Spain digital nomad visa (2026)

Who can apply

Only non-EU/EEA/Swiss citizens; EU-law beneficiaries use free movement instead.

• University degree, recognised vocational or business-school qualification, or at least 3 years of relevant work experience
• At least 3 months of prior work or contract relationship with the foreign employer or clients
• Employer or client company has been operating for at least 1 year
• Employees may work only for non-Spanish companies; freelancers may earn up to 20% from Spanish clients
• No criminal record in the last 5 years and full health insurance

Income requirement

You need to show at least €2,442 per month (about US$2,732 a month at rates from 11 Nov 2026). Set at 200% of the 2026 monthly minimum wage (SMI, €1,221), plus 75% of SMI (€916) for the first family member and 25% (€305) for each further family member.

Documents you need

• National visa application form, photo and passport valid for at least 1 year
• Company certificate confirming length of the relationship and permission to work remotely from Spain
• Company registry certificate showing incorporation date and activity
• Proof of income (contract, payslips, bank statements) at or above the threshold
• Proof of Spanish Social Security registration or a certificate of coverage from your home country
• Degree certificate or proof of 3+ years of experience
• Criminal record certificates and Spanish health insurance with no co-payments

How to apply, step by step

1. Get an NIE (foreigner identity number) through the consulate if required
2. Gather documents, with apostilles and sworn Spanish translations where needed
3. Book an appointment or mail the file to the consulate covering your place of residence
4. Track the application online and collect the visa if approved
5. Before the visa expires (within the last 60 days), apply in Spain for the 3-year residence permit

Where and how to apply

There are two separate routes, and which one you use depends on where you are when you apply. If you live outside Spain, you apply for the international telework visa at the Spanish consulate that covers your place of legal residence, not your nationality. Consulates run their own intake: some take files by post (the Consulate General in Houston asks applicants to mail a complete file and then track it on the consular portal with the code on the receipt), while others work only through an outsourced centre (the Consulate General in London has booked all visa appointments through BLS International since 1 October 2023). The consulate decides the visa, after the Directorate-General of Police has had up to seven days to raise any security objection. If you are already in Spain lawfully, for example as a visa-free visitor or on another permit, you skip the consulate and apply electronically for the residence authorisation itself. That file is handled by the Large Companies and Strategic Groups Unit (Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos, UGE-CE) and granted by the Directorate-General for Migration. In-country filing is online only, either with your own digital certificate or Cl@ve, or through a representative such as a lawyer or gestor who has one. Filing the application extends your current lawful stay until a decision is issued, which is the main practical reason people choose this route.

Timeline

1. Collect and legalise documents 1-2 months before applying
   Criminal record certificates must be recent (Houston accepts FBI checks issued within the last 6 months) and foreign public documents need an apostille or legalisation plus an official Spanish translation. Do not remove apostille staples or seals.
2. Obtain an NIE where the consulate asks for it Varies by consulate
   Some consulates, including Houston, require the foreigner identity number before the visa file is lodged. Others issue it during processing.
3. Lodge the visa application Decision due within 10 working days
   Article 75 of Law 14/2013 sets a 10-working-day decision period. The clock stops if the consulate asks for an interview or extra documents.
4. Appeal if refused 1 month (reconsideration) or 2 months (court)
   A refusal must give reasons. You can ask the same consulate to reconsider within one month, or go to the High Court of Justice of Madrid within two months.
5. Live in Spain on the visa Up to 1 year
   The visa itself is your residence document during its validity, so a foreigner identity card (TIE) is not compulsory at this stage.
6. Opt into the special tax regime (if eligible) Within 6 months of the start date on your Social Security registration
   Employees who want the inbound-worker regime file form 149 with the Tax Agency inside this window; the deadline cannot be extended.
7. Apply in Spain for the residence authorisation In the last 60 calendar days of the visa
   File online with the UGE-CE. The law sets a 20-day decision period, and if no decision is issued in that time the application is treated as approved (positive administrative silence).
8. Get the TIE card Within 1 month of the permit being granted
   Permits longer than six months require a TIE. Book a fingerprinting appointment at the police station for your province.
9. Renew Before expiry, for 2-year periods
   Renewals are electronic. A late renewal filed within 90 days after expiry is still accepted, but a penalty procedure may be opened.

