Spain's Digital Nomad Visa: Requirements, How to Apply, Pros and Cons

For most people the insurance is a private policy from an insurer authorised in Spain, and that is the part we arrange for remote workers making this move. You can apply for the visa at a Spanish consulate in the country where you live, or apply for the residence permit online once you are in Spain.

Facts checked on 9 November 2026.

What the digital nomad visa is

Its official name is the international teleworker visa (visado para teletrabajo de carácter internacional). The Startups Law, Law 28/2022, added it to Law 14/2013 from 23 December 2022. A visa-free visit lets you stay 90 days in any 180. This visa lets you live here. Before it existed, most people from outside the EU without a Spanish job came on the non-lucrative visa, which allows no work, or the golden visa, which closed on 3 April 2025.

Who qualifies for the digital nomad visa

You must be 18 or over and from outside the EU. That includes citizens of the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), Canada and Australia. If you are employed, you may work only for companies based outside Spain, and you need your company's written permission to work from Spain. If you are self-employed, you may also work for Spanish companies, up to 20% of your total professional activity. Everyone also needs the following.

• At least 3 months with your employer or clients before you apply. Each company must have been active for at least 1 year.
• A degree from a recognised university, vocational school or business school, or 3 years' experience in similar work. If your profession is regulated, you need your qualification recognised in Spain, or a statement before a notary that you will not practise it here.
• Work done entirely by computer, with no on-site supervision or sales visits. If your employer has a branch in Spain, the intra-company transfer permit applies instead.
• No criminal record in Spain or in the countries you lived in over the last 5 years. You show certificates for the last 2 years and sign a sworn statement covering all 5.

Some consulates add rules of their own. Washington, for example, does not accept work for private individuals, government agencies, universities or non-profit organisations. Check your own consulate's list.

How much income you need in 2026

The rule is 200% of Spain's minimum wage each month. In 2026 the minimum wage is €1,221 a month, so you need €2,442 a month (€29,304 a year). This is the figure used by the Large Companies and Strategic Groups Unit (UGE), the immigration office that handles these permits, and by Spanish consulates in the US such as Washington and Houston. For your family, add €916 a month for the first family member (75% of the minimum wage) and €305 a month for each further one (25%).

The figures change whenever the minimum wage does, so confirm them with your consulate when you book.

The amounts are before tax and must come from your work. You show them with payslips or invoices for the last 3 months and a bank certificate for the same months, stamped by the bank. Savings can only make up a shortfall, and then they must cover it for the whole length of the permit.

Documents you need

Each consulate publishes its own list, so work from yours. Expect a passport valid for at least 1 year and issued in the last 10 years, plus the following.

• Your foreigner's identity number (NIE). See how to get your NIE. Most consulates, including Washington, New York, Houston and London, want it before you apply. Ottawa takes the NIE application with the visa.
• Your contracts, a company registry certificate showing at least 1 year of activity and, if you are employed, your company's letter allowing you to work from Spain.
• Your proof of income, your curriculum vitae (CV) and your degree or proof of experience.
• Your criminal record certificate and your 5-year sworn statement.
• Social security papers and a health insurance certificate. Both are covered below.

Official documents from outside the EU need an apostille (the Hague Convention stamp that confirms a document is genuine). Most also need a sworn translation into Spanish. Check your consulate's list, because some do not ask for every document to be translated. Start on all of this early. Apostilles and translations take time, and some certificates go out of date after a few months.

The criminal record certificate

Most consulates want it issued in the last 6 months, and some are stricter. New York, Houston and Toronto want certificates from every country you lived in during the last 5 years, and Toronto wants them issued no more than 5 months before you apply.

Americans need a fingerprint check from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), apostilled by the US Department of State. State and local police checks are refused. Canadians need a fingerprint certificate from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). In the UK the certificate comes from the ACRO Criminal Records Office, and in Australia from the Australian Federal Police.

