Digital nomad visa in Spain: requirements and taxes

What the visa is

This is the international telework visa or residence authorisation under Ley 14/2013. The UGE — Large Companies and Strategic Groups Unit — handles residence applications online for the migration authority.

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It is for third-country nationals outside EU free movement. Employees may work only for companies outside Spain; professionals may work for a Spanish company where that work remains at or below 20% of total professional activity.

From abroad, apply for a visa valid for up to one year; the visa itself authorises residence and remote work. If lawfully in Spain, apply for a nationwide residence authorisation valid for up to three years.

Who qualifies

• The company or group must have carried on real, continuous activity for at least one year; the employment or professional relationship with foreign business must have existed for the three months before filing.
• The work must genuinely be remote-capable. Employees need express permission to work from Spain; professionals need contracts spelling out the remote terms.
• Qualify through a graduate/postgraduate award from a reputable university, vocational training or a reputable business school, or at least three years’ professional experience.
• Applicants must not be irregularly present and must have no relevant convictions in Spain or in every country where they resided during the preceding two years for conduct criminal under Spanish law; a responsible declaration also covers the preceding five years.

Income, taxes, family

• SMI means Spain’s statutory minimum wage. The UGE asks for monthly gross means equal to 200% of the current SMI for the main applicant, plus 75% for the second family member and 25% for each additional member.
• A spouse/partner, minor children, financially dependent adult children without their own family unit and dependent ascendants may apply together or later.
• The article 93 IRPF special regime is separate, elective and not available to every freelancer. Remote employees have been included since 2023; entrepreneurs and professionals must fit their own statutory categories.
• Where eligible, it covers the first calendar tax year in which the move results in Spanish tax residence and the next five tax periods; that is not always the physical arrival year. The 24% rate through €600,000 and 47% above applies to the relevant general base under the regime, not every kind of income; savings income has separate rates.

Timing

• Consular visa applications are decided and notified within 10 working days, except Visa Code consultation cases. The visa lasts up to one year or the shorter work period.
• The UGE has 20 days from electronic filing; no decision means positive administrative silence. The initial authorisation lasts up to three years and renewals run for two years.
• During the 60 calendar days before visa expiry, the holder may seek the residence authorisation if the conditions remain. An authorisation longer than six months requires a TIE.
• Unusual but useful: where no NIE has yet been issued, article 76 says a passport is sufficient for Spanish Social Security registration during the first six months in these Ley 14/2013 categories.

Documents

• The employer letter should expressly permit remote work from Spain and state role, duties, remote suitability, salary in euros and conditions; professionals provide their commercial contracts and remote terms.
• Prove one year of genuine company activity and three months of relationship, with evidence that the relationship will continue for the requested period.
• For funds, UGE guidance asks for the last three months of payslips or invoices plus a signed/stamped bank certificate in the applicant’s name covering the same three months; the receipts should match.
• Public health cover or a private policy with an insurer authorised in Spain; also qualification or experience, criminal certificates, passport, family evidence, and apostille/legalisation plus official translation where applicable.

How to apply

• Choose the route: a consular visa from abroad, or an online UGE authorisation while lawfully in Spain.
• Classify the relationship correctly: employees may have only foreign employers; professionals should measure work for Spanish companies as activity, not income.
• Collect company-year, three-month relationship, remote permission, means, qualification, health and criminal-record evidence.
• File the application online with the UGE, or apply for the visado at the consulate, and retain the filing receipt.
• For an authorisation over six months, obtain the TIE. The tax option uses electronic Form 149: the principal taxpayer has six months from the documented activity start; an eligible associated family member gets the later of six months from their own entry or six months from the principal’s activity start.

A real case: the court did not treat 90 visa-free days as an issued status article 76 could extend

Common mistakes

• Treating the 20% cap as income: the statute limits work for a Spanish company as a share of total professional activity.
• Applying 20% to an employee; employees on this route may work only for employers outside Spain.
• Calling the Beckham regime automatic or universal for freelancers, or presenting 24% as a rate on every type of income.
• Showing 200% SMI without family add-ons, as net income, or with one balance that does not match three months of receipts.
• Filing a fresh application after lawful status ends on the assumption that an earlier proceeding carries it forward.

If you are refused

• Read the actual ground and the appeal route and deadline printed in the notice. Refusals are not all about income: lawful presence, relationship type, company history, remote-work evidence and criminal records may be decisive.
• Sometimes a complete fresh application is safer; sometimes the correct response is to challenge a mistaken assessment. Before reapplying, calculate status on the date of that new filing.

Related guides

Key terms in this guide

Frequently asked questions

Official sources