When buying a property in Spain cost from €500,000, a residence permit (the so-called "golden visa") can be granted. But a good idea without a clear procedure becomes a headache for foreign investors, reports ee24.com citing opp-connect.com.
According to Anthony Bloom, founder of spanishpropertysales.com, in order to get a residence permit, his Russian clients shuttled between Spain and Russia. The main difficulty is the lack of information even on the official websites, including the pages of the Spanish consulate. Buyers are forced to go to agencies, which have the right information and work in touch with consular officials.
Despite the fact that for obtaining a residence permit one needs to buy a property in Spain in the amount of €500,000, there are cases when authorities were advising married couples to purchase a property priced at €1 million. Somewhere authorities require that the applicant must have an annual income of €70,000, and somewhere, for example, in the Spanish consulate in Russia, they tell that a buyer has to have €50,000 in the account, as well as €30,000 for each child.
Opinion of the ee24.com portal's expert
Vladimir Venkov, PR manager of FORUMINT estate: "Despite the law governing the acquisition of a residence permit in Spain to foreigners, investing in economy or acquiring property, was adopted in October 2013, it still has some gaps. Firstly, the rules and the procedure for obtaining residence permit in Spain haven't been officially published. Secondly, the investor is put forward a number of requirements, in addition to investments in property (required amount). Thirdly, different sources provide different information. For example, the General Consulate of Spain in St. Petersburg does not comment on the amount of €500,000 and declares that purchasing any real property and collecting the necessary package of documents are enough to obtain a residence permit in Spain."