Spain digital nomad visa in 2026: requirements, income, documents and how to get it

Spain’s digital nomad visa is for non-EU nationals who have worked remotely for at least three months for a foreign company over a year old and earn at least €2,849 a month in 2026.

Apply to the UGE from Spain for a permit of up to three years, or get a consular visa; the legal deadline is 20 working days.

Below: the 2026 requirements with income figures for families of any size, the documents, the application step by step, timelines and fees.

The second half is about money after approval: how to evidence income so it counts, which taxes a nomad pays as an employee or as an autónomo, when the Beckham regime applies, what social security costs and what a year on the digital nomad permit costs in a worked example.

The immigration side — filing, information requests, appeals — is handled by a gestor or lawyer; the financial side is worth modelling before you apply, because the renewal depends on it.

What the Spain digital nomad visa is and who it is for

The digital nomad permit is a residence permit for remote workers from outside the European Union.

It was introduced by the Startups Act (Ley 28/2022), which from 23 December 2022 added articles 74 bis to 74 quinquies to the Entrepreneurs Act (Ley 14/2013).

Applicants must be at least 18; EU citizens and their family members neither need nor can use it.

Its Spanish name is autorización de residencia para teletrabajo de carácter internacional.

You may only work remotely and only for companies outside Spain. An employee works exclusively for their foreign employer.

A freelancer or autónomo may also take Spanish clients, but no more than 20% of their total activity, and only under a services contract, never an employment one. Three profiles qualify:

• Employee of a foreign company on an employment contract, whose employer allows them to work from Spain.
• Freelancer or sole trader with contracts with foreign companies; after approval they register in Spain as an autónomo.
• Owner of their own foreign company who is paid a salary or dividends by it; the UGE asks this group for extra documents and looks at them closely (see below).

Income from individuals — students, course buyers, subscribers — or paid only in cryptocurrency does not meet the requirements: you need contracts with companies and payments into a bank account.

Spain digital nomad visa requirements in 2026

The UGE reads “remote” strictly: the role must not require on-site supervision of production, in-person staff management or sales visits.

It may ask about the size and structure of the company to decide whether the role can be done entirely at a distance.

Income requirement for the Spain digital nomad visa in 2026

The law ties the income threshold to Spain’s minimum wage (SMI).

The main applicant shows 200% of the SMI per month, the second family member adds 75% of the SMI and each additional member 25%. Amounts are gross, before tax and contributions.

The 2026 SMI is €1,221 a month in 14 payments, or €17,094 a year (Royal Decree 126/2026, in force from 1 January 2026).

The monthly threshold is calculated from the annual figure divided by 12 (€1,424.50) and rounded up: the applicant has to clear it, not fall short by a few cents.

Figures are calculated by script from the 2026 SMI; they will change when the 2027 SMI is set.

If your income falls short: savings

The gap between proven income and the threshold can be covered by savings: a bank certificate in the applicant’s name must show enough to cover the shortfall for the whole permit period — 36 months when applying from Spain.

In practice this works reliably when the shortfall is no more than 20% of the threshold.

Example: a salary of €2,600 against a threshold of €2,849 leaves €249 a month short, or 8.7% of the threshold; the account must show €249 × 36 = €8,964.

How to evidence income so it counts

The UGE asks for payslips (nóminas) or invoices (facturas) for the three months before you apply and a bank certificate for the same three months, stamped or signed by the bank, with the payments for those payslips or invoices marked separately and matching them.

The employer or client writes a letter stating the role, main duties, that the work is done remotely and your pay in euros. A CV is added to the file.

From a finance point of view the key is reconciling three documents: contract, invoice and payment must match to the cent. Typical problems:

• part of the money arrives on a personal card, part on a business account, and the statement shows only one of them;
• a payment platform (Deel, Payoneer and the like) sits between the client and you, and the statement does not show who paid — you need the chain “client → platform → you”;
• irregular income: two months above the threshold, one below; the average clears it, but expect questions — attach an explanatory note;
• income in another currency is converted into euros, and near the line an exchange rate move can push it below the threshold.

Owners of their own company

If the applicant owns and controls their foreign company, the UGE treats them as an autónomo societario and asks for four extra documents: proof of ownership or control, the company’s last corporate income tax return, evidence of investment in productive assets, and a social security report on the company’s employees or equivalent.

In practice, since late 2025 a founder who also runs the company finds approval harder: UGE refusals state that management functions cannot be performed entirely remotely.

Show the full money trail from client through the company to you: contract, company invoices, receipts into its account and payments to you.

Whether an owner should pay themselves a salary or dividends is covered in Salary or dividends from a Spanish SL; the same logic applies to a foreign company.