Proving your income

The law requires enough money to support yourself and any family members for the whole stay, and consulates turn this into the minimum-wage multiples already shown above. What counts is flexible: the Houston consulate says any documentary proof is acceptable, giving an employment contract or a firm job offer as examples, and in practice applicants combine contracts, payslips or invoices with bank statements. Neither the law nor the consular pages fix a number of months of statements, but the separate rule that you must have worked with the foreign employer or clients for at least the last three months means three months of payslips or invoices is the natural minimum to show. Employees also need a company certificate that states the salary, and freelancers should show each client contract and its terms for remote work. Because self-employed holders may take Spanish clients for no more than 20% of their total professional activity, it helps to show how income is split between foreign and Spanish clients. Any document issued abroad must carry an apostille or be legalised, and must come with an official translation into Spanish. Houston asks for translators certified by a recognised body and refuses state-level background checks. Amounts in other currencies are judged against the euro threshold, so leave a margin for exchange-rate swings.

Bringing your family

Law 14/2013 lets the following relatives apply with you or join you later: a spouse or unmarried partner, children under 18, adult children who still depend on you financially and have not started their own family, and parents who depend on you. When everyone files at the same time, the applications are decided together. Each relative needs their own visa form, photo, passport, fee, criminal record certificate (adults), sworn statement on criminal records and health insurance. You also have to prove the relationship with civil-registry certificates. Couples who are not married and not registered must show at least one year of living together, although a shared child plus proof of a stable cohabitation is enough. For adult children you need proof of financial dependence and marital status, and for parents proof that they rely on you. The income requirement rises by 75% of the minimum wage for the first family member and 25% for each additional one. Whether relatives may take paid work with their own authorisation is not stated in the law text reviewed here, so confirm this with the UGE-CE or your consulate before relying on it.

Health insurance

You can meet the requirement either with Spanish public cover or with a private policy from an insurer authorised to operate in Spain. Most applicants use private cover, and consulates read the requirement strictly. Houston says the policy must cover every risk the Spanish public health system covers, with no deductible, no co-payment and no cap, so that it pays 100% of medical, hospital and outpatient costs. It must also stay in force for the whole authorisation. Travel insurance is rejected, and an insurance card on its own does not count as proof. Ask for a certificate from the insurer that states these conditions. The policy should start no later than your planned entry date. Each family member needs their own equivalent cover. If you later register with Spanish Social Security as self-employed or as a locally registered employee, you may become entitled to public healthcare. Even so, keep the private policy for as long as your authorisation was granted on the basis of it.

Cost and processing time

The fee is about €90 in local currency at most consulates; reciprocity rates apply to some nationalities (e.g. US$190 for US citizens in Houston). Processing takes 10 working days from the day after submission at a consulate. Budget extra for translations, certified copies and health insurance.

After you arrive

• Register on the municipal roll (empadronamiento) at your town hall. Every person living in Spain must be on the roll of the municipality where they usually live, and the certificate is used in many later procedures.
• If you entered on the visa, you do not need a TIE while the visa is valid. Once a residence authorisation of more than six months is granted in Spain, the general immigration regulation requires you to apply for the TIE in person within one month.
• Make sure Social Security is in place before work starts in Spain. That means the foreign employer registers you, or you register as self-employed (RETA), unless a certificate of coverage under an EU rule or bilateral agreement keeps you in your home system. For the first six months, your passport is enough to register with Social Security if you do not yet have an NIE.
• Get your NIE and digital access (Cl@ve or an electronic certificate). You need them for online filings with the Tax Agency, Social Security and the UGE-CE.
• If you qualify for the inbound-worker tax regime and want it, file form 149 within six months of the activity start date shown in your Social Security registration.
• Open a Spanish bank account. You need it for rent, utilities and Social Security debits, and banks normally ask for your NIE and passport.
• Diarise the window for the residence authorisation (last 60 days of the visa) and, later, the renewal date.

