Spain Digital Nomad Visa 2026: Requirements, Income and How to Apply

Updated November 1, 2026

Leer en español

Quick answer. Spain’s digital nomad visa (officially, the residence for international remote work under Law 14/2013) lets you live in Spain while working remotely for companies or clients outside the country. In 2026 you need to earn at least €2,849 a month (€34,188 a year), have worked with your employer or clients for at least three months, and hold a degree or three years of relevant experience. If you can enter Spain legally, applying from inside the country usually gets you a 3-year permit instead of a 1-year visa.

Consulate or from Spain: which route to choose

There are two different ways to get what looks like the same permit, and the choice affects how long it lasts, how long it takes and who decides.

The consulate route still makes sense if you cannot travel yet, if you need certainty before moving your family, or if your passport requires a Schengen visa to enter.

Who can apply

• Remote employees. You work under an employment contract for a company outside Spain. The company must authorize remote work from Spain in writing and prove at least one year of real, continuous activity. You cannot work for Spanish clients.
• Freelancers. You provide services to clients outside Spain under commercial contracts. Up to 20% of your total professional activity can come from clients in Spain, and you must be able to prove it with your invoices.

In both cases, your employment or client relationship must be at least three months old when you apply, and the work must be doable remotely.

Qualifications

You must prove one of these: a university degree or postgraduate degree from a recognized institution, a recognized vocational qualification, or at least three years of professional experience in similar roles. Foreign degrees must be apostilled and translated by a sworn translator. If you rely on experience, you need employer letters, contracts or certificates that describe your duties, not just dates.

Income requirements for 2026

The threshold is a percentage of the Spanish minimum wage (SMI), set by Royal Decree 126/2026 at €1,221 a month in 14 payments, or €17,094 a year.

If a consulate website shows €2,442 a month, it is the same annual amount split into 14 payments instead of 12.

• Bank statements for the last three months, with transactions and balances. A screenshot of your current balance is not enough.
• Stable, recurring income. A one-off spike in billing does not support the application.
• Payslips or invoices that match what reaches your account. If you invoice $4,000 and $1,800 lands in the bank, explain the difference before the authorities ask.
• If you are paid in dollars, add the European Central Bank reference exchange rate for the period.

Savings help, but they do not replace recurring income.

Documents you need

• A passport valid for at least one year, with blank pages.
• The official application form and the fee (form 790, code 038, for the UGE-CE route; the consular fee for the visa route).
• Criminal record certificates from every country where you lived in the last two years, apostilled, translated and no more than 90 days old, plus a sworn statement of no criminal record for the last five years. In the US, the FBI report apostilled by the Department of State.
• Company documents proving more than one year of activity, and a letter authorizing remote work from Spain with your role, duties, salary and terms.
• Your employment or service contract, at least three months old.
• Your degree, apostilled and translated, or proof of three years of experience.
• Proof of income: payslips or invoices plus three months of bank statements.
• Health coverage: Spanish social security, a certificate of coverage under a bilateral agreement, or private health insurance from a company authorized in Spain, with no co-payments, no waiting periods and no coverage limits.
• For family members: marriage or registered partnership certificates and children’s birth certificates, apostilled and translated.

Social security: the point that decides many cases

• Your country has a social security agreement with Spain. The US does. You can request a certificate of coverage and keep paying into the US system, but only for a genuine temporary posting. If you move to Spain to work remotely indefinitely, there is no posting and you pay into the Spanish system.
• No agreement. The foreign company must register with Spanish social security and enroll you, or you register as self-employed (RETA).
• Freelancers. Usually registered as self-employed in the RETA: about €88.56 a month in the first year and around €427 from the second year in 2026.

A company that refuses to register in Spain is one of the most common reasons an otherwise perfect application stalls. It can be solved, but you need to raise it with your employer before applying.

If you are moving from the US

For Americans, the immigration file is usually simple. The bottleneck is tax and social security.

