Spain digital nomad visa
and residence permit

You can apply provided you are lawfully in Spain. A Schengen visa is not required: nationals of visa-exempt countries apply during their permitted 90-day stay, and any other valid status works too. The application goes through the UGE electronic portal using a digital certificate, or through an authorised representative in Spain. A decision is due within 20 days; if none arrives, the permit is deemed granted under the rule of positive administrative silence. Keep your filing receipt, as it evidences the lawfulness of your stay while the case is pending.

Not from within Spain. A permit that carries no right to work, including the residencia no lucrativa, can no longer be converted into international teleworker status from inside the country: that change must now go through a consulate abroad. There is a second point that matters just as much. A non-lucrative permit does not authorise any employment or professional activity, so remote work carried out while holding one cannot be put forward as evidence of the required three-month relationship. A change of basis needs to be planned well before you file.

The threshold is 200% of the Spanish minimum wage. For 2026 that is €34,188 a year: €2,849 a month across 12 equal payments, or €2,442 a month under the Spanish system of 14 instalments. Both figures describe the same annual amount and differ only in how they are written, which is why you will see each of them quoted on different sites. Add 75% for the first family member and 25% for each one after that: a couple needs €47,008.50 a year and a family of three needs €51,282. Income is evidenced through contracts or invoices, three months of bank statements and tax returns. Earnings in a foreign currency are converted at the rate on the filing date, so allow a margin of 10-15%.

Employees cannot: you may only work for companies registered outside Spain. The self-employed can, provided Spanish clients account for no more than 20% of your total professional activity. You are free to change your client base while holding the status, as long as that proportion holds. If it rises above the limit, the authorities may treat you as carrying on ordinary activity in Spain and require a different type of permit.

An employee is brought into the Spanish system unless a bilateral agreement between Spain and the employer's country allows contributions to remain in the country of origin. Where such an agreement applies, a certificate of applicable legislation is submitted; within the EU this is the A1 form. The rule is stricter for the self-employed: registration with RETA is compulsory regardless of nationality and regardless of any agreement. At the filing stage you sign a responsible declaration undertaking to register, and the registration itself is completed once the permit is granted, before you begin any activity in Spain. Failure to register is grounds for revoking a permit that has already been issued.

Employees can: the law expressly lists international teleworkers among those entitled to elect the regime. The rate is 24% on the first €600,000 and 47% above that, and it runs for the year you become tax resident plus the five that follow. The self-employed generally cannot, the only exception being where the activity is recognised as entrepreneurial through a separate assessment. The election is made on form Modelo 149 within six months of registering with Spanish social security. The deadline cannot be extended: miss it and the regime is closed to you for the whole of your stay, with no way back to it later.

A spouse or unmarried partner, children under 18, dependant adult children who have not formed a family of their own, and dependant parents. Unmarried partners must evidence at least one year of cohabitation where there is no child in common. The programme's strongest feature is that family members gain the right to work in Spain, both as employees and on a self-employed basis, without a separate permit. Each person included raises the income requirement on the main applicant.

The programme is open to nationals of any country outside the EU and the EEA, with no restrictions by nationality. Which route suits you depends on where you are and on consular appointment availability, which varies widely: some applicants file through the consulate in their country of residence, others through the UGE while lawfully in Spain. Criminal-record certificates from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Uzbekistan require an apostille and sworn translation into Spanish. Eligibility for a social-security agreement is assessed separately in each case.

The permit is granted for up to 3 years and is renewable for 2 more if the underlying grounds are maintained. After five years of continuous lawful residence you become eligible for long-term residency. Time under this status counts in full toward citizenship: the general naturalisation period is 10 years, reduced to 2 years for nationals of Latin-American countries, Portugal, the Philippines and a handful of others. Do not confuse three different thresholds. Renewal checks your actual presence in Spain. For long-term residency, allowable absences are summed across the entire five-year period, not checked year by year. The 183-day rule relates to tax residency and has no bearing on migration status.