It’s been a long eight months of toing and froing on the part of the Spanish government vis-à-vis the end of the divisive golden visa.
Its abolishment was announced in April 2024 by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez but it’s been a rocky road ever since, as his ruling Socialists struggled to find ways to ‘attach’ the golden visa cancellation to other bills which would be approved in Congress, especially keeping in mind their weak majority.
In the end the legislation was slipped into the PSOE’s new Judicial Efficiency Law - which has little to do with golden visas themselves - a law which the opposition Popular Party rejected in the Senate in early December.
However, when the bill returned to the Congress a few weeks later, it was approved once and for all by Members of Parliament.
This confirmed that the golden visa would well and truly cease to exist. All that was left to find out was when.
January 2025 was initially suggested as the end date in the Spanish press, but upon the publication of the Judicial Efficiency Law in Spain’s Official State Bulletin (BOE) - which determines when draft bills actually come into force - we now know that April 3rd 2025 is the official end date of the golden visa scheme.
Therefore, any non-EU national who wishes to apply for the golden visa by either buying either one or more property/ies worth €500,000, or investing €1 million in shares in Spanish companies, €2 million in government bonds, or transferring €1 million to a Spanish bank account, in order to gain Spanish residency, has until that date - April 3rd 2025 - to submit their application.
The BOE specifies that those who have sent in their application and corresponding documents before that deadline will still be able to have their Spanish golden visas granted, if they meet the criteria.
As we have stated previously, the abolishment is not retroactive, meaning that golden visa holders and their direct family members with golden visas will be able to hold onto their residency rights in Spain when it comes to renewing, despite the scheme coming to a close.
We have written extensively about Spain’s golden visa, so if you wish to learn more about why it’s being cancelled, what other residency options are available and all other news relating to the visado de oro, click here.
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