The husband lived in Spain as a family member of his wife, who holds a start-up visa. He found a job and moved to a residence and work permit of his own. The Barcelona immigration office handled his case separately from his wife and approved it in 81 days. He asked only for employment and was given more: he may work both as an employee and as an autónomo, for four years.
- 81 days
- from filing to approval
- filed 6 July, decision 25 September 2026
- 4 years
- term of the new permit
- from 25 September 2026 to 24 September 2030
- employed and self-employed
- what the permit allows
- only employment was requested; both were granted, in any region and any sector
- before his wife
- the family member was decided first
- the wife’s cuenta propia modification is still pending
- Barcelona
- where it was decided
- Oficina de Extranjería, Subdelegación del Gobierno en Barcelona
What they came with
The wife holds an entrepreneur permit under Law 14/2013 — the start-up visa. The husband lived in Spain as her family member, so his status depended entirely on her permit. The family decided to leave the start-up visa for the general regime, and each spouse took a separate route. The wife applied for a modification to cuenta propia — self-employment. By then the husband had found a job and filed his own modification to cuenta ajena, employment. The Barcelona immigration office handled the case, as the family lives in that province.
How the timeline ran
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01
Split the two spouses’ cases
Before filing. The start-up visa was the wife’s, the husband was her family member. They left it together but by different routes: the wife to cuenta propia with her own business plan, the husband to employment. Each got a separate modification, with its own documents and its own basis.
-
02
Built the husband’s case around the job
June to early July. The basis was an employment contract with a Spanish employer. The husband found the job himself. We checked that the contract and the employer documents met the modification requirements and assembled the rest of the file.
-
03
Filed with the Barcelona immigration office
6 July. The modification application went to the Oficina de Extranjería in Barcelona. The wife filed her own modification separately.
-
04
Waited for the decision
July to September. The husband’s case was assessed on its own, without waiting for the decision on his wife, even though until then his status rested on her permit.
-
05
An approval wider than requested
25 September. A positive decision arrived: residence and work as an employee and on his own account, anywhere in Spain, in any occupation or sector, until 24 September 2030. Only employment had been requested.
-
06
The residence card
Next step: within a month of notification, apply in person for the residence card (TIE). The decision places that duty on the applicant himself.
What did not go to plan
What actually delayed or complicated the process, and what we did about it.
A family member cannot become the new main applicant
A family member can get a permit of his own, but cannot become the new main applicant the whole family hangs on. That is how the Barcelona office reads it. Other provinces have allowed it: in our Tarragona case the husband, previously a family member, became the main cuenta propia applicant. So each family member needs a modification of their own, planned before filing.
Practice under the new regulation is still forming
The immigration regulation RD 1155/2024 is recent, and each immigration office reads it in its own way. Everything in this case applies to Barcelona in autumn 2026. In another province, or in six months, the same question may get a different answer.
The spouses are not decided at the same time
The husband got his permit before his wife. For a while the spouses live on different grounds with different terms, so trips, renewals and residence card appointments have to be planned for each of them separately.
What we did
- Worked out on what basis each spouse could stay in Spain
- Split the cases: cuenta propia for the wife, employment for the husband
- Checked the employment contract and the employer documents against the modification requirements
- Assembled and filed the husband’s case with the Barcelona immigration office
- Tracked the case through to the decision
- Explained the next step: applying in person for the residence card within a month
What the service did not cover
The husband found the job himself, and the contract with the employer is his arrangement. We checked the contract and the employer documents against the modification requirements, but we did not find the job.
We asked for employment only. The fact that the immigration office granted both employment and self-employment is its decision, not something we can promise in the next case. There is no decision on the wife yet; we will report it separately when it arrives. The conclusions apply to Barcelona in autumn 2026: practice under the new regulation keeps shifting, and we check it afresh in every case.
Questions we had to answer
Can a family member of a start-up visa holder get a work permit of their own?
Yes. In this case the husband, who lived in Spain as a family member of his wife with a start-up visa, filed his own modification to employment and got a four-year permit. His case was assessed separately from his wife’s.
Does the family member have to wait for the main applicant?
Not here. The Barcelona immigration office decided the husband’s case on its own, and he received a decision before his wife, whose cuenta propia modification is still pending.
What does a permit por cuenta ajena y propia mean?
You may work both as an employee and as an autónomo, anywhere in Spain, in any occupation or sector. In this case only employment was requested, and the immigration office granted both.
Can a family member become the main applicant for the whole family through a modification?
In Barcelona in autumn 2026, no: a permit of your own is possible, becoming the person the whole family hangs on is not. Other provinces have allowed it. So each family member needs a modification of their own, planned before filing.
How long does the decision take?
In this case 81 days: filed 6 July, approved 25 September 2026. Practice under the new regulation is still forming, and timescales vary between immigration offices.
What comes after the approval?
Within a month of notification, apply in person for the residence card (TIE). The duty lies with the applicant and is written into the decision.
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. The decision relies on it: article 193 gives the Subdelegación del Gobierno the competence to decide such applications, and the regulation requirements are the ground for approval.
- Ley Orgánica 4/2000, sobre derechos y libertades de los extranjeros en España The Immigration Act — the second legal ground of the decision.
- Ley 14/2013, de apoyo a los emprendedores y su internacionalización The law under which the wife holds her start-up visa and the husband lived in Spain as her family member.
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