What to Know About Spain's Golden Visa Before It Ends in April
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Spain is officially ending its “golden visa” program on April 3, 2025, the country’s government confirmed in a January decree.
Formally known as residency-by-investment schemes, so-called golden visas give legal residence rights to foreign citizens who, in exchange, make an investment in the host country. Depending on the country, this investment can take the form of a real estate purchase, philanthropic donation, a lump sum payment, or other monetary contribution.
The visas—especially those that provide the ability to travel freely through Europe’s Schengen Area—have become increasingly popular among Americans looking to move abroad. However, programs offering visas in exchange for real estate purchases have become politically controversial in recent years due to fears that they are contributing to rising housing costs.
Spain's golden visa, officially named an investor visa, allows non-EU citizens who invest at least 500,000 euros ($541,250) in real estate to live and work in the country for three years. On average, the visa application takes between three and six months to be processed, according to global investment migration firm Astons.
"Today, 94 out of every 100 such visas are linked to real estate investment...in major cities that are facing a highly stressed market and where it's almost impossible to find decent housing for those who already live, work and pay their taxes there," Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in April 2024, per Reuters.
If it's up to these forward thinking organizations, it's the latter.
Between 2013 and 2023, Spain granted a total of 14,576 golden visas, the majority of which were given to citizens of China, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Ukraine, Iran, Venezuela, and Mexico, according to a government press release. In Barcelona, housing purchases linked to golden visas accounted for 5.3% of the city's annual residential sales.
“The decision to call time on Spain's golden visa program has been largely down to the growing housing crisis being seen across the domestic housing market,” Alena Lesina, a real estate investment expert at Astons, tells Traveler in an emailed statement. “There has been an increase in the number of Spanish citizens being forced out of neighborhoods in cities such as Madrid and Barcelona due to housing market inflation and the Spanish government believes that non-resident property buyers are one of the driving factors behind this issue.”
Following Spain’s decision to end its program, there has been a surge in interest from Americans for both Spanish and Greek golden visas, according to a January analysis by Astons.
Since the Spanish government first announced it would terminate its golden visa scheme in April 2024, the number of Americans applying to Greece's golden visa has steadily increased from 302 per month to 383 per month as of November 2024 (the most recent monthly total available), government data shows.
“With Spain announcing the end to its golden visa, the clock is now ticking and US citizens are looking for a plan B destination in Europe,” Lesina says. “However, it’s clear that Americans are already diverting their attention to Greece which is rapidly becoming the most in-demand golden-visa destination in Europe.”
For more information on the different ways Americans can move abroad, check out our guides to digital nomad visas, the easiest countries to get second passports, and how to get citizenship through ancestry.
Originally Appeared on Condé Nast Traveler
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