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Hi, found this forum whilst researching and thought it might be a good source of info. Hoping to move to Southern Spain in next twelve months with the wife and dog, dream is to own a rural property with 3 or 4 acres, possibly a rural tourism letting or two and then utilize the land to earn an extra income, we’ve looked into commercially growing Lavender and Rock rose for essential oil extraction along with any other profitable byproducts and also planting avocados for a future income (probably 6 years plus) any advice would be appreciated, thanks

Re: Just joined
 

Hi Jock, welcome to BE :welcome:

This is our forum for all things Spain https://britishexpats.com/forum/spain-75/ I'm sure the friendly folks over there can help answer your questions re what visa you'll need etc. Best of luck with your plans.

Re: Just joined
 

Hi, welcome to BE.

I've moved your thread to the Spain forum for you where hopefully the lovely members will give you some good advice. Might be worth mentioning your citizenship - have you got citizenship of an EU country or will you need a visa?

Re: Just joined
 

Before you get any info, you need to let us know what passports you hold.

If UK then you will need a visa and as you want to work it will be complicated, NLV is for retired but you cannot work. (also be aware that there is still no agreement about swapping UK driving licences so you may have to take a driving test here)

If you have an EU country passport then its much easier.

Answer this first and then we may be able to help.

Re: Just joined
 

Were UK citizens but have been informed it’s still possible to get visas through a self employment route, again any info or advice on this would be appreciated

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Hi, we’re UK citizens currently, I’ve read in a couple of places that it’s still possible to get work visas if you set up as self employed, renew annually and then let nature take its course re citizenship, again any advice on this would be more than appreciated

Re: Just joined
 

I'm a not sure you would be granted a self employed visa on the basis of buying a property and renting as that is basically what every Brit does who wants a bit of income. You would probably need to be buying an existing business or at least provide a detailed business plan. Having said that if the property was in excess of 500K then you could get a golden visa which does allow you to work.
I would also say that if you have never lived in Spain and intend to be setting up business in a rural area you need to be really up to speed with legislation and more strangely how things work with the locals. The word they use is Enchufe which basically means that they use connections and favours which perhaps assist them in ways not open to outsiders.

If you were going for the self employed Visa then a simple rule would be that you would need to be able to generate at least 30 000 plus Euros a year from your business as this is approximately the amount you need to have yearly for the NLV.

Re: Just joined
 

Hi and thanks for the reply and info, tbf that’s along the lines of the advice I’d received previously, the assumption being that buy purchasing the correct property or at least one with the potential required, we should be able to generate the income required via rural tourism rentals and produce to satisfy the criteria for self employed work visa, the NLV I would assume wouldn’t apply to us as by going down that route we wouldn’t be able to generate any income surely or am I mistaken?

Re: Just joined
 

Nope NLV is retirement no work in Spain (or remote etc). The post Brexit TIE states "live only" Pre Brexit ones (we got ours in 2020) state "live and work" (or the ones Ive seen all have anyway)

Self employed visa requirements here from the Spanish Gov website.
https://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consul...RP%20ES-EN.pdf

and this.
https://www.immigrationspain.es/en/b...oyed-in-spain/

Both stress that you will need the capital to open and run the business and to demonstrate how and what you will bring to the local community including employment opportunities..

Id suggest you contact the nearest consulate for more info as they will be the ones to say yes or no to the visa.
Oh and the visa Must be applied for in the Uk.

Good luck, I think you may need some...

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You don't get citizenship. That takes 10 years and you will need very good Spanish to sit the tests.

What you get is a "temporary" TIE that you renew until 5 years have passed and then it gets changed to "permanent' after which you can stay forever if you want...

Re: Just joined
 

Hi thanks for the reply, I’m intrigued by the good luck I think you’ll need some comment, what makes you think that ? Is it an issue with visas or an issue with the plan ? Obviously I’ve joined and posted to try and gain some knowledge from others experiences so would appreciate any further thoughts

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sorry that was what I was trying to say ie get the TIE and renew until the 5 years has passed and then go for citizenship

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I suppose what he meant with good luck is that Brexit hasn't made things easier. In reality, most here including myself didn't have to go through the process and it's all very new, the requirements are clear though.
The plan to utilize the land to earn an extra income looks good on paper, though I'd say even people who grow up in Spain and know the area inside out might struggle and how much will you have to rely on that extra income? You can learn a lot on YouTube these days and maybe you already have good farming experience, how much do you know about the local soil and climate challenges when it comes to planting avocados for a future income and have you found suitable land? It's great to have a dream and nothing stopping you, sometimes you need to find the balance between dream and reality (compromise).

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You would need to present fairly well researched business plan which is why I suggest buying an existing business. You will also need to probably convince them that you have the resources ( money) skills ( agricultural experience) and language ( spanish). Without these you risk just sounding like someone with a dream and a vague plan!
Basically it will boil down to you showing you have a sizeable amount of money already that you are willing to invest in starting a business in Spain. That is why it is better to get the golden Visa. How much are you going to invest?