How to apply for Spain's digital nomad visa

There are two routes. From abroad, you apply for the visa at the Spanish consulate for where you live. If you are already in Spain lawfully, you can apply here for the residence permit, online, to the UGE.

Can you apply online?

Only from inside Spain. You file the permit application online with the UGE, using a Spanish digital certificate (see how to get a digital certificate) or through a representative in Spain. Consulates do not take online applications. You apply in person or by post, as the table shows.

Applying from your home country

Follow your own consulate's page, because the lists differ. The Washington consulate's telework visa page is a good example. Get your NIE first if your consulate asks for it. Then book your appointment, or post your application if your consulate works by post, with the national visa form and your documents.

Fees depend on your nationality. In 2026, Washington charges US citizens 190 US dollars and Ottawa charges Canadians 2,140 Canadian dollars. Fees can change during the year, so check the consulate's fee list when you book.

The consulate has 10 working days to decide. It can take longer if it wants to interview you or needs more documents. Once the visa is approved, collect it within 1 month. It lasts up to 1 year. To stay on, apply to the UGE for the residence permit in the 60 calendar days before the visa runs out.

Applying from inside Spain

If you are in Spain lawfully, including as a visitor within your 90 visa-free days, you can apply here without getting a visa first. That means you can try Spain before you commit.

1. Fill in the MI-T form (the main applicant's application form) and, for each family member, the MI-F form. Both are on the migration ministry's forms page.
2. Pay the €73.26 fee online with Form 790 code 038 (the form for paying the government fee). Each family member pays it too.
3. File the forms and your documents online with the UGE. Keep a copy of everything you send, including the fee receipt.

The UGE has 20 working days to decide. If it does not answer in time, the permit counts as granted. Applying also extends your legal stay until the decision. The UGE's digital nomad questions and answers cover the details.

How long the visa lasts and how to renew it

The residence permit lasts up to 3 years and comes with a foreigner's identity card (TIE). After that it renews online for 2 years at a time, with no limit, for as long as you still qualify. Apply before the permit runs out, because a late application can bring a fine. Tell the UGE within 30 days about any change, such as a new employer or a lost client. If you plan to spend more than 6 months of a year outside Spain, check first how that affects your renewal.

Your years on this permit count towards long-term residence, Spain's permanent status, which you can apply for after 5 years of legal, continuous residence. Spanish nationality normally takes 10 years of residence. See how to become a Spanish citizen.

Bringing your family

Your spouse or partner, children under 18, adult children who depend on you financially, and dependent parents can apply with you or join you later. You need extra income for each of them, as set out in the income section above. At the Washington and Houston consulates, partners who are not married or registered need proof of at least 1 year together. Every family member's permit lets them work in Spain without restriction.

Social security and tax

Joining Spanish Social Security is compulsory. If you are employed, your employer must register in Spain as a foreign company with no base here. The alternative is a certificate from your home country showing that its social security covers you as a remote worker in Spain, and only some countries issue one. Washington accepts a US Social Security certificate of coverage for employees, and London accepts certificate CA3822 from His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Canada's certificate is not available in Quebec.

The self-employed (autónomos) must join Spain's social security scheme for self-employed workers (RETA) and pay monthly contributions based on their earnings. Not registering can end the permit for the whole family. See registering as autónomo.

Spain counts you as tax resident for a calendar year once you spend more than 183 days here. Employees on this visa may be able to opt into a special tax regime for people who move to Spain to work, often called the Beckham Law. There is a 6-month deadline to opt in, counted from the start date of your work in Spain shown on your Social Security papers. US citizens also keep filing US tax returns. We are insurance agents, not tax advisers, so speak to a tax adviser about all of this before you move.

Health insurance for the digital nomad visa

Most consulates ask for private health insurance with the visa application. From inside Spain, the UGE does not ask for it if you will be paying into Spanish Social Security once the permit is granted. A US certificate of coverage and Australia's agreement with Spain give you no Spanish healthcare, and US Medicare usually does not pay for care abroad. If you rely on any of these, you need private insurance.