Documents for the Spain digital nomad visa

The main applicant’s core file, per the UGE checklist:

1. The UGE application form signed by the applicant; a power of attorney if a representative files it.
2. A copy of every page of a valid passport.
3. Proof of payment of fee 790-038.
4. Employment contract or client contracts covering at least three months on the filing date.
5. A company registry extract showing at least one year of activity.
6. The company’s letter on remote work, role, duties and pay in euros.
7. Payslips or invoices and a bank certificate for three months; if income falls short, a savings certificate.
8. CV; degree or proof of at least three years’ experience.
9. Social security documents: the employer’s registration with Spanish social security, an undertaking to join RETA, or a certificate of coverage from your country.
10. Criminal record certificates from the countries where you lived in the last two years, and a sworn statement covering five years.
11. Health insurance — if you are not joining Spanish social security.

Foreign public documents — certificates, degrees, civil records — must carry an apostille or legalisation and come with a translation by a sworn translator accredited by Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Certificates have a limited validity, so order them last and have them translated as soon as they arrive.

Experience without a degree is proven with an official employment record from your country together with employer letters stating dates and specific duties.

Contractors without an employment record use contracts, sign-off documents and payment history for the whole period.

How to get the Spain digital nomad visa: step by step

There are two routes.

The main one is applying from Spain: a foreign national who is in Spain lawfully — visa-free, on a Schengen or a national visa — can apply for the residence permit.

The application goes to the UGE electronically, and the permit is granted for up to three years. While it is pending, your lawful stay is extended until the decision.

The second route is a digital nomad visa from the Spanish consulate in your country of residence.

1. Check that you qualify. Company age, three months of relationship, degree or experience, income for your household — before spending on translations.
2. Gather the documents. Certificates, apostilles and sworn translations usually take 4–6 weeks; time the criminal record certificate so it is still valid when you file.
3. Enter Spain and record your entry. If you arrive from another Schengen country, file a declaración de entrada with the police — you will not get a Spanish entry stamp.
4. Pay fee 790-038 and apply to the UGE through its e-office, yourself with a digital certificate or through a representative.
5. Wait for the decision and answer any information request: you have 10 working days to reply.
6. After approval — social security and the TIE card: register with social security right after the decision, book a police appointment, give fingerprints and collect the residence card.

The consular route works differently: the consulate issues a digital nomad visa valid for up to one year and by law decides within 10 working days.

You cannot apply for the three-year residence permit directly from abroad.

To stay beyond the year, you apply to the UGE from Spain within the 60 calendar days before the visa expires.

People choose the consular route when they need a visa to enter Schengen or cannot be in Spain while the application is processed.

Processing times and fees

The UGE must decide within 20 working days of electronic filing. If it does not, the application is deemed approved by administrative silence (silencio positivo).

A refusal can be appealed by recurso de alzada.

In practice, processing in 2026 takes longer: the UGE is overloaded — it had received 109,008 applications across all its routes by 30 September 2026 — and digital nomad decisions often arrive after 30–50 working days. Budget two to three months for filing and decision, not 20 days.

A TIE card is required when the permit is granted for more than six months; you apply to the police within one month of approval.

Your right of residence starts on the decision date, and for the first six months a passport is enough to register with social security.

Government fees come to €89.34 per person, €357.36 for a family of four.

Family: who can come and how much income you need

Your spouse or partner, minor children, adult dependent children and dependent parents can get permits with you.

They apply together with you — and then the decisions are issued at the same time — or later while your permit is valid, always through the UGE, not general family reunification.

An unregistered partner proves a year of living together (not needed if you have a child together); children aged 18–26 show that they do not work, are studying or looking for work, and have not formed their own family.

Family members of a digital nomad may work in Spain without restriction, as employees or self-employed, so a second household income after the move does not breach the permit.

The family income threshold is in the table above.

Budget for the family early: fees and a TIE card for each person, translations of civil certificates, and insurance for each person if you are not joining Spanish social security.

Digital nomad taxes in Spain: IRPF, IRNR and the Beckham regime

The permit does not make you tax resident by itself — days and interests do.

You are a Spanish tax resident if you spend more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year or if your main centre of business or economic interests is here; residence is presumed if your spouse and minor children live in Spain.

Year of arrival: if you are not yet resident

A non-resident still pays Spanish tax on salary for work performed in Spain — non-resident income tax (IRNR) at 24%, or 19% for residents of the EU and EEA, with no deduction for expenses.

Moving in the second half of the year therefore does not remove Spanish tax on the months you work from here, but it spares you resident status for the whole year and declaring worldwide income.

