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With strong business ties to Miami , he initially sought to pursue an EB-5 Visa in the U . S . and started to approach lawyers and doing research to understand the intricate application and investment process .
“ I was looking at the EB-5 visa , but I had to invest in an active economic activity , and the process takes a long time ,” he said .
Daunted by the complexity of the application process , Castro once landed in Miami to run a few business meetings when he met Alexandre Rangel , director general of SIEspana , a law immigration agency based in Miami .
“ He talked to me about the Spanish golden visa , and I found that it fulfills all my criteria ,” Castro said .
HOW THE SPANISH GOLDEN VISA WAS THE TICKET TO GLOBAL MOBILITY
Not only was the Spanish golden visa attractive to Castro due to the shorter process , but it also gave him some clear advantages over the EB-5 visa , which is owning an apartment and getting Spanish residency by way of a passive investment – which he did by purchasing a € 750,000 apartment in Madrid , with the minimum required for such investment in Spain being € 500,000 .
“ It gave me the opportunity to own a property and it also offered a clear and direct path to citizenship ,” explains Castro . “ It took me no more than two months to get the visa . It was a very simple process to do it .”
It wasn ’ t only the quick path to citizenship that enticed Castro , but also living in a country with a high standard of living and well-functioning economy .
“ He talked to me about the Spanish golden visa , and I found that it fulfills all my criteria .
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One Venezuelan who took this to heart is Rodolfo Castro , a software consultant who five years ago decided to seek a solution .
“ I had been planning to live in another country for a while because it was getting really difficult to travel outside of Venezuela ,” explains Castro . “ I travel a lot to America , Mexico and Spain to meet my clients occasionally even though my work is totally remote .”
Now , while based in Spain , Castro travels frequently to do business and pursue leisure across the globe , finding his new-found mobility to be liberating . He also intend on pursuing the Spanish permanent residency or citizenship in the future .
As it stands , Castro would be able to apply for Spanish permanent residency within five years given he maintains his investment , but to do that he ’ d have to live in Spain or Europe for at least 183 days a year- but he ’ s not on a hurry to do it as he ’ s still pretty much pursuing a digital nomad lifestyle at the moment .
Within a decade of legal , uninterrupted residency in the country , he would be eligible to apply for Spanish citizenship .
“ I will be entitled to citizenship some point in the future , but I have to live in the country which I ’ m still not ready for ,” says Castro . “ But I ’ m definitely going to be taking up permanent residence in Spain and pursuing the citizenship route at some point in the near future ,” he concludes .