How to Apply for Spain Digital Nomad Visa: Steps, Income, Fees and Tax for 2026

How to apply for Spain digital nomad visa: the short answer

The sequence below follows the statute and the guidance of Spanish consulates and the Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos (UGE), which decides in-country applications.

1. Check eligibility. Non-EU nationality, genuine remote work for a foreign employer or clients, a degree or three years' experience, and an employer or client that has traded for at least a year.
2. Meet the income threshold. 200% of the minimum wage (SMI) for you, plus 75% for the first family member and 25% for each additional one.
3. Choose your route. A visa from the consulate where you live, or a residence permit from the UGE if you are already lawfully in Spain.
4. Get an NIE and gather documents. Most consulates will not accept the file without a foreigner identity number.
5. Arrange health insurance and social security. A Spanish-authorised insurer, and either an A1-type certificate from home or Spanish registration.
6. Pay the fee and file. Consular fee in local currency, or tasa 038 for the UGE.
7. Wait for the decision. Ten working days at a consulate, twenty days at the UGE with positive silence.
8. Arrive, register and plan renewals and tax. TIE card, Beckham regime election within six months, renewals every two years.

Spain is not the only jurisdiction competing for mobile professionals; our guide to getting a UAE golden visa shows how a long-term Gulf residence route compares.

Step 1: Check that you are eligible

You are eligible if you are a third-country national who will work remotely, using only computer and telecommunication systems, for companies located outside Spain. Article 74 bis of Ley 14/2013 draws a sharp line between the two kinds of applicant:

• Employees. A holder in an employment relationship may only work for companies located outside Spain. There is no Spanish allowance at all.
• Self-employed professionals. A freelancer may also work for a company located in Spain, provided that work does not exceed 20% of their total professional activity.

EU and EEA citizens, and others with equivalent free-movement rights, are outside the scheme altogether because article 61 excludes them; they can simply move. UK nationals are third-country nationals and need the permit to live in Spain. Short-stay rules, including the EU Entry/Exit System now operating at Schengen borders, do not allow remote work to become residence.

Qualifications, company age and the three-month rule

Article 74 bis.2 requires applicants to be graduates or postgraduates of recognised universities, vocational training or business schools, or to have at least three years of professional experience. Article 74 ter then adds three tests that trip up many applicants:

• Company activity. The employer or client company, or its group, must show real and continuous activity for at least one year.
• Existing relationship. Employees must show the employment relationship has existed for at least the three months before the application; freelancers must show a commercial relationship with one or more non-Spanish companies for at least the last three months.
• Remote permission. Documents proving the work can be done remotely, and, for employees, that the employer allows it.

The Spanish Consulate General in London asks for a company certificate stating the contract length, explicit consent to work remotely from Spain and the salary, plus a Companies House certificate showing when the company was created.

Step 2: Meet the 2026 income threshold

The economic means test is 200% of the Spanish monthly minimum wage for the main applicant, 75% more for the first family member and 25% more for each additional one, according to the consulates in London and Dublin. For 2026, Real Decreto 126/2026 fixes the SMI at €1,221 a month, with an annual floor of €17,094, effective from 1 January 2026. That is a 3.1% rise on the 2025 figure.

Because Spanish salaries are usually paid in fourteen instalments, the monthly SMI and the annual SMI divided by twelve are different numbers. The table shows both.

Applicant	% of SMI	On €1,221 a month	Annual (on €17,094)	Annual spread over 12 months
Main applicant	200%	€2,442	€34,188	€2,849
First family member	+75%	+€915.75	+€12,820.50	+€1,068.38
Each further family member	+25%	+€305.25	+€4,273.50	+€356.13
Example: couple with one child	300%	€3,663	€51,282	€4,273.50

Consulates express the test as a percentage of the monthly SMI, but income evidence is usually read across a year of payslips, invoices and bank statements. The prudent course is to show income above the annualised €2,849 a month for a single applicant, so either method gives the same answer. Contracts, payslips and bank statements are all accepted.

Step 3: Choose your route: consular visa or UGE residence permit

Where you file depends on where you are. Article 74 quater provides a visa for people living outside Spain; article 74 quinquies provides a residence authorisation for people already in Spain lawfully, including those who entered on the visa. The Ministry of Economy's international mobility portal summarises the split.

