The start-up visa was held by the wife, yet the main applicant for cuenta propia was the husband — the roles were swapped. His decision came in 31 days; his wife was refused as a family member. She was filed again, as an applicant in her own right with her own business plan, and approved. All three ended up with four-year permits, but the road was longer than it had to be: the practice has since settled, and the rule is known — the main applicant stays the main applicant.
- 31 days
- from filing to approval of the main applicant
- filed 22 May, approved 22 June 2026
- 4 years
- the permit term for all three
- a modification carries the same term as the main applicant's
- 3 decisions
- arrived one after another
- the applicant on 22 June, his wife on 16 July, the child on 7 August
- 1 refusal
- along the way — the wife as a family member
- Tarragona refused quickly and on formal grounds
- roles swapped
- the start-up visa was hers, the cuenta propia filing was his
- this is where the refusal came from: the main applicant should stay the main applicant
What they came with
A family of three lived in Spain on a start-up visa held by the wife; the husband and the child were family members on it. By the time they came to us the start-up project had already ceased — the basis the whole family's status rested on had stopped existing. The basis had to change, and they chose cuenta propia — self-employment in Spain. They registered their address in Tarragona, so the case belonged to that province's immigration office. The first question to settle, before anything else, was an unexpected one: which of the spouses files as the main applicant. The logic of «whoever held the start-up visa carries on» does not apply here — the basis becomes the person's own activity, so what matters is whose activity is easier to substantiate.
How the timeline ran
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01
We chose who would file as the main applicant, and chose badly
April. The start-up visa was in the wife's name. We looked at whose activity would be easier to substantiate: she had a languages degree and nine years in marketing without specialist courses, so the link between education and activity would have had to be built through experience alone, while the husband had no such gap. He became the applicant; his wife and child were filed as family members. We would not do it that way today: the practice has settled and the rule reads differently — the main applicant stays the main applicant, while a family member is free to choose for themselves.
-
02
We assembled the evidence of the activity
This is where people's expectations usually break. For cuenta propia the intention to work is not enough: you need letters of intent from future clients, a working landing page and live social media — not «nice to have» but required. Plus proof of experience or education matching the declared niche: where the activity follows a profession, the degree must come with an apostille and a sworn translation.
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03
We wrote the business plan and took it through an association
The business plan is the heart of such a filing: a description of the activity, the clients, how income is generated, the costs, the forecast and the profitability. The finished plan goes to a self-employment association for approval, and without its report there is no point filing.
-
04
We filed the main applicant
22 May. By then the file held the approved business plan, proof of funds, contracts and letters of intent, registration of the activity with certificates of no debts to social security or the tax agency, the municipal registration and the current start-up visa card.
-
05
We filed the wife and the child
Next, as separate family reunification applications — the way it is done in an ordinary situation once the main applicant's case is under way.
-
06
The refusal on the wife arrived
28 May, quickly and on formal grounds. A family reunification case and a main applicant's case are handled by different officials and under a different logic, so a refusal in one does not decide the other. But leaving things as they were was not an option.
-
07
We rebuilt the wife's filing
The decision: file her not as a family member but as an applicant for cuenta propia in her own right — with her own business plan and her own fee. This is not a repeat of the same case but a different route provided by law: the person acquires her own basis, assessed on its own merits.
-
08
Three approvals
22 June — the main applicant. 16 July — his wife, now as a case of her own. 7 August — the child. The whole family on four-year permits.
What did not go to plan
What actually delayed or complicated the process, and what we did about it.
The project had ceased and the UGE was not told — do not do this
This is the main warning of the case. The law expressly requires you to maintain, for the whole term of the permit, the conditions that gave rise to it, and it obliges the holder to inform the UGE of any change affecting those conditions within thirty days (seventh additional provision of Ley 14/2013). A project ceasing is exactly such a change. The client chose not to notify, and that was his decision, not our recommendation. Why we advise otherwise: the same provision lets the authorities extinguish the permit by a reasoned decision after a hearing. And extinction is not the same as a permit that was simply not renewed: arraigo de segunda oportunidad, which many people hold in mind as a fallback, does not open after extinction — it exists only for those whose permit was not renewed. Here it ended well, but the win came from the family acquiring a new basis of their own, not from staying silent.
The main applicant should stay the main applicant
This is the main lesson of the case, and it cost the family two extra months. Whoever held the previous permit as the main applicant files as the main applicant on the new basis too; the family member is then free to choose — to go as a family member again, or to file independently on a basis of their own. Here the roles were swapped: the start-up visa was the wife's, while the cuenta propia application was filed by the husband. That swap is what the wife's case ran into.