What the visa insurance must cover

For the digital nomad visa and permit, the insurance has to come from an insurer authorised to operate in Spain, and it has to cover everything Spain's public health system covers. Choose a plan with no co-payments (no charge each time you see a doctor). The UGE and some consulates, including Washington, also refuse waiting periods. Read your own consulate's list before you buy. Travel insurance is not enough.

Consulates such as Washington and Houston want the cover in place for the whole time the visa or permit lasts. Buy at least 12 months, and keep the policy running for as long as your permit relies on it.

We have been Sanitas agents in Marbella since 2011, and we arrange Sanitas plans that meet these rules. For a visa, the plans are Sanitas Mas Salud, Sanitas Mas Salud Family or Sanitas Top Quantum, all without co-payments. If you also want cover outside Spain, choose Sanitas Mas 90 without co-payments or Sanitas Premium 500. You can take these out up to 2 months before the cover starts. They have waiting periods for some treatments, but never for emergencies.

If you apply from inside Spain, or your consulate asks for no waiting periods, or you need your certificate more than 2 months ahead, choose Sanitas Residents Visa: it has no waiting periods at all and can be taken out up to 5 months ahead. New policies are taken up to age 75 on Mas Salud, Mas Salud Family, Top Quantum and Residents Visa, and up to age 64 on Mas 90 and Premium 500, with no upper age to stay insured.

The certificate and the policy are in Spanish, because the consulate requires it. You deal with us in English throughout. We time the policy start to your consulate appointment, or to your application date if you apply from Spain, and send you the certificate. Sanitas may accept, exclude or decline a condition you already have. If it excludes one, let us know before your appointment and we will check the certificate against your consulate's wording.

Our page on health insurance for your Spanish visa has more detail, and you can also compare our Sanitas plans with no co-payments.

Get a visa health insurance quote

Pros of Spain's digital nomad visa

• You keep your job or clients abroad. The non-lucrative visa does not allow that.
• You choose where to apply, so you can try Spain first and apply from here.
• The legal deadlines are short: 10 working days at a consulate and 20 at the UGE.
• It can lead to permanent residence. The permit renews 2 years at a time, with long-term residence after 5 years and nationality after 10.
• Your family comes too, and every member may work.
• Employees may pay less tax under the Beckham Law, if they qualify.
• You can travel in Europe. You can visit other Schengen countries (the European zone without internal border checks) for up to 90 days in any 180, though you cannot live or work there.

Cons of Spain's digital nomad visa

• The paperwork is heavy, with apostilles, sworn translations and certificates that must be recent.
• Many people pay a lawyer to prepare and file the application, which adds to the cost.
• Your employer must register in Spain unless your country issues a certificate for remote workers, and some employers will not do it.
• The self-employed pay RETA contributions every month.
• Spanish work is limited. Employees may not work for Spanish companies at all, the self-employed may do so for up to 20% of their work, and some consulates, such as Washington, do not accept private individuals as clients.
• The income bar rises with the minimum wage, and consular fees can be steep.
• You cannot switch from a non-lucrative permit, because that permit does not allow work.
• Spain taxes you as a resident after more than 183 days in a calendar year.
• The insurance rules are strict, with no co-payments and, for the UGE and some consulates, no waiting periods.

How to decide: digital nomad or non-lucrative visa

Start with work. If you will keep working at all, the digital nomad visa is the one for you. The non-lucrative visa allows no work, and that includes remote work. It asks for €2,400 a month (€28,800 a year), plus €600 a month for each dependant, based on Spain's public income index (IPREM) of €600 a month. You can only apply for it at a consulate. Compare the two in which residency visa to choose, or read our guide to the non-lucrative visa.

Students on a higher-education study permit can switch if they were registered with Spanish Social Security from the start of their remote work (see changing a student visa for a digital nomad visa). With mostly Spanish clients, look at the self-employed visa, and with a Spanish job offer, read which jobs qualify for a work visa. Americans can compare every route in visa requirements for Americans, and British readers in moving to Spain from the UK.