Tax resident: the general IRPF scale

A resident pays IRPF on worldwide income on a progressive scale from 19% to 47% including the regional part (rates vary slightly by region).

The personal allowance is €5,550 a year; social security contributions and €2,000 of other expenses are deducted from salary.

Tax paid abroad is credited under a double tax treaty where one applies.

The Beckham regime for digital nomads

The Beckham regime (article 93 of the IRPF Act) taxes employment income at 24% up to €600,000 a year and 47% above that, while foreign income other than salary is not taxed in Spain.

It applies in the year you move and the following five years, provided you were not Spanish tax resident in the previous five years.

Remote work under an employment contract is expressly listed in the law.

You apply on form 149 within six months of registering with Spanish social security; the deadline cannot be reopened. A freelancer invoicing as an autónomo cannot use the regime.

So Beckham argues for employment with a foreign company, but only at higher incomes: at €60,000 gross the saving is almost nil (see the calculation below).

Autónomo: which taxes and filings

An autónomo pays IRPF on profit under the general scale and files form 130 (a 20% advance on profit) and form 303 for VAT every quarter.

Under simplified bookkeeping, 5% of “hard-to-document” expenses is added, capped at €2,000 a year.

Services to companies outside Spain are subject to VAT where the customer is, so Spanish VAT is usually not charged on those invoices.

Workspace, equipment and telecoms costs reduce the tax base if backed by invoices in your name with your Spanish NIE.

Once resident, a nomad files form 720 if they hold more than €50,000 abroad in any one asset class — accounts, securities or real estate; under the Beckham regime form 720 is not filed.

If you own a company or significant capital abroad, set up the tax structure before you move — see Holding company in Spain.

Social security and health insurance

Registration with Spanish social security is mandatory for digital nomads.

For employees, the foreign company registers with Spanish social security as an employer without a local establishment and enrols you in the general scheme (Régimen General).

The only alternative is a certificate from your home country’s social security under an international agreement that expressly says it covers remote work from Spain.

An autónomo joins RETA immediately after approval, and no agreement replaces this; without registration the UGE terminates the permit for the main applicant and the family.

The quickest way to register for RETA is through a PAE business support point.

Private health insurance is not needed if you join Spanish social security after approval.

If you stay in your home country’s system, you need a policy from an insurer authorised in Spain with no co-payments and no waiting periods; travel insurance or reimbursement-only cover is not accepted.

If the bilateral agreement that keeps you in your home system does not cover healthcare, the policy is always required.

New autónomos can claim a reduced first-year contribution (tarifa plana): €80 a month in 2023–2025; no official act has yet set the 2026 amount, so confirm it with social security when you register.

It must be requested at registration: a late RETA registration loses the reduction and, on review, can cost the permit itself.

What a year on the digital nomad permit costs: a worked example

Illustrative case: €60,000 income a year, one person, Spanish tax resident, no children or other deductions, standard regional rates.

The autónomo has €3,000 of documented expenses. Calculated by script using the 2026 IRPF scale and contribution tables; a guide, not tax advice.

At €60,000 the Beckham regime saves only €264 a year, because the general scale already gives an effective rate of about 24%.

At €80,000 the difference is €3,956 and at €100,000 it is €8,156 a year in favour of Beckham.

An autónomo with the same turnover carries a higher burden because RETA contributions are paid on profit.

On top come one-off filing costs — government fees, translations, apostilles — and annual ones: bookkeeping and tax returns, plus insurance where needed.

A nomad household’s financial model is the same exercise as a small company budget: monthly income, tax advances, contributions and a reserve for the renewal.

If your income is close to the threshold or comes in several currencies, model it three years ahead to see which month it dips below the line. Useful tools: budgeting and a financial model.

Renewal and permanent residence: why taxes decide

The digital nomad permit is renewed for two years if the conditions that granted it still hold.

You apply within the 60 calendar days before it expires and no later than 90 days after.

According to the UGE’s position at 2026 seminars, renewals look at the IRPF return: income for the year must be at least twice the SMI in annual terms, and taxes must have been paid in Spain.

The annual total matters, not each month: a year with a dip in the middle and strong other months usually still clears the threshold.

The flip side: income not declared in Spain does not exist for the renewal.

You must keep meeting the conditions throughout the permit and report any change — a new employer, a switch from employment to freelancing — to the UGE within 30 days.

The UGE may check compliance and, if the conditions are not met, terminate the permit after hearing the holder.

After five years of continuous lawful residence you can obtain long-term residence (permanent residency).

If after the first term you want to work for the Spanish market without the 20% cap, you apply to switch to self-employment (cuenta propia) instead of renewing and set up your own business in Spain.

What a Spanish company costs to open and how its account works: SL in Spain and Business bank account in Spain.

