Indian Business Development Manager (Client Company in Singapore)

The Case & Challenge

The applicant, an Indian national working as a Business Development Manager on an independent contractor basis, sought a Spain Digital Nomad Visa for himself and his large family, consisting of his spouse and four minor children. His primary client company was based in Singapore. Although the initial file compilation strictly followed the published Unidad de Grandes Empresas (UGE) checklist, the large volume of dependents inherently elevated the scrutiny regarding stable economic backing.

During the review process, the UGE issued a requerimiento requesting a specific “certificate of registration as a self-employed worker” from the applicant’s country of origin. This posed a standard jurisdictional challenge: the Republic of India does not issue an exact administrative equivalent to a formal freelance or “self-employment” certificate. Failing to supply an adequate legal equivalent would result in an immediate rejection for the entire family.

The Strategy & Solution

To bridge this administrative gap, our team utilized India’s official tax framework to provide an undeniable equivalent of independent business activity:

• Alternative Registration Proof: We substituted the requested document with the applicant’s official Goods and Services Tax Registration Certificate (Form GST REG-06). This certificate serves as the premier legal mechanism certifying independent commercial operations in India.
• Legal Contextualization: The GST certificate was meticulously apostilled and accompanied by a certified sworn translation into Spanish. Crucially, we drafted a detailed legal explanation letter to guide the Spanish evaluator through the technicalities of the Indian tax system, clearly establishing why the GST certificate satisfies the self-employment requirement.

The Outcome

The combination of the formal explanation letter and the apostilled GST certificate successfully satisfied the evaluator’s requirements, resolving the jurisdictional challenge surrounding India’s lack of a dedicated self-employment registration certificate.

On January 22, 2026, the main applicant received approval for his Spain Digital Nomad Visa, validating the strategy of using India’s GST Registration Certificate as the appropriate equivalent proof of independent professional activity.

However, the spouse and four minor children were not approved alongside the principal applicant and remained pending despite the successful resolution of the main file. Rather than waiting indefinitely, our team proactively prepared and filed administrative silence requests for all five dependent applications.

The strategy proved successful. On February 4, 2026, all five dependents received approvals through positive administrative silence, completing the family’s relocation journey to Spain. This case highlights how strategic follow-up can be just as important as the initial application itself, particularly for large family applications where dependent files may continue pending even after the principal applicant has already been approved.

From overcoming a country-specific registration challenge to securing approvals for an entire family of six, this case demonstrates how a combination of technical documentation expertise and proactive administrative action can keep even complex applications moving toward a successful outcome.