Citizeo
Pathway

Spain Digital Nomad Visa

Spain Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

Spain's international teleworker route is for remote employees of foreign businesses and remote professionals whose Spanish business activity is no more than 20%.

Type
Remote-work residence
Work setup
Foreign employees, or professionals with no more than 20% Spanish activity
Core requirements
Remote work, foreign income, insurance, and funds
Local work
Usually does not allow ordinary local employment
Duration
Consular filing can start with a 1-year visa; in-country filing can grant 3 years.
Renewal / path
Renewal can extend the stay, and qualifying residence may count toward long-term residence.

Summary

Spain's international teleworker route—often called the Digital Nomad Visa—is for an adult non-EU/EEA/Swiss national whose work can be performed entirely remotely for a business outside Spain. An employee may work only for non-Spanish businesses. A self-employed professional may have Spanish business activity, but it cannot exceed 20% of total professional activity.

There are two main forms. A person outside Spain can seek a visa valid for up to one year. A person who is lawfully in Spain, including a visa holder, can seek a residence authorization valid for up to three years. The residence authorization can be renewed in two-year periods while the conditions continue.

Pathway fit check

Eligibility

The applicant normally must show:

The main applicant must show monthly resources equal to 200% of the SMI. Spain's 2026 SMI is €17,094 per year, so the current main-applicant amount is about €34,188 per year or €2,849 per month when annualized over 12 months. The first accompanying family member adds 75% of SMI—about €1,068 per month—and each additional person adds 25%—about €356 per month. Authorities examine gross income evidence such as recent payroll, invoices, contracts, and bank certificates.

Eligible accompanying family members under Law 14/2013 include a spouse or equivalent partner, minor children, economically dependent adult children who have not formed their own family unit, and dependent ascendants. They may apply together or later and must meet their own documentary requirements.

What This Route Allows

The visa itself authorizes qualifying remote work during its validity. The in-country residence authorization is valid throughout Spain for up to three years, or for the shorter work period requested, and may be renewed for two years at a time.

The route can count toward Spain's five-year long-term-residence period if residence and absence requirements are met. Qualifying family members receive Law 14/2013 residence authorizations that permit work under the law's single-permit framework; each family member must still meet the relationship, resources, insurance, and document rules.

Spanish tax residence and any special displaced-worker tax regime are separate from immigration approval. No applicant should assume a particular tax result from holding this visa.

What This Route Is Not

This is not a general permit to take a local Spanish job. An employee cannot work for a Spanish employer under this authorization, and a professional must keep Spanish activity within the 20% limit.

It is not based only on having savings or a newly created overseas contract. The business's one-year operating history, the applicant's three-month relationship, remote-work permission, qualifications or experience, resources, insurance, and Social Security evidence all matter.

Next Steps

  1. Classify the relationship correctly as employment or independent professional activity.
  2. Obtain the foreign company's registration and activity evidence and a letter or contract authorizing work from Spain.
  3. Collect at least three months of relationship and income evidence and calculate the current SMI-based family threshold.
  4. Gather the degree, training, or detailed experience evidence and any regulated-profession recognition.
  5. Resolve Spanish or treaty-based Social Security coverage and health-insurance evidence before filing.
  6. Obtain criminal-record and civil-status documents, with sworn translations and apostilles or legalization where required.
  7. Apply through the competent Spanish consulate or, while lawfully in Spain, electronically through the UGE-CE process. Request a TIE after a residence authorization lasting more than six months.
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Sources