Feature	Consular visa (art. 74 quater)	UGE residence permit (art. 74 quinquies)
Who files	Applicants resident abroad	Applicants lawfully in Spain
Where	Spanish consulate for your place of residence	UGE, electronically
Maximum duration	1 year (or the work period, if shorter)	3 years (or the work period, if shorter)
Statutory decision time	10 working days	20 days, then positive silence
Identity card	Not required while the visa is valid	TIE required if valid for over six months
Next step	Apply to the UGE within 60 days before expiry	Renew for two-year periods

Lawful presence is the key condition for the in-country route: article 62 requires that the applicant is not irregularly in Spain, so anyone who has overstayed loses the option. Our report on the end of Spain's golden visa explains why this route is now the main residence option for many mobile professionals who previously looked at property investment.

Step 4: Get an NIE and gather the documents

Start with the NIE, the foreigner identity number. The Dublin embassy states that an application without an NIE will not be accepted, and London also requires it before you apply. The core file for a consular application, per the London and Dublin pages, is:

• National visa application form and a recent colour passport photograph.
• Passport valid for at least one year, with two blank pages, issued within the last ten years.
• Proof of residence in the consular district, such as a UK or Irish residence permit for non-nationals.
• Criminal record certificates from every country of residence in the last two years, no older than six months, plus a signed declaration of no criminal record for the last five years. UK applicants submit an ACRO certificate.
• Health insurance certificate (Step 5).
• Employer or client certificate covering the three-month relationship and remote-work consent, and the company registration certificate showing its date of creation.
• Proof of income at the Step 2 level.
• Degree or professional certificate, or proof of three years' experience; London accepts the UK government's employment history record.
• Family documents for any spouse, partner, children or dependent parents.

The UGE's teleworker page publishes separate document lists for main applicants and family members, together with English and Spanish FAQs, for those filing in Spain.

Apostille and sworn translation

Foreign public documents must be legalised or carry the Hague Apostille, and documents not in Spanish need an official translation. The London consulate notes that documents issued by an EU member state do not require legalisation and keeps a list of sworn translators. Criminal records are the usual bottleneck, because apostille and translation must fit within the certificate's six-month validity.

Step 5: Arrange health insurance and social security cover

Article 62.3 requires public health cover or private health insurance with an insurer authorised to operate in Spain. The London consulate adds that the policy must cover all the risks covered by Spain's public health system, and that an S1 form registered with Spanish social security counts as public cover. Travel insurance is not a substitute.

Social security is the item employers most often overlook. The consulates offer two routes:

• Stay in the home system. Where a social security agreement applies, the applicant provides a certificate of continued home coverage. For UK applicants that is the A1-type certificate from HMRC: form CA3822 for employees and CA3837 for the self-employed. The employer (or self-employed applicant) also signs a declaration committing to comply with home social security obligations.
• Register in Spain. The employer registers the employee with Spanish social security, or the self-employed applicant registers with RETA, the self-employed scheme, and provides a certificate of registration and a declaration of compliance.

UK employers weighing the cost of the rise in employer National Insurance to 15% should price both options first.

Step 6: Pay the fee and file the application

Article 62.3 makes payment of the processing fee a condition of every visa and authorisation. The fees differ by route:

• Consular visa. The fee is paid in local currency when the application is submitted and changes with exchange rates; each consulate publishes its current list of consular fees. In London, applications are lodged in person, or through an accredited representative, at the BLS Spain Visa Application Centre in St Andrew Street.
• UGE permit. The fee is tasa 038 (form 790, code 038), completed and paid online through the Ministry of Inclusion's electronic office. Under the Ley 14/2013 mobility regime each applicant, including each family member, is the taxpayer for their own authorisation.
• TIE card. The identity card issued after a UGE grant is a separate procedure with its own fee.

Step 7: Wait for the decision: processing times and silence rules

The statute sets short deadlines. Under article 75.5 of Ley 14/2013, consulates must decide and notify visa applications within ten working days, unless the applicant is subject to the Schengen prior consultation procedure. The term can be extended if the consulate asks for an interview or further documents.

For the UGE, article 76.1 sets a maximum of twenty days from electronic filing. If no decision is issued in that time, the authorisation is treated as granted by positive administrative silence.

• Consular refusal. A request for reconsideration to the consulate within one month, or a court appeal to the High Court of Justice of Madrid within two months.
• UGE refusal. Decisions must give reasons and can be challenged by administrative appeal (recurso de alzada).

Step 8: After approval: arrival, TIE and renewals

A consular visa is itself sufficient title to live and work remotely in Spain for its validity, up to one year, and the holder does not need a TIE card in that period. Within the sixty calendar days before the visa expires, the holder can apply to the UGE for the residence authorisation, provided the original conditions still apply. That authorisation can run for up to three years.

