Standard residency · RD 1155/2024
The route for anyone who wants to open and run a business, or practise a profession, in Spain as a self-employed worker (autónomo), rather than work for someone else.
The initial residence-and-work authorisation for self-employment is valid for one year and is limited to one autonomous community and one business sector.
Where an autonomous community holds transferred powers over initial authorisations for this activity, it may set the geographic scope itself. After renewal, the authorisation becomes valid for 4 years.
Legal basis: art. 83 and 87 RD 1155/2024If you already reside in Spain under another authorisation and want to switch to self-employment without leaving the country, that is a different procedure — a change of authorisation type (art. 191), with its own conditions. We cover that route separately.
Two cases are regulated separately. If you are in Spain on a long-stay study authorisation (estancia de larga duración) and have obtained the degree or certificate for your studies, you can move to this authorisation without a visa (art. 190.3), applying in the two months before or the three months after your stay ends (art. 190.6). If you hold a residence and work authorisation as an employee, you can apply for the self-employment one (art. 192.2); the new authorisation does not extend the validity of the previous one.
The right to open and run precisely that activity
You must meet exactly the same requirements Spanish law sets for its own citizens to open and operate in the stated sector: licences, registrations, authorisations.
Qualification or experience
Where the profession legally requires a qualification or membership of a professional body, this must be shown with the relevant official title or with sufficiently proven work experience.
Sufficient investment in the project
You must show that the investment is sufficient for the project to genuinely get off the ground and, where relevant, its likely effect on job creation, including your own self-employment.
No disqualifying factors
Not being under a pending non-return commitment, if there was a previous voluntary return to your home country under such a commitment; not posing a threat to public order, which is assessed through the absence of a criminal record in Spain and a police report (the mere existence of information in the police report does not by itself lead to automatic refusal); and having paid the processing fee.
An applicant who is not yet a resident applies for a residence visa at the consulate covering their place of residence (under the general visa rules, art. 38-39). The police and the central criminal-record registry issue their reports within 7 days; a criminal record does not by itself lead to automatic refusal — the decision is made on a case-by-case basis.
| Step | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Decision on the application from receipt of the consular communication | up to 3 months |
| Administrative silence once the deadline passes | deemed a refusal |
| Social security registration after lawful entry | 3 months |
If you plan to carry out the same activity simultaneously in several autonomous communities during the first year, you must obtain the self-employment work authorisation in each of them, under the general requirements for that activity.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Application for initial self-employment residence and work authorisation (code 2.1.3) | €10.94 |
| Initial work authorisation, self-employment (code 3.3.1) | €203.84 |
| TIE card after approval | €16.08 |
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Legal sources: RD 1155/2024 (art. 83, 84, 85, 87); Orden PJC/617/2025.