UGE-CE — Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos (Spain)

Scope

• Decides residence authorisations under Law 14/2013 (Entrepreneurs Law) and Law 28/2022 (Startup Law), including the Digital Nomad Visa and the Highly Qualified Professional Visa.
• Runs a 20-day statutory processing target — among the fastest in Europe for comparable routes — with positive administrative silence if UGE-CE does not respond within the window.
• Administers collective applications for large Spanish employers (fewer than 100 applications can be batched) and strategic-sector permits.
• Does not handle general (non-Startup-Law) work or residence permits — those remain with the regional Oficinas de Extranjería.

Procedural quirks

• The 20-day statutory silence creates a strong incentive to apply under Startup Law routes where eligible, since other Spanish permits can take 3–6 months.
• UGE-CE can refuse applications if the applicant "cannot demonstrate" funds or qualifications even when the minimum threshold is met — in practice the unit expects margin above the floor.
• TIE issuance happens separately at the police station of residence after arrival, not through UGE-CE. Booking the TIE appointment is commonly a second bottleneck.

Primary service channels

• UGE-CE main page

  https://extranjeros.inclusion.gob.es/en/UnidadGrandesEmpresas/index.html

• Digital Nomad / Startup Law routes

  https://extranjeros.inclusion.gob.es/en/UnidadGrandesEmpresas/visado_trabajadores_internacional/index.html

• Mercurio portal (electronic submissions)

  https://sede.mityc.gob.es/es-es/procedimientoselectronicos/

Routes administered

UGE-CE decides the following Spain visa routes covered on Visa Atlas:

• Digital Nomad Visa (Spain)

  Residence permit for remote workers and international freelancers under the Startup Law (Ley de Startups).

• Non-Lucrative Visa (NLV)

  Residence visa for financially self-sufficient non-EEA nationals not planning to work in Spain.

• Highly Qualified Professional (HQP) permit

  Residence permit for highly qualified workers with a Spanish employment contract, processed under the Law 14/2013 regime.

• Entrepreneur Visa (Ley 14/2013)

  Residence permit for founders establishing an innovative business in Spain under the Entrepreneurs' Law.

• Spain Golden Visa (ending April 2025)

  Residence-by-investment route announced to end on 3 April 2025; residual queries reference historical rules.

• Spanish Student Visa

  Study visa for courses longer than 90 days at recognised Spanish institutions.

• Family reunification (Spain)

  Residence permit for family members of Spanish residents; arreigo (settled-status) routes also available.

Related

• Spain routes hub

  All visa routes into Spain.

• Spain processing times

  Every processing window this authority publishes.