Once a UGE authorisation valid for more than six months is granted, article 76.2 requires the holder to apply for the TIE, the foreigner identity card. Renewals are for two-year periods, filed electronically, and require the same conditions to be maintained. The renewal application extends the permit until the decision, and article 76.3 also extends it where the renewal is filed within ninety days after expiry, although a late filing can lead to sanction proceedings.

Family members may apply jointly and simultaneously with the main applicant or later. Under article 62.4 that covers a spouse or partner, minor children, adult children who depend financially on the holder and have not formed their own family unit, and dependent parents.

Tax: residence, the Beckham regime and Modelo 149

Holding the permit and being tax resident are separate questions. Under article 9 of the Personal Income Tax Law (Ley 35/2006), an individual is resident if they spend more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year, or if their main centre of business or economic interests is in Spain. A resident is taxed on worldwide income. Our guides on residence versus domicile and becoming non-resident for UK tax cover the UK side.

Who can use the Beckham regime

Article 93 lets qualifying newcomers pay income tax under non-resident rules for the year they move and the following five years. Article 93.1.b.1 expressly covers employees who hold the international telework visa under Ley 14/2013. The main conditions are:

• Five-year look-back. No Spanish tax residence in the five tax periods before the move.
• Qualifying reason for the move. An employment contract (including remote employment), becoming a company director, an approved entrepreneurial activity, or highly qualified work for start-ups or in R&D. Self-employed nomads do not fall under the employment limb, so freelancers generally need one of the other limbs.
• No permanent establishment. No income through a Spanish permanent establishment, except in the entrepreneur and highly qualified cases.

Income other than savings income is taxed at 24% up to €600,000 and 47% above that. Electing taxpayers are subject to Spanish wealth tax only on Spanish assets. The election is made on Modelo 149 within six months of the start date of the activity shown in the Spanish social security registration, or in the documents that keep the worker in their home system, according to the Agencia Tributaria's 2025 income tax manual. The form is filed electronically, and the applicant must already be on the tax census. Missing the window loses the regime. For structuring advice, see our checklist on choosing a cross-border wealth manager and Corporate INTL's directory of tax advisers.

The path to permanent residence

The digital nomad permit is a temporary residence permit, so time spent on it builds towards long-term status. Article 32 of the Organic Law on Foreigners (Ley Orgánica 4/2000) gives a right to long-term residence to those who have held temporary residence in Spain continuously for five years. Long-term residence allows the holder to live and work in Spain indefinitely on the same terms as Spanish nationals.

A visa holder who moves to a three-year UGE permit and renews once can reach that five-year mark. For comparison with investment-led routes elsewhere in Europe, see our reports on Latvia closing its property residence route and on buying property in Portugal as a foreigner.

Timeline and cost at a glance

The official timetable is short; preparation takes longer.

Stage	Where	Official timing	Official cost
NIE	Consulate or in Spain	Before filing	Separate procedure
Criminal record, apostille, translation	Home authorities, sworn translator	Certificate under 6 months old	Set by issuers and translators
Visa application	Consulate or its visa centre	Decision in 10 working days	Consular fee in local currency
Visa collection	Consulate	Within 1 month of notification	None
UGE residence permit	UGE, online	20 days, then positive silence	Tasa 038 per applicant
Beckham election	Agencia Tributaria, Modelo 149	Within 6 months of activity start	None
Switch from visa to permit	UGE	Within 60 days before visa expiry	Tasa 038
Renewal	UGE	Every 2 years; 90-day late window	Tasa 038
Long-term residence	Immigration office	After 5 years' continuous residence	Separate application

What changed in 2026

The legal framework itself has not moved: the teleworker articles of Ley 14/2013 are still in the form added by Ley 28/2022 on 23 December 2022, according to the consolidated BOE text. Two things have changed around it:

• Higher income test. The 2026 SMI of €1,221 a month (Real Decreto 126/2026, published on 19 February 2026 with effect from 1 January) raises the single-applicant threshold to €2,442 on the monthly basis, or €34,188 a year.
• No golden visa alternative. The investor residence articles of Ley 14/2013 were emptied with effect from 3 April 2025 by Ley Orgánica 1/2025, leaving the teleworker, entrepreneur and highly qualified routes as the main options.

Common reasons applications fail, and when to get advice

Most refusals come from evidence that does not match the statute. Watch for these:

• Employee with Spanish income. The 20% allowance is for the self-employed only.
• Young client company. A client or employer with less than a year of real activity fails article 74 ter.
• Relationship under three months. A new contract signed just before filing does not meet the test.
• Income on the wrong basis. A salary at exactly €2,442 a month may look thin when annualised against €34,188.
• Stale or unapostilled certificates. Criminal records older than six months, or without apostille and translation.
• Wrong insurance. Travel cover, or an insurer not authorised in Spain.
• Missed tax deadline. Filing Modelo 149 after the six months have run.

