Entrepreneur visa in Spain: the ENISA report, the table-based form and the UGE application step by step

The entrepreneur visa is actually the residence authorisation for entrepreneurs under Ley 14/2013 (the Spanish Entrepreneurs Act) (articles 69 and 70). It serves to start, develop or manage in Spain an innovative activity and/or one of special economic interest for Spain: just 1 of the 2 is enough. It lasts 3 years and is valid throughout the territory, it is renewed for periods of 2 years and after 5 years it allows you to apply for permanent residence.

It can be requested by foreigners who are not European Union citizens nor have equivalent free movement, from abroad or while already in Spain with a stay, residence or visa. General requirements: not being in an irregular situation, being over 18 years old, having no criminal record nor appearing as rejectable, having public or private health insurance from an insurance company authorised in Spain (we collaborate with ASISA and can help you take it out), having sufficient resources for you and your family and paying the tasa (official fee). The activity must also comply with its sectoral regulations.

What is not required: the UGE indicates that there are no minimums for investment or job creation, and the law does not set a resource figure for the entrepreneur. It is also not necessary to have the company incorporated in Spain: the ENISA form accepts a business project with the tax identification number and address as optional data. The limited company can be incorporated later, and we prepare it for you in our SL incorporation file.

ENISA does not assess a loose PDF dossier or business plan: it assesses a form in its private area, at enisa.es, where several sections allow adding a supporting document. Registration only requires an email and a password, without a NIE (foreigner identity number), digital certificate or Cl@ve (the Spanish electronic identity system), and the form accepts a passport. Inside, you choose 'Residence authorisation for entrepreneurs' and then 'Fill in the form'.

First come the applicant's details: a company already incorporated in Spain or a project (name, activity, CNAE code and province where it will be established). Then, the business plan, almost entirely in tables (we summarise them below): competitors, team, partners, suppliers, clients, investments at 18 or 24 months with their financing and forecasts for the next 4 years. At a minimum, you appear as a founder in Team and in Partners.

It can be filled out in several sessions by clicking 'Save', but in each table you must click 'Add' for each row or that record is not kept. The data must be truthful and verifiable: ENISA warns that it can cross-check the team with LinkedIn and other sources. Official queries are directed to visados@enisa.es.

In our experience, ENISA does not provide proof of submission and the UGE does not ask for it: the proof is a screenshot of the private area with the form in 'Submitted' status. The account is opened with your email; we prepare the content of each table, look for any shortcut that fits and review it with you before sending it, with a confidentiality clause for the plan in the engagement letter.

ENISA scores 2 things: the degree of innovation and the degree of scalability, which is how it measures the 'special economic interest'. The law adds the professional profile and the involvement of the applicant and each partner (whether they apply for residence or not), the business plan with its financing and the added value for the Spanish economy. Since Ley 28/2022, job creation ceased to be the priority criterion.

There are 5 shortcuts: with just 1, innovation is approved directly (it is an optional section of the form). They are: investment, financing or public aid for R&D&I or innovative entrepreneurship in the last 3 years, without revocation; an award, or being a finalist, as an innovative company, of at least regional scope; a binding reasoned report from the Ministry of Science; reductions in social security contributions for research staff; or the Innovative SME Seal, the AENOR certification of Young Innovative Company (EA0043) or Small or Micro Innovative Company (EA0047), or UNE 166.002.

Without a shortcut, innovation is proven with patents, software or know-how (trademarks and trade names do not count), with proprietary technology (R&D&I expenses of at least 15% of total expenses in the 2 previous financial years, or the previous one if the company is less than 2 years old) or with differentiation in processes, product or service, or business model. Scalability is judged by market attractiveness, the company's life stage, the business model, competition, the team, partners, suppliers and clients. It is advisable to avoid unverifiable data, saying there are no competitors and giving forecasts without explaining how they are financed.

No. First you send the ENISA form and then you submit the application to the UGE, which requests the report from ENISA ex officio. ENISA has 10 working days to issue it and sends it to the UGE: you do not receive it or upload it, and the business plan does not go to the UGE either.

Waiting can be expensive. If you are in Spain as a tourist and your stay ends, you are left in an irregular situation, and not being in one is a requirement. Instead, submitting the application extends your stay or residence until it is resolved.

