The Spanish digital nomad visa, explained by someone who files them
Officially it is residencia por teletrabajo de carácter internacional, created by Spain's Startups Act (Ley 28/2022). It lets you live in Spain while working remotely for companies based outside Spain.
Last reviewed 1 August 2026 · MJ Barba Consulting, Madrid
THE SHORT ANSWER
You need to earn at least 200% of the Spanish minimum wage — around €2,849 per month in 2026 — from clients or an employer outside Spain, with a working relationship at least three months old. If you are a freelancer, no more than 20% of your income may come from Spanish companies. Applications go to the UGE, which usually resolves in 20 to 45 days.
Who this visa is actually for
Two profiles qualify: employees working remotely for a company registered outside Spain, and freelancers invoicing foreign clients. What matters is not where you sit but where the money comes from.
You can apply from your home country — you get a one-year visa — or from inside Spain if you are here legally, in which case you get a residence permit of up to three years, renewable. Applying from inside Spain is usually faster and it is what most people do.
Your spouse or partner and dependent children can be included in the same application. Each additional family member raises the income threshold.
The income threshold, and how it is actually checked
The number is 200% of the SMI (Salario Mínimo Interprofesional), roughly €2,849 a month in 2026. The SMI is revised every year, so confirm the current figure before you file.
What trips people up is not the amount but the proof. The UGE wants to see that the income is stable and foreign: employment contract or service agreements, payslips or invoices covering at least the last three months, and bank statements that match them. A large one-off transfer does not help — it is the pattern that counts.
For freelancers there is a second trap: the 20% cap on Spanish clients. If you have been living in Spain informally and picking up local work, check your invoicing before you apply. Going over that line is a refusal, not a request for more documents.
What you need to file
- Proof of income at 200% of the SMI, plus the additional percentage for each family member.
- Evidence that your employer or clients are based outside Spain and that the relationship is at least three months old, and that the company has been operating for at least a year.
- A letter from your employer expressly authorising remote work from Spain, or your service contracts if you are self-employed.
- A university degree, higher vocational qualification, or at least three years of professional experience in your field.
- A criminal record certificate from every country you have lived in over the last five years, apostilled and translated by a sworn translator, plus a declaration that you have no record in that period.
- Private health insurance with full cover in Spain, or Spanish social security registration where that applies.
Tax: the part nobody mentions until it is late
Holders of this permit can apply for a special tax regime — the one commonly called the Beckham Law — which taxes Spanish-source employment income at a flat rate instead of the progressive scale. It is not automatic and it has a short application window once you become tax resident.
Whether it suits you depends on how much you earn and where. This is worth modelling before you file the visa, not after, because the decision interacts with how you structure the working relationship.
Not sure whether your situation fits? Send us the details and we will tell you whether it works before you spend anything on documents. We answer in English, usually within 24 hours. An initial consultation costs €50.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
Questions we get every week
Yes, if you are legally in Spain you can apply from here and you receive a residence permit rather than a visa. This route is generally faster.
The legal deadline is 20 working days and in practice most files resolve in 20 to 45 days. Silence is positive here, unlike most Spanish immigration procedures — but you should not rely on it.
Yes. Time on this permit counts as legal residence. Most nationals need ten years; citizens of Ibero-American countries, Portugal, Andorra, the Philippines and Equatorial Guinea, and people of Sephardic origin, need two.
As a freelancer, yes, up to 20% of your total income. As an employee of a Spanish company, no — that would require a different permit.
Do not file. A refusal is recorded and makes the next attempt harder. It is better to wait until the last three months clearly clear the bar.