A landing page, social media and client letters are a required part
People treat them as a pleasant addition to the business plan. In fact they are the evidence that the activity exists outside the document, and they have to be gathered in advance, not in the week of filing.
A refusal on a family member does not decide the main case
The applications are handled by different officials under different logic. That is thin comfort at the moment a refusal arrives, but it holds: here the main applicant was approved less than a month after his wife was refused.
Back then the practice was forming; now it has settled
Before the spring of 2026 the move from a start-up visa to cuenta propia was barely used: those who needed to keep their residence were more often steered onto the digital nomad permit through a family member. In the spring the confirmed approvals started coming, and with them the shape of it became clear: the main applicant keeps their role, and the family member decides for themselves. That reference point did not exist while this case was running — it does now, and the detour need not be repeated.
What we did
- Worked through the family's situation and chose the filing structure — here the choice proved wrong, and we put it right at our own cost
- Drew up the document list for this specific situation, including the apostille and sworn translation requirements for the degree
- Explained that letters of intent, a landing page and social media are a required part, and helped with the contracts
- Wrote the business plan and took it through a self-employment association
- Prepared and filed the main applicant's case
- Filed the wife and the child
- After the refusal on the reunification, rebuilt the wife's filing as an applicant in her own right, with her own business plan
- Saw it through to three positive decisions and stayed available afterwards
What the service did not cover
The family registered their address in Tarragona themselves — that is the document you get faster on your own feet. Where you register decides which immigration office handles the case, and in this instance the choice was not neutral: it was the regional practice that produced the refusal on the family reunification.
The client chose not to tell the UGE that the project had ceased. We did not advise that, and we say so plainly here: the duty to notify within thirty days lies with the permit holder, and failing it gives the authorities grounds to extinguish the permit. The refusal on the wife grew out of our own choice of construction: we swapped the roles and filed the husband as the main applicant. At that point the route was only opening up — the confirmed approvals were in Asturias, Tarragona and Castellón, and there was no reference point yet. There is one now, and we state it plainly: the main applicant stays the main applicant, the family member chooses. We do not control the timescales and we do not guarantee outcomes — what we answer for is a file assembled so that there is nothing to fault, and for not repeating our own mistake on someone else's case.
Questions we had to answer
Do you have to tell the UGE that the start-up project has ceased?
Yes. The seventh additional provision of Ley 14/2013 requires you to maintain the conditions that gave rise to the permit for its whole term, and obliges the holder to inform the UGE of any change to those conditions within thirty days. If the conditions are found not to be met, the authorities may extinguish the permit by a reasoned decision after a hearing. Staying silent does not settle the matter: it postpones it and closes off some of the fallbacks, because arraigo de segunda oportunidad is not available after a permit has been extinguished.
Who should be the main applicant when modifying from a start-up visa?
Whoever held the previous permit as the main applicant. The practice has settled: the main applicant keeps that role on the new basis, while the family member decides for themselves — to go as a family member again, or to file independently with their own business plan and their own fee. In this case the roles were swapped, and that is exactly what the wife's application ran into.
How long does a modification take?
Here the main applicant took thirty-one days: filed 22 May, approved 22 June. That is fast; the law allows longer, and you should plan for up to three months.
Is an apostilled degree required?
If the declared activity follows a profession, yes — the degree needs an apostille and a sworn translation. Where the link to education is indirect, it is built through experience instead: a CV, a portfolio, contracts, proof of employment.
Are client letters, a website and social media really needed?
Yes, and this is not a preference. Letters of intent from potential clients, a working landing page and live social media form part of the evidence: they show the activity is real rather than described in a business plan.
What if a family member is refused reunification?
Look at whether they have a basis of their own. In this case the wife was filed again — as an applicant for cuenta propia in her own right, with her own business plan and her own fee — and the decision was positive. That is not a repeat of the same case but a different route provided by law.
Does a refusal on a family member mean the main applicant will be refused?
No. At the immigration office, main applications and family reunification are handled by different officials under different logic. Here, after the refusal on the wife, the main applicant was approved less than a month later.
Sources
The laws and official documents we relied on. Links go to the primary sources, so you can check them yourself.
- Ley 14/2013, de 27 de septiembre, de apoyo a los emprendedores y su internacionalización The law the start-up visa was granted under: entrepreneur permits are handled by the UGE. Seventh additional provision: the conditions that gave rise to the permit must be maintained throughout its term; the holder must inform the UGE of any change within 30 days; if the conditions are not met the permit may be extinguished by a reasoned decision after a hearing.
- Real Decreto 1155/2024, Reglamento de la Ley Orgánica 4/2000 The general regime: self-employment, family reunification and modification of status. Cuenta propia is decided by the immigration office of your registered address, not by the UGE.
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