Where a case involves Spanish clients, an applicant-owned company, family members or a Beckham election, a Spanish immigration lawyer can test the file before it is lodged. Corporate INTL's directory lists immigration and citizenship specialists and advisers in Spain. Employers comparing this route with sponsoring staff in the UK can read our guide to getting a UK sponsor licence.

Frequently asked questions

How much income do I need for the Spain digital nomad visa in 2026?

At least 200% of the minimum wage. With the 2026 SMI at €1,221 a month, that is €2,442 on the monthly basis or €34,188 a year, which is €2,849 a month spread over twelve. Add 75% of the SMI for the first family member and 25% for each further one.

Can I apply for the digital nomad visa from inside Spain?

Yes, if you are lawfully in Spain. You apply to the UGE for a residence authorisation, which can last up to three years. If you are living abroad, you apply instead for a visa at the Spanish consulate for your place of residence, valid for up to one year.

How long does the Spain digital nomad visa take?

The law gives consulates ten working days to decide, which can be extended if they request an interview or more documents. The UGE has twenty days from electronic filing, after which an undecided application is treated as approved by positive administrative silence.

Can I work for Spanish clients on the digital nomad visa?

Only if you are self-employed, and only up to 20% of your total professional activity. An employee holding the permit may work only for companies located outside Spain.

Do I need a degree to get the Spain digital nomad visa?

No. You need either a degree or postgraduate qualification from a recognised university, vocational school or business school, or at least three years of professional experience.

How much does the Spain digital nomad visa cost?

Consular applicants pay a visa fee in local currency, which each consulate publishes and which changes with exchange rates. In-country applicants pay tasa 038 online for each applicant, plus a TIE card fee. Translations, insurance and adviser fees are extra.

Do digital nomads qualify for the Beckham law in Spain?

Employees holding the telework visa are expressly covered, provided they were not Spanish tax resident in the previous five years. Employment income is taxed at 24% up to €600,000. The election must be filed on Modelo 149 within six months of the activity start date.

Can my family come with me on the digital nomad visa?

Yes. A spouse or partner, minor children, dependent adult children and dependent parents can apply with you or later. Each needs proof of the relationship, apostilled and translated, and your income must rise by 75% of the SMI for the first member and 25% for each further one.

Does the digital nomad visa lead to permanent residence in Spain?

It can. The permit is temporary residence, and five years of continuous temporary residence gives a right to long-term residence under the Organic Law on Foreigners.

Sources

1. Ley 14/2013, de 27 de septiembre, de apoyo a los emprendedores y su internacionalización, arts. 61, 62, 74 bis to 76 (consolidated text): boe.es
2. Real Decreto 126/2026, de 18 de febrero, por el que se fija el salario mínimo interprofesional para 2026: boe.es
3. Consulate General of Spain in London, Digital Nomad Visa: exteriores.gob.es
4. Embassy of Spain in Dublin, Digital Nomad Visa (25 June 2025): exteriores.gob.es
5. Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos, Teletrabajadores de carácter internacional: inclusion.gob.es
6. Ministry of Inclusion electronic office, Autorizaciones de trabajo y residencia (Tasa 038): sede.inclusion.gob.es
7. Ministry of Economy, Commerce and Business, Digital nomads (international teleworkers): prie.comercio.gob.es
8. Ley 35/2006 del Impuesto sobre la Renta de las Personas Físicas, arts. 9 and 93 (consolidated text): boe.es
9. Agencia Tributaria, Manual práctico de Renta 2025: Plazo para el ejercicio de la opción por el régimen especial (updated 17 March 2026): sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es
10. Ley Orgánica 4/2000 sobre derechos y libertades de los extranjeros en España, art. 32 (consolidated text): boe.es

About this article

This guide was researched and written by The Corporate INTL Newsroom, which covers cross-border legal, regulatory and business developments for lawyers, professional advisers and financiers in over 150 jurisdictions. It has been checked against the consolidated texts of Ley 14/2013, Ley 35/2006 and Ley Orgánica 4/2000 in the Boletín Oficial del Estado, Real Decreto 126/2026, the published requirements of Spanish consulates, and guidance from the UGE and the Agencia Tributaria. Income thresholds, fees and consular practice change and can differ between posts. It is general information, not legal or tax advice; for advice on a specific move, consult a qualified Spanish immigration lawyer or tax adviser. Last reviewed 6 November 2026. For more analysis like this, visit the Corporate INTL newsroom or subscribe to Corporate INTL.