A company holding a startup visa applied for a second, separate document: an ENISA certificate confirming that the business is innovative and scalable. It is not needed for the visa but for tax purposes, through emerging company (empresa emergente) status: a 15% corporate tax rate instead of 25% for four years, and an entry in the Mercantile Register that any counterparty can check. The review took about two months, and the certificate was issued on 11 June 2026.
- 2 months
- for the review
- against a legal maximum of three months
- 15%
- corporate tax rate
- in the first profitable year and the three that follow, instead of the standard 25%
- 8 criteria
- used to assess the project
- from the degree of innovation to the size of the client base
What they came with
The company already had a startup visa, so the project had already been recognised as innovative, but for the visa, not for tax. These are different procedures: for the visa, the immigration authority requests the report; the certificate is requested by the company itself.
There were three goals. To reduce corporate tax for the first profitable years. To obtain an entry in the Mercantile Register that any client or investor can check online. And to settle the question from foreign customers, for whom it matters that the rights to the product belong to the Spanish company, not to developers outside it.
The stage was early scaling: the first clients were in place, there were no outside investors, and an application to register the software rights was pending.
How the timeline ran
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01
Checking the formal conditions
All the conditions in the law must be met at once, and failing a single one is enough for a refusal. No more than five years since the company was entered in the register, seven for biotechnology and strategic sectors; the company did not arise from a merger or conversion; no dividends have been distributed; the shares are not traded on a regulated market; a registered office or permanent establishment in Spain; at least 60% of staff on Spanish employment contracts.
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02
Product rights assigned to the Spanish company
The software rights were assigned to the Spanish S.L. irrevocably and without territorial limits. This is separate document work, and it also answers foreign clients' question about who owns the product.
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03
Evidence for the eight criteria
The law names them one by one: the degree of innovation, meaning public funding over the last three years and the share of spending on research and development; market attractiveness and proven demand; the company's stage, whether prototype, minimum viable product or market entry; scalability of the model; competitors and how the company differs from them; the team; dependence on suppliers and lease agreements; the size of the client base. Each criterion gets its own material, not a general account of the project.
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04
Filing in the electronic register
The review period runs not from the date of sending but from the date the application is complete. So the file is checked before filing: any request for missing documents stops the clock.
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05
Waiting and the decision
The review took about two months against a legal maximum of three. The certificate was issued on 11 June 2026.
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06
Entry in the Mercantile Register
The status is entered in the register, and it is the entry, not the certificate itself, that gives the right to the benefits. Anyone can check it online, free of charge.
What did not go to plan
What actually delayed or complicated the process, and what we did about it.
The certificate and the visa are different procedures with different reviewers
The same agency assesses the project twice: for the immigration authority and for tax status. The decisions are made by different people, and the strictness differs. A positive answer on the visa does not guarantee the certificate, and vice versa.
A document request stops the clock
The three-month maximum period is suspended while the applicant fixes gaps in the application. So an incomplete file costs not only stress but weeks.
Refusal is possible on non-technical grounds
The law expressly allows a refusal if the model raises reasonable doubts of a reputational, regulatory, ethical or speculative nature. This is not an assessment of the product's quality, and figures will not overcome such an objection.
The certificate did not speed up the visa renewal
The same project had applied for a startup visa renewal on 8 June, and the certificate arrived on 11 June. The agency's report for the renewal was still not ready until 2 September: the assessment for tax status and the assessment for the visa run separately, and a fresh certificate does not speed up the second.
What the costs were made of
| Item | Amount | Paid to |
|---|---|---|
| Certificates for the application | free | issued online by the tax authority and the social security system |
| Assigning product rights to the company | at standard rates | notary and, if needed, registration of rights |
The main cost of this procedure is not fees but preparation time: evidence for each criterion and bringing the company's documents into line with the conditions of the law. Current fees are confirmed on the date of filing.
What we did
- Checked that all the conditions of the law were met before filing
- Arranged the assignment of product rights to the Spanish company
- Gathered evidence for each of the eight assessment criteria
- Checked the file was complete and filed the application
- Saw the case through to the status entry in the Mercantile Register
What the service did not cover
Tax support after the status was granted was not part of the work: the benefit is applied in the tax return, and that is separate annual work. Nor did it include support with applications for funding from the same agency: that is a different procedure, even though it is the same organisation.
The certificate is not granted for a good-looking presentation. The law allows a refusal where there are reputational or regulatory doubts, and we do not promise a result. We are responsible for the application being filed complete, with each criterion covered by a document rather than words. We do not control the authorities' timings: here it took about two months, and the legal maximum is three.
Sources
The laws and official documents we relied on. Links go to the primary sources, so you can check them yourself.