Self-employment in Spain as a foreigner: freelance visa, digital nomad or entrepreneur, which one is for you

What is known as a freelance visa is the temporary residence and self-employment work authorisation under the Immigration Regulation (RD 1155/2024). It is not the only way to work for yourself in Spain if you are from outside the European Union: Ley 14/2013 (the Spanish Entrepreneurs Act) regulates 2 others, the international teleworking residence (the digital nomad), which admits those who invoice as a freelancer (autónomo), and the entrepreneur residence, with a favourable report from ENISA.

All 3 allow you to live and work for yourself, but the requirements, where to apply, who resolves it, the deadline, what happens if no one answers, the duration, the territory and when your family can come all change. Choosing the wrong one can cost you an avoidable denial.

It is almost always decided by who your clients are. If you are going to sell in Spain (a shop, a workshop, services to Spanish clients), the route is the general regime, unless your project is innovative or of special economic interest and ENISA reports favourably on it. If you work remotely for foreign companies, the digital nomad route fits you. If you are a European Union citizen, you do not need any of them.

In addition to the visa requirements (passport with at least 1 year of validity, medical certificate, not being irregular in Spain and having no criminal record in the countries where you have resided for the last 5 years), the regulation requires: complying with what is asked of a Spaniard to open that business (licences), the professional qualification or sufficient experience if the activity requires them and, where appropriate, professional association membership, proving that the planned investment is sufficient and its effect on employment, counting self-employment, and paying the tasas (official fees).

The core is the project: planned investment, expected profitability and, where appropriate, jobs, with proof that you can finance it and the list of licences and their status. The rule does not set a minimum investment amount nor does it require profitability to exceed the minimum wage or the IPREM: it is assessed that the investment is sufficient for what you propose. A project without figures or without proven financing leads to a denial.

There are 2 official fees, the 790-052 (residence) and the 790-062 (self-employment work; in Catalonia, the work fee is paid to the Generalitat), plus the visa fee charged by each consulate. The application goes on the EX-07 form.

Managora prepares the entire file (business plan, EX-07, list of documents from your consulate and official fee forms) and reviews every document before your appointment. The presentation at the consulate is done by you, or an accredited representative there if that consulate allows it. You can see the updated amount on the residence and self-employment work authorisation page.

When you work remotely, only with telematics means, for companies outside Spain. On a self-employed basis you can also work for companies in Spain if it does not exceed 20% of your total professional activity; the employee, on the other hand, only for foreign companies.

It requires a university degree, vocational training or a prestigious business school degree, or 3 years of experience; companies with at least 1 year of real activity and a relationship with them for the last 3 months; health insurance with an insurer authorised in Spain; sufficient means; and criminal records from the countries of residence for the last 2 years, plus a responsible declaration of not having them in the last 5.

In terms of means, the consulates publish for 2026 200% of the monthly SMI of €1,221: €2,442 per month for the main applicant, plus €916 for the first family member and €306 for each of the others. In annual calculation it is €34,188 for the main applicant (€2,442 in 14 payments or €2,849 in 12). Ley 14/2013 links these thresholds to the minimum wage both in the visa and in the authorisation processed by the Large Companies and Strategic Groups Unit (UGE-CE).

From outside, the visa is requested at the consulate, which lasts up to 1 year; the residence authorisation is requested in the 60 calendar days before it expires. From Spain, in a regular situation (also as a tourist within your legal stay), the authorisation is requested directly before the UGE-CE: up to 3 years, renewable for 2. A change of company or conditions is communicated to the UGE-CE in 30 days, and in our experience the UGE processes it as an initial application.

For the visa we prepare and review the file with the list from your consulate, where you present it; before the UGE-CE we present it with your mandate. You can see the updated amount on the digital nomad visa page.

It is for those who are going to start or direct an innovative activity and/or one of special economic interest in Spain: just 1 of the 2 is enough. There are no minimums for investment or employment, nor is a company in Spain required. The decisive factor is the favourable report from ENISA, which assesses the degree of innovation and scalability.

First you fill in the ENISA form in its private area, by tables (competitors, team, partners, clients, investments at 18 or 24 months and forecasts at 4 years) and with verifiable data. Then the electronic application is submitted to the UGE-CE. You do not have to wait for the report or provide it: the UGE requests it from ENISA ex officio, and ENISA has 10 working days to issue it. The business plan is not uploaded to the UGE either: it goes in that form.