Tax

Spain treats you as tax resident for the calendar year if you spend more than 183 days there, counting occasional absences unless you prove tax residence elsewhere. You are also resident if your main base of economic interests is in Spain. Residence is presumed if your spouse and minor children live there. Residents are taxed on worldwide income under personal income tax (IRPF). Article 93 of the IRPF law offers a special inbound regime, often called the Beckham regime. It taxes Spanish-source income and all employment income at a flat 24% up to €600,000 (47% above that), and savings income at 19% to 30%. The regime lasts for the year you move and the following five years. To qualify you must not have been Spanish tax resident in any of the previous five years. You also need to move for one of the listed reasons, and since 2023 the law expressly includes employees holding the international telework visa. Freelancers are generally not covered unless they fall within a separate category, such as highly qualified professionals serving certified start-ups. You opt in individually on form 149, after uploading supporting documents to the Tax Agency, within six months of the start date in your Social Security registration. A spouse and children under 25 can join under conditions. People who opt in are also subject to wealth tax on Spanish assets only. On social security, the telework route requires coverage from the start. That means Spanish registration by the employer, self-employed registration in RETA, or a certificate of coverage from a country that has an agreement with Spain.

Does it lead to permanent residence?

Time spent on the telework visa and the residence authorisation counts as legal residence. After five years of continuous legal residence you can apply for long-term residence (EU long-term residence). Continuity is kept if no single absence exceeds six months and absences add up to no more than ten months over the five years, or eighteen months if the absences were for work. Spanish nationality by residence normally requires ten years of legal, continuous residence immediately before the application. The period is two years for nationals of origin of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal, and for people of Sephardic origin. It is one year for someone married to a Spanish national for one year. Because the telework permit is renewed in two-year blocks as long as the conditions are still met, you need to keep the job, income and insurance in place to reach these milestones.

Why applications get refused

• Incomplete file. Consulates ask applicants not to submit until every document is ready, and requests for more papers suspend the 10-day clock.
• Health insurance that is travel cover or includes co-payments, deductibles or limits. This fails the no-co-payment, full-cover requirement.
• Company does not show at least one year of real, continuous activity, or the work relationship is shorter than three months before the application.
• No proof that the employer allows remote work from Spain. For freelancers, Spanish clients making up more than 20% of activity.
• Missing or defective legalisation: no apostille, an apostille that has been detached, non-official translations, or state-level police checks where a national one is required.
• Criminal records in Spain or in a country of residence, being in Spain irregularly, or a Schengen entry ban. A police security objection can also lead to refusal.

Cost of living in Valencia

1-bedroom rent

About €1,000-1,450 per month for a one-bedroom in the centre, and €800-1,200 outside the centre (Numbeo, page updated 10 November 2026)

Coworking desk

Monthly desks from about €50 to €339 before VAT, median about €150 (workin.space Valencia listings, updated 11 November 2026)

Numbeo also puts home broadband (60 Mbps or more) at roughly €10-50 a month in Valencia; Madrid and Barcelona rents are generally higher.

Good to know

• Applicants already in Spain legally can skip the visa and apply for the residence permit directly
• Spouse or partner, children and dependent parents can be included
• Consulates set their own fee and document details, so check the page of the consulate for your area

Visiting first? Entry rules for popular passports

93 passports can enter Spain visa-free for a short stay, a common way to try the country before applying. Check Spain visa requirements for your passport.

Official source

Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Consulate General in Houston (Telework Visa)