Spain Digital Nomad Visa

Spain's digital nomad visa is the international telework permit that the Startup Law (Ley 28/2022) added to Ley 14/2013. It lets nationals of countries outside the EU, the European Economic Area and Switzerland live in Spain while working remotely for companies based outside Spain, using computer and telecommunications systems only.

There are two routes. Applicants abroad get a telework visa from a Spanish consulate, valid for up to 1 year. Anyone already in Spain legally, including on a visa-free stay, can instead apply online to the Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos (UGE-CE), the migration unit that handles these permits, for a residence authorization valid for up to 3 years.

The main applicant needs €2,442 a month in gross income. Employees can work only for their employer outside Spain. Self-employed holders can also take Spanish clients, as long as that work stays within 20% of their total professional activity.

Ley 14/2013 sets the core conditions:

• Profile and work: A university or postgraduate degree, a vocational or business-school qualification, or at least three years of professional experience; at least three months of employment or contract relationship with the non-Spanish company, which must have been active for at least a year; work that can be done remotely; age 18 or over.
• Income: €2,442 a month before tax, which is 200% of Spain's minimum wage (SMI) of €1,221 a month. A first family member adds €915.75 a month and each further member €305.25 a month.
• Clean record: no criminal record in Spain or in the countries lived in during the past five years. Applicants provide certificates for the last two years and sign a sworn statement covering five.
• Health insurance: public cover through Spanish Social Security or private cover from an insurer authorized to operate in Spain. Travel insurance, reimbursement-only policies and policies with waiting periods or co-payments don't count.
• Legal status: not in Spain irregularly and not listed as refused entry by a country that has an agreement with Spain to that effect.

Some consulates, such as the embassy in Canberra, spread the annual minimum wage over 12 payments instead of the 14 in which it's paid. That puts their floor at €2,849 a month, so applicants filing abroad should check which figure their consulate uses.

Staff enrolled through a Spanish branch of their employer count as intra-company transfers, a separate permit, rather than teleworkers.

UGE-CE's checklist for applications filed in Spain includes:

• Form and passport: the signed application form and a copy of every passport page.
• Fee receipt: proof of payment of the €73.26 fee on form 790, code 038.
• Work relationship: the employment or commercial contract with the foreign company and an official registry certificate showing how long the company has operated.
• Employer letter: authorization to work from Spain, with the job profile, main duties, confirmation that the work can be done remotely and the salary in euros.
• Proof of income: payslips or invoices for the last three months and a bank certificate showing those payments. If income falls short, bank certificates showing savings that cover the gap for the whole authorization period can make up the difference.
• Qualifications: the degree or proof of professional experience, plus a CV. Regulated professions need Spanish recognition of the degree or a sworn statement before a notary that the profession won't be practiced in Spain.
• Insurance and records: the health insurance policy, the criminal record certificates and the sworn statement.

Social Security registration is mandatory because the work is done from Spain. An employer must register as a non-resident company without an establishment in Spain and enroll the worker, unless a social security agreement lets home-country cover continue with a certificate stating that it applies in Spain. Self-employed holders must join RETA, Spain's scheme for the self-employed; an agreement can't replace it, according to UGE-CE's teleworker FAQ.

Applicants abroad should follow the checklist of the consulate that covers their place of residence.

• UGE-CE fee: €73.26 for each initial application, charged for the main applicant and for each family member. It's paid online before filing on form 790, code 038, by card, direct debit or Bizum. A third party can pay it.
• Consular visa fee: charged separately on the visa route. The amount depends on nationality.
• Private costs: health insurance, certificates from other countries and any legal help.

The income floor isn't a payment. Applicants show it with payslips, invoices and bank certificates.

Two routes. From abroad: apply for the telework visa at a Spanish embassy or consulate (often through its visa center); it is valid for up to one year, and in the 60 days before it expires the holder applies in Spain to UGE-CE for the residence authorization. From inside Spain while legally present, for example on a visa-free stay: apply online to UGE-CE for the residence authorization, valid for up to three years, with no prior visa. A residence authorization cannot be requested directly from abroad.

• Visa route: the consulate decides within 10 days, counting only business days. While it's valid, the visa itself is enough to live and work remotely in Spain, with no foreigner identity card (TIE) needed.
• In-Spain route: UGE-CE must decide within 20 days of electronic filing. If it doesn't answer in time, the application counts as approved. Filing also keeps the applicant's current legal stay valid until the decision.
• After approval: holders of an authorization longer than six months apply for a TIE.
• Refusals: decisions must give reasons and can be challenged through an administrative appeal (recurso de alzada).

Family members can file with the main applicant or later. Each pays the UGE-CE fee.

• Visa: up to 1 year. A shorter planned work period gets a shorter visa.
• Residence authorization: up to 3 years, unless requested for a shorter work period.
• Renewal: Renewable in Spain for two-year periods while the original conditions still apply. Renewals are filed online; filing extends the current permit until a decision.
• Late renewal: a request filed within 90 days after expiry still extends the authorization, though a penalty procedure can follow.

Holders must keep meeting the original conditions and report any change to UGE-CE within 30 days. If the conditions lapse, the permit can be withdrawn.

Long-term residence can be requested after five years of continuous legal residence in Spain.

A person who spends more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year, counting sporadic absences, is tax-resident there. So is anyone whose main base of activities or economic interests is in Spain. The tax agency applies the status to the whole calendar year.

Employees who hold the telework visa meet the move condition for Spain's special regime for workers relocating to Spain (often called the Beckham law): 24% on employment income up to EUR 600,000 for the year of arrival and the next five, if not tax-resident in Spain in the previous five years and opted in within six months. The tax agency does not name self-employed holders.

The visa doesn't change these tests. A holder who lives in Spain most of the year will usually pass the day count, so Spanish tax residence is the normal outcome.