• You keep filing in the US. The US taxes by citizenship: Form 1040 every year, FBAR (FinCEN 114) if your foreign accounts together exceed $10,000 at any point in the year, and FATCA (Form 8938) above its thresholds. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, the Foreign Tax Credit and the US-Spain tax treaty, with its protocol in force since November 2019, help avoid double taxation.
• W-2 employees. The cleanest case: your company signs the remote work authorization. The key question is social security and whether a certificate of coverage applies.
• 1099 contractors. You apply as self-employed: contracts at least three months old, stable billing and no more than 20% from Spanish clients. Usually means registering in the RETA.
• LLC owners. The most technical case. If you are the only member, the authorities may treat you and the "foreign company" as the same person. It can work, but contracts, payroll and proof of more than a year of real activity have to be structured carefully.

Coordinate a Spanish tax adviser and your US CPA before you set your arrival date, because the day you arrive determines your tax year. You can read more in moving to Spain from the US.

Taxes and the Beckham Law

You become a Spanish tax resident if you spend more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year, or if the center of your economic interests is here. Tax residents pay Spanish income tax on their worldwide income, at progressive rates that exceed 47% in some regions.

The impatriate regime, known as the Beckham Law (article 93 of the Spanish Income Tax Law, amended by Law 28/2022), explicitly covers remote employees. For freelancers, access is not automatic.

If you do not use the regime, you must report assets abroad on Form 720 (accounts, securities and real estate, when each group exceeds €50,000) and crypto held abroad on Form 721. This section is general information, not individual tax advice.

Step by step

1. Diagnosis. Employee or freelancer, consulate or UGE-CE, social security agreement or not, and whether the Beckham Law makes sense for you.
2. Slow documents first. Apostilled criminal records, apostilled degree and sworn translations.
3. Company documents. Company registration showing more than a year of activity and the remote work authorization letter.
4. Financial documents. Three months of bank statements, payslips or invoices and, if needed, conversion to euros.
5. Health coverage and social security. Certificate of coverage, company registration or private insurance with no co-payments.
6. Fee and filing. Form 790 code 038 and online filing with the UGE-CE, or an appointment at the consulate.
7. Decision. 20 working days by law on the UGE-CE route.
8. Fingerprints and TIE. An appointment with the National Police for your fingerprints and your foreigner ID card (TIE).
9. Registration, NIE and bank account. Register at your town hall (padrón) first: without it there is no public health card, and many banks will not open an account without an NIE.

Renewal, permanent residence and citizenship

Why applications get denied

• Income below the threshold, or irregular during the period shown.
• Less than three months of employment or client relationship.
• A company with less than a year of activity, or whose real activity is not proven.
• Incomplete criminal records: a missing country or a missing apostille.
• Insufficient health insurance: co-payments, waiting periods, coverage limits or an insurer not authorized in Spain.
• Degree not proven, or experience described without duties.
• Freelancers billing more than 20% to Spanish clients.
• Translations that are not sworn, or faulty apostilles.
• Inconsistencies between the contract, the company letter and the bank statements.
• Not answering a request for documents within 10 working days.

A denial does not close the door. If the UGE-CE denies it, the usual appeal is a recurso de alzada within one month. If a consulate denies the visa, you can file a reconsideration appeal within one month or go to the courts within two months. Often the most efficient solution is to file a corrected application instead.

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading

Moving to Spain from the USLiving legally in the US? Digital nomad, non-lucrative, student, Blue Card or entrepreneur: 2026 requirements, money, consulates and taxes, by a Madrid lawyer.Read more →Immigration lawyer in SpainImmigration lawyer in Madrid: digital nomad and non-lucrative visas, family reunification and appeals. Madrid Bar no. 127450. English consultation 100 €.Read more →Book a consultation in EnglishBook a 45-minute Legal Consultation in English with an immigration expert from España Abogados, Madrid. Video call, 100 €. Choose your date and time online.Read more →Residencia de nómada digital (en español)Guía 2026 del visado y la residencia de nómada digital en España: requisitos, ingresos mínimos, documentos, plazos, fiscalidad y Seguridad Social.Read more →