Last Friday the 24th of May, the government introduced a bill for the proposed Entrepreneurs´ Law. When they Law is approved, the government will include special measures to help foreign investors obtain Spanish residency. It is still unknown when the proposal will go into effect. Also, some of the fine print is still unknown.

In the press conference after the Council of Ministers, the Deputy Prime Minister, Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, explained that the bill also offers a residence permit to foreign entrepreneurs who buy public debt amounting to more than two million Euros. (El Mundo, a Spanish newspaper)

The proposal also provides residence for foreigners who invest in business projects that create jobs or have a significant impact in terms of socio-economic or scientific and technological innovation. It will also be available to those foreigners who make a significant investment or business project of general interest. (El Mundo)

Saenz de Santamaria, also said that the proposal is a comprehensive and complete provision, developed through nine ministries, which aims to boost entrepreneurial and business activities. The bill is intended to encourage investment in Spain and attract talent to Spain. Therefore, the regulation will facilitate the approval of residence permits for investors and highly qualified professionals. (La Moncloa, Madrid)

According to El Mundo, the Government will approve residence permits for foreigners who buy homes valued at or above 500.000 Euros. The government hopes to attract the fortunes of countries like Russia and China. This figure is much higher than the originally proposed investment of € 160.000.

The actual text of the bill appears as follows:

Attracting investment and talent to Spain, facilitating and expediting the approval of residency permits for:

• Investors with economic means or general interest
• Entrepreneurs with innovative projects and special economic interest, with a priority of job creation;
• Highly qualified professionals
• Foreigners who travel to Spain as part of an employment relationship, as a professional or for vocational training, for a period equal to a transfer. (Ley de Apoyo a los Emprendedores y su Internacionalización, Consejo de Ministros, 24 de mayo de 2013, translated from Spanish)

The updates are coming in slowly but as is evidenced by the information that came out late last week, the proposed bill is active and we expect to continue hearing updates from the government about this opportunity.

Marina Bugallal & Amanda Osorio

Mariscal Abogados, International lawyers