Why applications are refused and what to check before filing

• Income does not reconcile. The statement does not match payslips or invoices, money flows through a platform with no chain, amounts sit right on the threshold.
• The company is under a year old or the contract under three months on the filing date — checked by dates, no exceptions.
• No relevant degree and weak proof of experience: letters without dates or duties, no official employment record.
• The work is not fully remote: running your own company, sales with travel, on-site work.
• Expired certificates or translations without a verifiable translator signature; an apostille that cannot be checked online.
• A Schengen visa from another country used to enter Spain and file straight away — the UGE sees it as bypassing the consular route.
• After approval: late social security registration, unreported changes, a missed tax return — these surface at renewal.

Frequently asked questions

What is the income requirement for the Spain digital nomad visa in 2026?

The main applicant needs at least €2,849 a month before tax, which is 200% of Spain’s minimum wage, or €34,188 a year. A second family member adds €1,069 a month and each additional one €356: a family of four needs €4,630 a month.

Can I use savings if my income is too low?

Yes. Multiply the shortfall by the permit period — 36 months when applying from Spain — and show it with a bank certificate. In practice this is reliable when the shortfall is no more than 20% of the threshold; you still need income from work.

Can I get the digital nomad visa without a university degree?

Yes, if you have at least three years of experience relevant to the job. Prove it with an official employment record from your country plus employer letters stating dates and duties; contractors use contracts and payment history.

Can I apply from inside Spain if I entered visa-free?

Yes. You can apply to the UGE while lawfully in Spain, including visa-free or on a Schengen visa; filing extends your stay until the decision. If you entered through another Schengen country, file a declaración de entrada with the police.

How long does processing take and what does UGE silence mean?

By law the UGE decides within 20 working days; if it does not, the application is deemed approved by silence. In practice in 2026, digital nomad decisions often take 30–50 working days.

Can I bring my spouse and children?

Yes. Your spouse or partner, minor children and dependent relatives apply with you or later through the UGE. The income threshold rises: €3,918 a month for two, €4,274 for three, €4,630 for four.

Do I need health insurance for the digital nomad visa?

No, if you join Spanish social security after approval, as an autónomo or through your employer. Yes, if you stay in your home country’s system: then you need a Spanish-authorised policy with no co-payments and no waiting periods.

What taxes does a digital nomad pay in Spain?

A tax resident pays IRPF on worldwide income on a 19% to 47% scale. An employee of a foreign company can opt for the Beckham regime — 24% up to €600,000 a year for six years; a self-employed autónomo cannot.

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

Only as a freelancer and only up to 20% of your total activity, under a services contract. An employee works only for their foreign employer.

How do I renew the Spain digital nomad visa?

Apply to the UGE within 60 days before the permit expires; renewal is for two years. The UGE checks that the conditions still hold and looks at your Spanish IRPF return: annual income at or above the threshold and taxes paid.

Key points about the Spain digital nomad visa

• For non-EU nationals working remotely for companies outside Spain: the company at least a year old, the relationship at least three months.
• The 2026 threshold is €2,849 a month for one person and €4,630 for a family of four; a shortfall can be covered by 36 months of savings.
• Applying to the UGE from Spain gives a permit of up to three years; a consulate gives a one-year visa. Fee 790-038 is €73.26 per person.
• The law gives the UGE 20 working days; in practice in 2026 it takes longer.
• Register with social security straight after approval; the Beckham regime pays off for well-paid employees and is closed to autónomos.
• Renewal after three years turns on the IRPF return: annual income at or above the threshold and taxes paid in Spain.

Sources

• Ley 14/2013 (Entrepreneurs Act), arts. 61, 62, 74 bis–74 quinquies, 75, 76, 4th, 7th and 20th additional provisions — BOE, consolidated text; Ley 28/2022 (Startups Act) — BOE.
• UGE: digital nomad FAQ, checklists for the main applicant and family members — read on 09.11.2026.
• Royal Decree 126/2026 on the 2026 SMI — BOE; Orden PJC/297/2026 on 2026 contributions — BOE; Orden PJC/617/2025 on fees — BOE.
• Ley 35/2006 (IRPF), arts. 9, 19, 57, 63, 93 — BOE; Non-Resident Income Tax Act (RDL 5/2004), arts. 13, 24, 25 — BOE.
• Ley Orgánica 4/2000 on foreign nationals, art. 32 — BOE.
• 2026 processing times — talks by the UGE coordinator at the Entrepreneurs Act seminar (September 2026) and at the XXXIV Jornadas de Extranjería in Benidorm on 05.11.2026; practice — 2026 cases and discussions in professional forums.