Digital nomad visa in Spain 2026: requirements, minimum income and how to apply (consulate or UGE)

In the law it is the visa or residence authorisation for international teleworking (arts. 74 bis to 74 quinquies of Ley 14/2013 (the Spanish Entrepreneurs Act), added by Ley 28/2022): for non-EU citizens who work remotely for companies based outside Spain, using exclusively telematics means. It does not apply to those who have, through agreements with the EU, free movement equivalent to that of Union citizens, such as those from the EEA and Switzerland (art. 61.2).

The first thing is whether you are employed or self-employed. As an employee (employment contract) you can only work for companies outside Spain. As an autónomo (self-employed freelancer) you can work for companies in Spain if that work does not exceed 20% of your total professional activity (art. 74 bis.1).

You also have to prove: an undergraduate or postgraduate degree from a university, vocational training or a business school of recognised prestige, or at least 3 years of professional experience (art. 74 bis.2); that the company or group you work with has at least 1 year of real and continuous activity; that your relationship with it has lasted at least the last 3 months; and that the work can be done remotely, with the company's authorisation if you are an employee or with the terms of the remote service if you are an autónomo (art. 74 ter).

And the general requirements of art. 62.3: not being in an irregular situation in Spain, being over 18 years old, not appearing as rejectable, public or private health insurance with an insurer authorised in Spain, sufficient resources, the tasa (official fee) paid and having no criminal record: certificates from Spain and the countries where you have resided for the last 2 years, plus a responsible declaration of having no criminal record in the last 5 years.

If you are a partner or director of the foreign company, the choice between the employment and professional route is studied before submitting.

The law mandates that economic means are calculated on the minimum interprofessional wage (DA 20.ª of Ley 14/2013). Consulates ask for 200% of the monthly SMI for the main applicant, 75% for the first family member and 25% for each of the others.

With the 2026 SMI, which is €1,221 a month in 14 payments and €17,094 a year (Real Decreto 126/2026), the figure published, for example, by the Consulate in Washington is €2,442 a month for the main applicant, plus €916 for the first family member (exactly 75% is €915.75) and €306 for each additional family member (exactly 25% is €305.25). A couple with one child needs €3,663 a month (2,442 + 915.75 + 305.25).

How the UGE calculates it (over 12 or 14 payments) we have not been able to confirm in an official source; in annual calculation it is €34,188 (2,442 × 14), which fits with both calculations. If your income is tight, tell us before submitting and we will review what evidence you provide.

Any valid proof works: contract with the salary, payslips, bank statements or, if you are an autónomo, invoices and contracts with your clients.

If you live outside Spain, you apply for the teleworking visa at the Spanish consulate in your jurisdiction. It lasts a maximum of 1 year (less if your work period is shorter), allows you to reside and work remotely in Spain without a foreigner's identity card and is resolved and notified in 10 working days, unless there is a prior consultation under the Código de Visados (Visa Code) (arts. 74 quater, 75.4 and 75.5).

At the consulate you submit it yourself, or an accredited representative with power of attorney if that consulate allows it (Washington and Bogotá allow it). We prepare the file, check each document against your consulate's list, fill in the forms and tell you what to take. You pay the consular tasa there: each consulate sets it and it depends on your nationality.

If you are already lawfully in Spain, for example during your tourist stay, you apply directly for the residence authorisation before the Large Companies and Strategic Collectives Unit (UGE-CE). It is for up to 3 years, is valid throughout Spain and is processed only electronically (arts. 74 quinquies and 76.1).

The UGE processes the application and the Directorate General for Migration resolves it in 20 days from the electronic submission and, if it does not reply, the authorisation is understood to be granted (positive silence). These are working days, per the general rule of art. 30.2 of Ley 39/2015. Submitting the application extends your stay until it is resolved.

Before the UGE we submit it for you, with the mandate you sign and our lawyer's electronic certificate. You sign the application form; we pay the tasa 790-038 for the initial authorisation (€73.26 in 2026) and it is included in the price of the service. We never ask for your digital certificate.

Whoever enters with the visa and wants to stay in Spain applies for the authorisation at the UGE in the 60 calendar days before the visa expires (art. 74 quater.3). The visa is not renewed: it is exchanged for the authorisation.

Valid and complete passport. Some consulates also ask for a minimum validity or blank pages: we check this against your consulate's list.

Criminal record certificates from the countries where you have resided for the last 2 years, apostilled or legalised and with a sworn translation if they are not in Spanish, plus the responsible declaration for the 5 years, which we draft. At the London and Washington consulates the certificate cannot be more than 6 months old.

Proof of the relationship. Employee: contract and letter from the company with your seniority (at least 3 months), authorisation to work from Spain, your duties, the declaration of telematics means and the salary in euros; a foreign contract on its own is not enough. Autónomo: contracts with your foreign clients, of at least 3 months, with the terms of the remote service.

Proof of the company: official certificate from its commercial registry, or equivalent, showing at least 1 year of real activity.

