  So it gives you the freedom to go around the Schengen area without any tax implications. So this finishing  doesn't mean that you don't have other means to organize yourself here in Spain.

And you are absolutely welcome.  I just want to ask you, why do you think the golden visa was such popular option for people moving to Spain?  Because of the simplicity, you simply in case you have the opportunity to invest 500, mortgage.  You will be able to simply have a card, a residence card, with your photo on it.

That is like a passport, a European passport. You can travel around with that passport. You can go in and out the Schengen area to France, to Germany, to Spain, without needing to remember  to get any kind of visas, without thinking about rules of 90, 180 days. You are completely free to move.  And you really need to show your card and, and it, and also it just didn't have tax implication.

And at least you will be able to control your tax implications, which in order visas you need, you don't have such a control of your tax implications. If you get a resident visa, you should be in Spain more than six months a year, and you should pay as a resident. Your taxes in Spain. In principle, at least from the second year onwards.

While with this visa, you simply continue with your life, with your businesses.  And when the Golden Visa gets abolished on the 3rd of April 2025,  Is there still another pathway  for people looking to relocate or move to Spain? People have been moving to Spain since the Romans, always.  And of course, and no one had the golden visa before 2013.

This was only used by people that came from distant countries and that had no other way to organize their documents. It's only recent that some people like Americans, Canadians, and English people are interested in doing it, but always we have had people coming without any kind of problem. You just need to go to a bar and look around what is the multiple nationalities around you. 

And this was only used by a minimal part of, of investors. Many people didn't need it or didn't want to have it. So you can still come to Spain if you are British, for instance, or if you are from Canada, you need to think about your 90, 180 days in order to organize your matters. But there are other ways to organize yourself if you want to be here the whole year. 

The non lucrative visa, it's easy to get also. It's true you need to organize it differently. The protocols are different, but still they are easy protocols. You need to show again your income. It's almost the same paperwork you need, and you will be able to become a resident in Spain and stay here as long as you want.

There are Nomad Digitals that have good  solutions for taxes also. And there are many other kinds of visas that you can use and apply. And the one I always like is the student visa, because you can become a student. For instance, for cooking or a student for Spanish or whatever in any academy in the area.

And by doing so, you become a student. Even if you are 90 years old, you can study. No one says you cannot study. And then you get a residence, a residency for you and your family for studying. That visa is very easy. While you are using it, you then reapply to study the second year and you go on thinking if you really like it and you want to have a permanent visa or not.

And for anyone listening today who is considering applying for the golden visa, what should they do now?  Is there any other things they need to do? Okay, if you are already buying the property  and you are thinking about applying for the golden visa, Please, please, please, check your passport. Make sure you don't come more than 90 days into Spain.

They will check the stamps in your passport, and you need to be legal in Spain to apply for it. Therefore, please, please, make sure that you respect the 90 180 days in order to be able to apply. to apply for the Golden Visa. Also, you will need to have a medical insurance that is easy. We are doing it all the time.

Many insurances are available. And the idea is that you don't cost money to the Spanish Social Security because you have your own insurance. that you can do in 24 hours. Then yes, you need to apply in the place where you have lived the last five years. You need to apply for your criminal record certificate and that is really important.

It takes two or three weeks to get it sometimes. So if you apply before buying the property, you already have it when you, when you're going to apply. So one thing to remember, apply for your criminal record certificate.  That will need to be, get an apostille. That is something that you can look up in internet.

An apostille is a international stamp that validates internationally any document from any country. Right? Therefore, it will show that the document you're bringing is a real document. You will need to prove your economic means, your way of your income, so that you show that you have money enough to keep yourself in Spain, you and your family.

So, you will be able to make a bank statement in order, or a bank certificate, in order to show how much money you have in your bank. And for the children and for your spouse, your, your partner, remember to start preparing the certificates of birth, the certificates of marriage certificates, right, because they need to have an apostille and they need to need to be translated.

So  homework, passport, perfect, clean, and legal criminal records, request for it, certificate of marriage, have it in hand, original,  it needs to have an apostille.  and it needs to be translated. You need to have it. The apostille and the certificate needs to be  less than three months old. You need to have a new one, a brand new one.

You need to get it. Birth certificates of the children also, they cannot be old. You need to get one renewed now in order to apply in March. So apply for your birth certificate, for your marriage certificate, and for your criminal record. The rest can continue to be prepared and is less time consuming, so to say.

Having those, you have almost everything you need in order to do it. So what I'm hearing loud  and clear is if you're really interested in it, then you need to submit those applications now. You need to speak to an expert like Regina so that they can direct you from A to Z how to apply before the time runs out the 3rd of April 2025.

If you missed that golden visa opportunity, then remember, Spain is still open.  You just have to apply for a different type of visa. This may take a bit more time, but on the plus side, you won't have to fork out 500, 000 to buy property. So this could be a win win situation for yourself. Of course, people can ask their lawyers about the different possibilities they have.

There are many of them. Spain is an orphan country. We live on tourism and on residential tourism. So we are super happy to have anyone coming here. Getting a property and living in it. And we lawyers are here to help and to, to go together with you through all the process, not only to buy a property, to do a due diligence and to see you as a number, but to see you as a person, to think about what are your needs.

If you have children, that means  If your parents need to come together along with you, we need to see the global picture of the person and then see what is the best residency, paperwork, seeing that will suit you best. Also tax wise, you need to see what is the best to organize your residency so that your taxes are under your control, that you're doing what you really want to do. 

That's amazing information. Hopefully now all our guests are updated in the golden visa application and also when it will be abolished.  Remember the date, 4th of April 2025.  If you missed that opportunity, do not worry. Spain's doors are opened and there's different types of visas that you can apply for. 

All you need to do is find an expert like Regina and make sure you go through the proper process. That's it. It's an opportunity. It's like an opportunity for this little door that is still opened. There are many other doors you can always come, but if you're going to invest more than 500, 000 euros, think about it and do it fast.

And also think about organizing everything together so that you do it. before the end of March. That's it. Thank you as always Regina for clarifying the Golden Visa application. I know that we jumped on this very quickly because time is ticking away. If you are thinking about applying for the Golden Visa and you have 500, 000 euros to spend, then now is the time to do it. 

You need to get that application in before they abolished the Golden Visa in April 2025. For anybody that is interested in more information or wants to contact Regina personally,  We're going to put all the information in the show notes. And if anybody's interested to speak more about the Golden Visa, when the time is ticking away, remember the date, April 2025, the Golden Visa is gone.

Thank you once again, Regina, and we'll speak to

you soon. Thank you to you Thank you to you.

Bye. 

Thank you so much for listening into today's episode on the cost of property podcast. Another fantastic episode learning about the highs and lows of relocating to the Costa del Sol from real people who have been through the journey themselves, and of course, our wonderful experts. If you have been enjoying the show so far, remember to hit subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating or review.

We absolutely love hearing your thoughts. Please send any questions that you would like us to answer on the show to warner at  wlcosttheproperties. net or you can pop us a message on our socials which are in the show notes. Remember you can also visit the website www. wlcosttheproperties. 

net See you on the next episode and bye for now. Bye bye