The Non-Profit Residence
21 Marzo, 2023
The non-profit residence visa is a type of residence in Spain that grants non-European citizens, with sufficient funds, an authorization to reside in the country without carrying out any type of economic activity. And this is so for both the main applicant and his family, since they can also live in the country with him or her.
This visa will allow you to stay in Spain for 1 year from when you enter Spanish territory, since it is an initial residence authorization. Later, you will have the option to renew the permit successively, each renewal lasting 2 years. This until reaching permanent or long-term residence (at 5 years). One of its main characteristics is that it does not allow you to carry out any type of economic or professional activity in Spain. That is, you will not be able to work for any company that operates in the country. Well, it has a non-profit nature.
In addition, you do not need to invest in the country to get the visa. This added to its few requirements makes it an easy permit to acquire. With the non-profit, the only thing you have to worry about is having enough means to support yourself. If you can demonstrate that you have sufficient funds and that your stay in the country will not involve any expense for the Government, you will be able to obtain residency.
Who is this visa for?
- For all those people who want to retire in Spain.
- For foreigners who have sufficient financial funds to stay in the country without having to work.
- For all those people who want to stay during their first year in Spain without working (to visit and discover the country); But after a year they would like to continue with their professional activity. Thus, the non-profit is ideal in this sense because it will allow you to modify towards a work permit.
Requirements
There are several requirements that you must meet in order to apply for the non-profit visa. Show that you have enough money in your bank account (economic funds)As we have mentioned previously, this residence permit does not allow you to work in Spanish territory.
However, it will be necessary to ensure that you can maintain your cost of living so that the government does not have the need to do so. For this reason, having sufficient funds or financial means will be one of the main requirements.
But how can you know that you really meet the minimum required amount?
To answer that question, we will use the IPREM, an indicator that defines the minimum amount of money that a person must earn annually in order to be eligible for different grants. In the case of the non-profit visa, you must show that you have 400% of the IPREM annually in your bank account. In 2020, the IPREM has been € 537.84 per month. As the unit of measure in which we are interested is the year, our objective will be € 6,454.03.
In other words, the main applicant for this permit must prove that they have € 25,816.12 in the bank. Please note that the currency used must be the euro or any other international currency that can be converted into the euro.
How can you show that you have that amount of money?
The answer is no. You can have part of the money in a Spanish bank account and the other part in an American account, for example. And the request would still be accepted. However, there are certain countries such as China or Russia that do require that the money be in a Spanish account. That is why our recommendation is to open an account in the country as soon as possible and deposit the money in it.
Economic means to bring your family with you. Like many other residence permits, the non-profit residence allows you to apply jointly.
This means that you can also bring your spouse and minor children (or older if you can show that you are in charge of them) simply by making your request.If you want to apply jointly, the minimum amount of money that you must show will be increased. For each member you bring you must show an additional 100% of the IPREM. In other words, we are talking about € 6,454.03 additional per year. It is a great opportunity to get your family to get a residence permit easily.
Have private health insurance
As with all other residence authorizations, you will need full coverage medical insurance in Spain.However, we run into a difference in this case. Although it is true that in the other residence permits the insurance could be both public and private, with the non-profit it is not so.
Why? Because your insurance policy must be private. It is another way to show that the state will not have to take care of you financially. But the conditions don't stop there.Said insurance must also be contracted to a Spanish company that only operates in the national territory. This contract must last at least one year. And, finally, all the specialties of the Spanish public health system must be included in it. You cannot record either deficiencies or copayments; and the coverage must be total.
Other requirements
Finally, you must also meet the common requirements for other residency applications:
- Have no criminal record, both in Spain and your country of origin. More here on how to request this certificate.
- You cannot find yourself in an irregular situation in the country. In fact, the legal process starts from your country of origin.
- You cannot be prohibited from entering the Schengen zone.
Visa application process.
Visa application
The application for this residence authorization begins in the country of origin or where you have your legal residence. Entering Spain as a tourist will not allow you to manage the procedure. You must be out of the country, obligatorily. The first of all will be to send all the relevant documents to the Spanish Consulate (you will find the documents in the next section).
The government delegation in charge of analyzing the files will have 1 month to issue its result. In the case of no response within said period, the request is understood as denied due to administrative silence. Once we get a favorable response, they will stamp the visa in our passport, and we can thus move on to the next step: traveling to Spain.
Obtaining the TIE or identity card of the foreigner
With our visa we can enter Spain without any problem; and we must do it in a maximum of 3 months. In this case, it will not be necessary to get the NIE number once in Spain. Well, it will already be included with the visa. However, once in Spain, the first of all will be to register in the municipality where you will live And, within a maximum period of 1 month, you must attend a police station, register our fingerprints, and receive the TIE or identity card from abroad.
That means there will be no need for additional steps within Spain. It is that simple. You will be able to enter the country and receive the residence authorization within a period of 40 days. Without having to do anything else. The exact day on which you are given the visa in your passport, you will already be a legal resident in the country, so it will start to count towards the achievement of citizenship.
How long it takes?
The legal procedure is quite agile. Although it will depend on how long it takes to gather and prepare all the documentation, in addition to traveling to Spain and requesting the pertinent appointments, you can consider that from start to finish, in approximately 5 or 6 months the whole process can end (and can be less)
Non-profit residence renewal
We find here a very common question from our clients. I get my non-profit visa for one year. But then what? What options do I have when the year ends? You have two different options. The first option is to renew your non-profit permit.
If you still meet the conditions (800% of the IPREM in your bank account, private insurance policy ...), the renewal will be possible. Keep in mind that in this case you must show a sufficient amount of money for two years, not for one as in the initial application. Well, because the renewal is for two years; the monetary amount is doubled. Second, you can also modify the initial authorization towards a work permit, as we will see below. And in that sense you can modify towards an authorization both for someone else and on your own.
Modification of non-profit residence to residence and work for others
As we have seen, you can transition to a work permit through a residency modification. That is the best alternative for those who have enough savings to stay abroad for a year (in Spain), but after this they would like to continue working to earn a living.
In that case, you can dedicate part of your last months without profit seeking a job in the country. Once you find it, the procedure for the employer will be easy. Why? Because you already have a permit to live. You will only have to present an authorization so that you can work in Spain in the Government delegation. And that simplifies things a lot. Thus, at the time of renewal, you will submit an application as a modification of residence to residence and work for someone else.
This modification will grant you an authorization to live and work in Spain for two additional years. But you can also transition to a work permit as a self-employed person, so you won't be working for anyone but yourself. That is, you will register as a self-employed person.
Non-profit residence taxes
Finally, we wanted to include a section in which we could discuss the taxes that you will have to pay with this visa in Spain. First of all, understand that, because this residence card requires you to stay a minimum of 183 days a year in the country to be able to renew, you will become a tax resident.
This basically means that you will have to pay IRPF for the income you obtain worldwide. Keep in mind that there are double taxation agreements. These will prevent you from paying twice for the same income if you have generated them in another country but also pay them in Spain. In the event that you decide to invest, for example, in business stocks, and you generate a profit from your investments, you will have to pay capital gains tax. In addition, in the case of buying a home, there may also be taxes associated with the transaction.
