The client lived in Spain on a start-up visa with his wife. The project found no investors and was wound down, while the client had been registered as autónomo since 2024 for web development and SEO. Instead of a renewal they moved to the general regime — cuenta propia. It took one month from the first document list to filing. The Tarragona immigration office approved the husband’s modification in 10 days and the wife’s permit 21 days after she filed.
- 10 days
- from filing to the husband’s approval
- filed on 11 October, decision dated 21 October 2026, signed on the 22nd
- 21 days
- from filing to the wife’s approval
- filed on 14 October, decision dated 4 November, signed on 6 November 2026
- 1 month
- from the first document list to filing
- started on 11 September, filed on 11 October 2026
- no report
- from a self-employed association
- the autónomo registration was over a year old, so no viability report was requested
What they came with
The client got the start-up visa under Law 14/2013 as the founder of a project, and his wife lived in Spain as his family member. The project found no investment and was wound down, so there was nothing to renew the start-up visa on. At the same time the client had been registered as autónomo since 2024: taxes and contributions were paid and the activity was running. The business address with the tax office and social security was in Valencia, but they decided to file in the province of Tarragona, where the family had rented a home. In mid-September 2026 we started preparing the move to cuenta propia for both of them.
How the timeline ran
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01
Document list and questionnaire
11–17 September. The client received our questionnaire and a document list: residence card, registration of address, CV, bank balance certificate, degree, autónomo registration. A day later he had sent almost everything. We shaped the CV to match his LinkedIn profile and the business plan: web development and SEO since 2015, autónomo in Spain since 2024.
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02
Reviewing what came in
15–16 September. We found three things to fix before the plan. The business address was in Valencia while the filing would be in Tarragona province, so after registering the new address it was changed with the tax office and social security. The form 036 turned out to be a registration in the intra-EU operators register, not the start of activity, so we used a fresh certificado de situación censal instead. The rental agreement was a temporary one and had to be rewritten.
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03
A rental agreement fit for filing
16–28 September. We reviewed the agreement twice: a 12-month term renewing yearly, permission to register at the address, use it as the tax address and work remotely from home, no clause about the flat being for sale, correct NIE numbers and party details. The family registered the address on 18 September and changed it with the tax office and social security straight away.
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04
Business plan and clients
21 September — 8 October. We translated the client’s radio engineering degree into Spanish, collected certificates of no debts with the AEAT tax agency and social security, and on 25 September the client received a draft of the plan. We also fixed his contract with a Spanish company: a rate annex, a 12-month term and a termination notice period. The first payment under that contract arrived, and the client collected pre-contracts with autónomos as well.
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05
The husband files
9–11 October. His autónomo registration was over a year old, so no viability report from an association was needed. We made a checklist for the immigration office, and the client signed an explanatory letter about closing the start-up. On 10 October he paid the 790-052 and 790-062 fees, and on 11 October the gestora filed the modification on form EX-26.
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06
The wife files
13–14 October. As soon as the husband’s case received a file number, the fee for the wife was paid. Her application needed a social security certificate showing she is listed as a beneficiary of her husband’s public health cover. On 14 October the gestora filed her application.
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07
Two approvals
On 21 October the husband’s decision arrived, 10 days after filing: residence and work as an employee and on his own account under article 191.3 of the regulation, until 10 October 2030. On 4 November came the wife’s decision, 21 days after she filed: the office issued her permit as a renewal of a family reunification permit (article 71), until 3 November 2030, with the right to work. The night after the decision was signed, the wife got a text message with a fingerprint appointment.
What did not go to plan
What actually delayed or complicated the process, and what we did about it.
An address in another province
The residence card, the tax office and social security all showed a Valencia address, while the filing was going to Tarragona. The business address in the plan has to match the registered address, so after registering it was changed with both the tax office and social security. The tax office took a while to show the new address.
A “temporary” rental agreement
In the first agreement the term jumped between 6 and 11 months, the flat was for sale with 20 days to move out, and it could be used “exclusively” as a home. For the immigration office that reads as a temporary let and a ban on working from the address. The agreement was rewritten twice.