The UGE processes it and the Directorate General for Migration grants it. The deadline is 20 days from the electronic submission, not from when the report arrives, and they are working days under the general rule of Ley 39/2015. The deadline can be suspended, for example while answering a formal request (requerimiento). If there is no resolution within the deadline, the authorisation is understood to be granted by positive silence.

Without a favourable report from ENISA, the application is denied; if this happens to you, an appeal (recurso de alzada) can be filed against the denial within 1 month, and at our firm we study it with you.

The application is submitted at the electronic headquarters of the Ministry of Inclusion. For the initial authorisation, you upload: full passport (all pages, whether they have stamps or not), financial resources, health insurance, proof of the tasa, signed MIT form and, if applicable, criminal records. Each document goes in its own box, in a PDF, and the headquarters sets a maximum of 24 MB.

You sign the MIT, and it is valid signed by hand and scanned. It includes the NRC (22 characters) of the tasa: modelo 790, código 038, point 7, initial authorisation, which in 2026 costs €73.26. It is not the 790-052 of the general regime. In our experience, the 'Payment by representation' asks for a NIF or NIE of the interested party; if you do not have one yet, the representative pays it with their own details in the taxpayer block of the form, and those of the interested party in 'Authorisation details'.

Criminal records: if you are in Spain on a stay, you provide the certificates from the countries where you have resided for the last 2 years and a responsible declaration of not having them for the last 5. With residence or a stay of more than 6 months, the certificate is not requested; from abroad, it is delivered to the consulate with the visa. In the files we handle, we add the responsible declaration of Seguridad Social (the Spanish social security system) requested by Instruction DGM 1/2023, even if it does not appear in the UGE upload table. If a sworn translation or apostille is needed, we manage it separately.

We submit it as an 'authorised person to submit', signing with the digital certificate of the firm's lawyer, and notifications go to the lawyer. We never ask for your digital certificate. A practical detail: the headquarters rejects letters outside the Spanish alphabet, apostrophes and street numbers with letters; the exact details are written in Observations.

The authorisation is always requested before the UGE, even from abroad: they are not 2 alternative routes. From abroad, a single application processes the authorisation and visa consecutively: once the authorisation is granted, the visa is requested at the consulate. The old visa to evaluate the project was abolished by Ley 28/2022.

The consulate has 10 working days to resolve, except where the prior consultation provided for in the Visa Code applies. The visa is valid for 1 year, or for the duration of the authorisation if it is less, and allows you to reside without processing the TIE (foreigner identity card). You submit it there, or an accredited representative if that consulate allows it; we prepare the file, check it against your consulate's list and tell you what to take. You pay the consular tasa there.

If you are already in Spain, you do not have to leave: once the authorisation is granted, which lasts more than 6 months, the TIE is requested. In the first 6 months, the passport is enough to register with the Seguridad Social if you do not have a NIE yet.

Yes. The spouse or partner with an analogous relationship, minor children, dependent adult children who have not formed their own family, and dependent ascendants can apply for their authorisation at the same time or later; if submitted together, they are resolved together. They meet the same general requirements and the resources must be enough for everyone. We process it in the family reunification file for visa holders.

The renewal is for 2 years if the conditions are maintained. You must fill in the ENISA form again, with the company details, and upload the passport, the renewal tasa and the MIT to the UGE. Submitting it extends the authorisation until it is resolved, also in the 90 days following expiration, although a penalty is possible then.

Meanwhile, any change affecting the admission conditions is communicated to the UGE within 30 days; if they are not met, the authorisation can be extinguished after a hearing.

With ENISA there are 3 procedures that are confused by name. The report for residence is requested by the UGE, about a person and their project, even if there is no company yet. It is the only one needed for the entrepreneur visa.

The startup certification is another procedure (Ley 28/2022 and Orden PCM/825/2023). It is requested by a commercial company or cooperative with its headquarters, registered office or permanent establishment in Spain, with no more than 5 years since its registration (7 in biotechnology, energy and industrial), with no distributed dividends and unlisted. It is requested in the ENISA Client Portal; it is free and ENISA has up to 3 months, with positive silence. It gives advantages to the company, such as Corporate Income Tax at 15% for a time. It is not among the 5 shortcuts: it can be attached as proof, but it does not replace the report.

The ENISA loan is financing for companies that must be repaid. It is not a requirement for residence nor does it replace it. It has its own file and its own guide.