I am new to this great but overwhelming website and I have a question:  I am a non-EU citizen and it has always been my wish to live in Spain and since I have some savings, product of many years of hard work, I would like to spend the rest of my years in Spain without having to work or study, and therefore I have a question regarding the so-called ?non-lucrative visa?.  I know that one of the requirements is to have an annual income of $75000 (which seems ridiculous), however I have heard that some people were able to bypass this option by demonstrating that they have sufficient money saved.  In conclusion, how much money in the bank is necessary to get this type of visa?  I have googled this question to death without a clear answer.  Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Frankly: you’re not the only one. I’ve been asking folks for years but never get a response. It’s frustrating.

If you hear/read anything concrete, please post back here with the info. That said, hopefully someone else will come by with more information.

I am an immigration attorney in Spain. Our firm provides business and immigration services to non-Spanish clients.

The non-lucrative visa focuses on two types of individuals:

1) The retired individual who receives a monthly pension or annuity that is sufficient to live in Spain without any need to work. A foreign salary doesn’t help. Only a pension or annuity provides the guarantee that you will keep receiving that amount indefinitely.

2) The foreign national who intends to reside in Spain without engaging in any type of gainful activity, and has enough funds to cover their needs and family needs for a year. In this case the residence permit is for one year, and gets renewed in subsequent years. The amount needed is roughly USD $75,000. It is not income that is required, but sufficient means, for example a bank account showing an average balance of $75,000 during the last year. If you want to renew your residence permit in subsequent years, then you should be able to show that the bank balance at the time of your renewal is the same as it was when you first applied.

In addition to our complete immigration service, we offer a document review service. We this service, we provide our expert opinion as to whether your application will be approved or not.

Mireia Costa
Immigration Lawyer
http://www.strongabogados.com

:gulp:

The amount needed is roughly USD $75,000.

wow rushmo thank you for the post…, no offence but should’nt this visa be renamed the ludircous visa

thats aprox ?69.000 ...@ aprox (if an income) ?140.00 per week

question… does this figure take into account accomodation fees? ...if so, is there any reconsiderations made if the applicant had free accomodation to go to ie.. by a spanish resident who can submit a letter of invatation?

There’s no adjusting the amount set by the authorities. I think you should look at it this way: $75,000 stays in the bank during the whole time you’re living in Spain. Then, if you can earn and live on only $5000 per year, that’s up to you. Treat the $75,000 as savings, not income. This type of visa is meant for people who don’t have to work. In fact, during the first year, you are not allowed to be on Spanish payroll.

Mireia Costa
Immigration Lawyer
http://www.strongabogados.com

Claro, thank you for the reply, guess thats one visa option of my list…..

Dear Mireia (RUSHMO): you have no idea how helpful and smart are all your advices that nobody else could answer, so thank you very much!. Nowadays, we are in the difficult and long process of gathering all the requirements the Embassy has in the list for the NON LUCRATIVE RESIDENCE VISA. We continued being disoriented about the ?proof of housing/disponibilidad de alojamiento? requirement and we don?t really understand how they expect us to buy a property or obtain a long term rental agreement without having the assurance that we will succeed in our intent of getting the residence visa. So far, we rented a furnished apartment for one month, and we plan to show the that as our temporary proof of housing along with a letter indicating our intent to buy an apartment of our own as soon as we arrive in Spain.  Do you think this will be sufficient???  Since you are an Immigration Attorney residing in Spain we would also like to hire your professional services in case the visa is denied for an appeal, I would also like to know how much you charge for such services.  Please let us know if you are interested.  Teresa

We offer a preliminary service with a fee of 240? to review your documents, and determine your qualifications for the non-lucrative visa. If you decide to use our full service, this fee is deducted from the total fee.

Mireia Costa
Immigration Lawyer
http://www.strongabogados.com