An extra activity code
Besides web development, the autónomo registration carried a goods export code, opened for a single sale. It cannot be hidden: it shows in the certificado de situación censal attached to the plan. The plan explains it in one sentence and presents web development as the main activity.
Married, but pareja de hecho in the lease
The couple were married, with an apostilled certificate and a sworn translation. Yet the lease kept a line from someone else’s template saying the tenants were a pareja de hecho. The immigration office could have picked on it, so the wording was changed to a family sharing the room.
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What we did
- Reviewed the documents and found what to fix before the business plan
- Reviewed the rental agreement twice against what the immigration office expects
- Wrote the business plan, a Spanish CV and an explanatory letter about closing the start-up
- Fixed the contract with a Spanish company and provided pre-contract templates
- Made a document checklist for both spouses and kept it up to date until filing
- Filed the husband’s modification through the gestora, and the wife’s application three days later
What the service did not cover
The client found the home in Tarragona, the contract with a Spanish company and the pre-contracts himself. We reviewed the contract texts and ran the documents, and the gestora did the filing.
10 and 21 days are Tarragona’s times in autumn 2026, not a promise. We did not attach the certificate of how many people are registered at the flat (padrón colectivo) — there was no request for it, but it may be asked for at another time. The wife’s fingerprint appointment came automatically, the husband’s had not arrived after two and a half weeks; if no text message comes within 20 days, you have to book the appointment yourself.
Questions we had to answer
Can you move from a start-up visa to cuenta propia if the start-up has closed?
Yes. Here the project found no investors and was wound down, and the client applied to modify his permit to residence and work on his own account under article 191.3 of RD 1155/2024. The Tarragona immigration office approved it 10 days after filing, and the permit runs until October 2030.
Do you need an association report if your autónomo registration is over a year old?
In this case none was requested: the autónomo registration had been active since 2024, and Tarragona approved the modification on the business plan alone. If the activity has not started yet, an association report noticeably strengthens the plan.
When should the spouse file when moving to cuenta propia?
As soon as the main applicant’s case gets a file number. Here the husband filed on 11 October, his case number appeared on the 13th, and the wife filed on 14 October — before his approval. Her decision came 21 days after she filed.
What permit does the spouse get?
In this case the Tarragona office issued it as a renewal of a family reunification permit under article 71 of the regulation. It runs for four years, until November 2030, and allows work from the age of 16.
What should a rental agreement include to file for cuenta propia?
A term of at least a year with renewal, permission to register at the address, use it as the tax address and work from home, and correct party details. A clause saying the flat is for sale and the tenants leave within 20 days makes the let temporary — here it was removed.
What if the fingerprint appointment does not arrive?
The decision says the police book the appointment and send a text message or email. If nothing arrives within about 20 days, you book it yourself through the cita previa website. Here the wife received hers the night after the decision was signed, while the husband had none after two and a half weeks.
Sources
The laws and official documents we relied on. Links go to the primary sources, so you can check them yourself.
- Real Decreto 1155/2024, de 19 de noviembre, Reglamento de la Ley Orgánica 4/2000 The new immigration regulation. Moving to cuenta propia from a permit that already allows work — article 191.3; renewal of a family reunification permit — article 71; competence of the government sub-delegation — article 193. All three are cited in the decisions.
- Ley 14/2013, de apoyo a los emprendedores y su internacionalización The law under which the client got the start-up visa and his wife lived in Spain as his family member.
- Ley Orgánica 4/2000, sobre derechos y libertades de los extranjeros en España The immigration law the regulation belongs to.
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The decision in this case
The Tarragona immigration office's decision for the wife (Oficina de Extranjería, Subdelegación del Gobierno en Tarragona). Filed 14 October 2026, decision dated 4 November and signed 6 November; valid from 4 November 2026 to 3 November 2030.
The decision grants a renewed family reunification residence permit (article 71 of RD 1155/2024) with the right to work from the age of 16. The husband's decision — a modification to work as an employee and on his own account under article 191.3 — arrived on 21 October, 10 days after filing.
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