There are 5 shortcuts, and 1 is enough to approve the innovation: public R&D&I aid in the last 3 years, award as an innovative company, reasoned report from the Ministry of Science, contribution rebate for researchers or Innovative SME Seal and equivalent certifications.

It lasts 3 years, is valid throughout the territory, is renewed for 2 and allows you to obtain permanent residence at 5. From outside it is also requested at the UGE and, once granted, the visa at the consulate; the old stay visa to evaluate the project no longer exists. Managora drafts the content of the ENISA form, pays the 790-038 official fee and submits the application to the UGE with the certificate of the firm's lawyer. You can see the updated amount on the entrepreneur visa page.

In the general regime, the consulate assesses the visa requirements and the immigration office (or the regional body, as in Catalonia) those of the activity. That office has 3 months from when it receives the file from the consulate, not from your appointment, and if it does not answer, the application is understood to be denied. Once granted, the consulate has 1 month to issue the visa and you have another 1 month to collect it; if you do not collect it, it is understood that you renounce it.

Under Ley 14/2013, the UGE-CE processes and the Directorate-General for Migration grants, in 20 days from the electronic presentation (working days, by the general rule of Ley 39/2015); without an answer, it is understood to be granted. Presenting it during a legal stay extends it until it is resolved. The consular visa is resolved in 10 working days.

Yes, without returning to your country for a visa. With an employment work authorisation you can switch to self-employment, although the new one does not extend the validity of the previous one. If you studied in Spain with a study stay and obtained the degree, you can switch to self-employment by meeting the requirements of the activity, in the 2 months before or the 3 months after the end of your stay or obtaining the degree; from the moment it is admitted for processing and while it is resolved, you can work with a provisional authorisation.

If you have been a resident for at least 1 year with an authorisation that did not let you work (for example, a non-lucrative residence), you can also switch to self-employment. The new one lasts 1 year and is only effective if you register with the Seguridad Social (Spanish social security system) in the month following the notification of the grant: here the deadline is 1 month, not 3.

During the first year you can ask to change sector or region: it is resolved in 1 month and, without an answer, it is understood to be granted. Managora submits them electronically with your representation. You can see the updated amount on the modification of the type of authorisation page.

No: neither a visa nor a work authorisation. Citizens of the European Union and the European Economic Area work on a self-employed basis under the same conditions as a Spaniard. If they are going to reside for more than 3 months, they register in the Central Register of Foreigners.

The registration is requested in person in the 3 months following entry, with a valid passport or identity document and proof that you meet one of the scenarios, including being a self-employed worker in Spain. If you register as a self-employed worker, the accepted proof is registration in the Census of Economic Activities, the Commercial Register or registration with the Seguridad Social, so the registrations go first: in Hacienda (the Spanish tax agency) with the 036 form and in the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers (RETA), just like for any freelancer. The registration certificate is issued on the spot. We submit both registrations and prepare the documentation for the certificate for you. You can see the updated amount on the EU citizen registration certificate page.

In the general regime, registration with the Seguridad Social is done in the 3 months following your legal entry: it is what makes the authorisation effective and, without it, you are obliged to leave. In the month following registration you request the TIE (foreigner identity card) in person. Under Ley 14/2013, the passport is enough to register during the first 6 months if you do not yet have a NIE (foreigner identity number), and the TIE is requested if the authorisation lasts more than 6 months.

Registration with Hacienda goes with the 036 form (the 037 has been abolished since 3 February 2025); with a newly assigned NIE, a 030 may be needed first. The flat rate is €80 per month (€88.64 with the MEI, according to the Seguridad Social) and is only obtained by requesting it in the registration itself; its extension is not automatic: it is requested before the second period begins.

As a general rule, your services to EU or non-EU companies are not subject to Spanish VAT; with EU companies you also need registration in the Register of Intra-Community Operators (ROI) and the 349 form. EU individuals are invoiced, as a general rule, with Spanish VAT.

We submit your 036 and your registration in the RETA with the mandate you sign, without asking for your digital certificate. Afterwards, Managora's Self-employed plan, for a fixed monthly fee, handles your 303, 390, 130 and 100 forms, the ROI and the 349, the accounting with the photo of your invoices and the tax calendar, and never submits anything without your approval. The price of the plan is on the plans page, and the registration price, updated, on the registration as a freelancer page.