Without a favourable ENISA report there is no authorisation, and even with one you still have to prove the money.
Law 14/2013 (Ley 14/2013, the Entrepreneurs Act) grants three years' residence to anyone who comes to set up an innovative activity, or one of special economic interest, in Spain. The entrepreneur applies personally, online, to the Large Companies and Strategic Groups Unit (UGE), which asks ENISA, the state-owned company that finances innovative businesses, for a mandatory report; anyone living abroad applies for the visa at the consulate once the authorisation is granted. After Law 28/2022 on start-ups (Ley 28/2022, de empresas emergentes), Instruction DGM 1/2023 set out what ENISA looks at and how much money must be shown. The High Court of Madrid refusals we have read turn on exactly that: the report and the means.
With a favourable ENISA report on file, the High Court of Madrid upheld in January 2025 the refusal for an entrepreneur who had €6,713 where €30,240 was required. The report assesses the project; the money to live on in Spain is proven separately.
Updated
Who applies, what ENISA looks at, how much money, and how long it takes
Three years, two more, then permanent residence
Anyone who wants to enter Spain, or who already holds a stay, residence or visa, may apply in order to start, develop or run an economic activity as an entrepreneur. The authorisation is valid throughout Spain for three years, is renewed for two, and after five allows an application for permanent residence. The application is electronic, to the UGE, by the applicant or their representative. Besides the general requirements of Article 62, you must meet whatever the sector's rules require to start the activity. The former Article 68, on entry and stay to start the activity, has been repealed.
Innovative or of economic interest
It is enough that the activity is innovative 'and/or' of special economic interest, with a favourable report from ENISA, which the UGE requests itself and which arrives within ten working days. ENISA assesses each partner's profile and involvement, the business plan and its financing, and the added value for the Spanish economy. Signs of innovation include public R&D&I grants in the last three years, an award at least at regional level, the innovative SME label or certain AENOR certifications; for economic interest, scalability: market, minimum viable product, business model, competition, team and customers. ENISA may report against the project if there are reputational, regulatory, ethical or speculative risks. These documents are accepted in English.
The requirements with no leeway
Being an adult and not in Spain irregularly; a criminal record certificate from the countries of residence of the last two years and a sworn statement of no record in the last five; health insurance with an insurer authorised in Spain, active for the whole period and not a travel policy; the fee paid; and financial resources: 200 % of the Spanish minimum wage per month for the holder, 75 % more for the second family member and 25 % for each one after that, proven by any evidence that shows the money is yours, lawful and available. You must also sign an undertaking to comply with Social Security rules before starting work.
Time limits, family, and those already in Spain
The UGE has twenty days to decide, and if it does not answer the application is approved; a refusal can be challenged by an administrative appeal (recurso de alzada). The consulate decides the visa within ten working days, unless there is a Schengen consultation, and the visa — for one year, or for the length of the authorisation if shorter — serves as a residence permit with no need for a card. The police have seven days to report on security. A spouse or partner, minor or dependent children and dependent parents may apply at the same time or later. People displaced from Ukraine with temporary protection can apply from Spain for the authorisations under this law (19th Additional Provision of the Regulation).
Three entrepreneur refusals
Only if you challenge the report with evidence. In STSJ M 4672/2024 of 22 April (appeal 683/2023), an entrepreneur applied for residence in August 2022, when the report was still prepared by the Directorate-General for International Trade and Investment, for an IT platform handling dealings with the authorities, aimed at immigrants and SMEs. The report was unfavourable: neither the investment nor the jobs had a notable impact, and the project brought no significant innovation. She argued that the application was approved because there had been no answer within twenty days (Art. 76.1). The administration had already replied that the time limit was suspended while the mandatory report was awaited (Art. 22.1.d of Law 39/2015, the Administrative Procedure Act), and the High Court of Madrid rejected the silence argument because silence cannot grant an authorisation when essential requirements are missing (Art. 47.1.f). Since nobody rebutted the report, the court took it as reasoned and reasonable. It dismissed the case with costs capped at €500 plus VAT, and the refusal also brought down the authorisations of her three young daughters (Art. 62.4).
200 % of the minimum wage for the holder (the judgments apply it to the annual minimum wage, in fourteen payments), 75 % more for the second family member and 25 % for each one after that — and the High Court of Madrid applies that instruction as a binding rule. In STSJ M 511/2025 of 10 January (appeal 524/2024), an entrepreneur from Colombia had a favourable ENISA report and owned the Colombian parent company, but his account showed €6,713.05. Using the 2023 minimum wage, the court calculated that he needed €30,240; it explained that ENISA assesses the project, not whether its promoter can support himself, and gave no weight to company financial statements filed with the claim without an expert report. It did find the criminal record requirement met, but dismissed the case on means, with costs capped at €500 plus VAT. In STSJ M 6434/2025 of 9 May (appeal 1169/2024), €41,580 was required for the entrepreneur and one child, and the father showed €30,098 on appeal: dismissed, with the same costs.
It can check the general requirements of Article 62, request the police report, and refuse if a report from the police, the CNI (Spain's intelligence service) or National Security shows a threat to public order or security (Art. 62.6 and 7). What it cannot do is treat it as a different visa. In STSJ M 8582/2026 of 12 June (appeal 1191/2025), the Consulate General in Oran rejected, in May 2025, an investor visa under this same law. It used a ground for refusing to process the application that the immigration regulation sets for non-lucrative residence, because the applicant had allegedly been 'involved' in 2024 in a case of visas obtained irregularly; the file contained only handwritten notes. The High Court of Madrid found that the wrong rules had been applied: the visa is governed by Article 62, and if the accusation is true it must be examined when deciding the application, so the application has to be processed. It partly upheld the appeal, ordered the application to be admitted and processed, and ordered the administration to pay costs capped at €500 plus VAT. The investor visa was repealed by Organic Law 1/2025; the entrepreneur visa is issued under the same Articles 62 and 75.
Tell us the case
Say which consulate you will be applying to and roughly when you want to travel. Those two facts change the answer more than anything else. We reply the same working day.
If you have already been refused and the one-month deadline is running, write to contacto@spainvisaservice.com with REFUSAL in the subject line and the date on the notification.