Degree or proof of 3 years of experience; health insurance (the Consulate in London, for example, asks that it covers all the risks of the Spanish public health system); proof of means; and the Seguridad Social (Spanish social security system) supporting documents from the next section. If you are already in Spain, proof of your regular stay, such as the entry stamp.

We manage the sworn translation and the apostille and they are charged separately. If you lack health insurance, we collaborate with ASISA and can help you take it out.

According to the UGE's frequently asked questions of April 2026, the employed nomad contributes to the General Regime: your foreign company registers with the General Treasury of the Seguridad Social as a company without a workplace in Spain and registers you. The RETA (regime for self-employed workers) is only for the professional relationship.

Only those covered by a Seguridad Social agreement with Spain and who prove it with their country's certificate of coverage are exempt from contributing in Spain.

At the consulate this is proven when applying for the visa, not afterwards: if you are an employee, the company's registration with the Spanish Seguridad Social or the certificate of coverage; if you are an autónomo, registration in the RETA or its application. In addition, a declaration of commitment to comply with the Spanish Seguridad Social is signed.

If you are an autónomo, we submit your registration in the RETA through the RED System and your registration with Hacienda (the Spanish tax agency) using modelo 036 (modelo 037 does not exist since 3 February 2025). For the first 6 months, your passport is enough to register with the Seguridad Social if you do not yet have a NIE (foreigner identity number) (art. 76.5). On your first registration you can request the flat rate of €80 a month (€88.64 with the MEI, according to the Seguridad Social guide), but only during the registration itself. More detail in our guide to registering as an autónomo.

With the visa you reside without a TIE (foreigner identity card). If the UGE grants you an authorisation of more than 6 months, you have to apply for the TIE (art. 76.2). The law does not set a deadline for this; we prepare the documentation for you to apply for it as soon as possible.

The authorisation is renewed for periods of 2 years if you maintain the conditions, electronically. Applying for renewal extends the authorisation until it is resolved; also if you submit it in the 90 days after expiry, although then a sanctioning file is possible (art. 76.3). The 3 year authorisations granted since 2023 start to expire in 2026.

If you change company or conditions, you must notify the UGE within 30 days (DA 7.ª.2); if you stop meeting the requirements, they can extinguish the authorisation after a hearing. The UGE processes it as an initial application: form, tasa 790-038 and full documentation, without requiring the 3 months with the new company nor, for the main applicant, criminal records. Out of prudence, we count the 30 days as calendar days.

After 5 years of legal and continuous residence you can apply for long-term residence. We process the renewal, the change of company and the transition from visa to authorisation in our digital nomad renewal service.

If you spend more than 183 days of the calendar year in Spain, or have the core of your economic interests here, you are a tax resident in Spain (art. 9 of the Ley del IRPF (Personal Income Tax Law)) and declare your IRPF (personal income tax) here.

VAT: your services to companies established outside Spain, whether EU or non-EU, are not subject to Spanish VAT (art. 69.Uno.1.º of the Ley del IVA (VAT Law)): not subject, which is not the same as exempt. With EU companies you also need to register in the Registry of Intra-Community Operators (ROI) and file modelo 349; the VAT is declared by the client in their country (reverse charge). To EU individuals you generally invoice with Spanish VAT; to non-EU individuals, only the services on the list in art. 69.Dos (advice, consulting, advertising, translation and similar) go without VAT, and only if they are not used or exploited in Spain (art. 70.Dos).

To your Spanish clients, within the 20% limit, you invoice with VAT and, if your activity is professional and the client is a company or professional, with a 15% withholding (7% the starting year and the following two).

Every quarter you submit modelo 303 for VAT and 130 for IRPF (20% of the accumulated net yield); you are only exempt from 130 if at least 70% of your professional income from the previous year had withholding. Annually, modelo 390 and the income tax return. An invoice without VAT to a foreign client is not entered at 21%: it goes in its own box on the 303.

With Managora's Self-employed plan, for a fixed monthly fee, we handle your 303 and 390, 130 and income tax return, ROI and 349 if you work with the EU, accounting from the photo of your invoices and the tax calendar. We submit with your mandate and never without your approval; you issue the invoices. The price is on our plans page.

The Ley Beckham (Beckham Law) via the teleworking route requires an employment relationship: the self-employed nomad does not enter via that route, only as an entrepreneur, with an ENISA report and the entrepreneur residence authorisation obtained before moving to Spain, or as a highly qualified professional of an emerging or R&D&I company. The employee can if they have not been a tax resident in Spain in the 5 years prior to the year of their arrival, with 6 months to opt in from the start of activity recorded in their Seguridad Social registration or, if they keep their country's Seguridad Social, in the document that allows it. We expand on this in our tax guides for those who telework for a foreign company and for autónomos with foreign clients.

Yes. The spouse or partner, minor children, adult children who depend on you and have not formed their own family and dependent ascendants can apply for the authorisation or visa at the same time as you or later (art. 62.4). If applied for at the same time, they are resolved at the same time.

Each family member is an applicant for their own authorisation, meets the general requirements and pays their own tasa, and you add means for each one: 75% of the SMI for the first and 25% for each of the others. We process this with our family reunification service for visa holders.