Kingdom of Spain · digital nomad · Leads to settlement

Digital Nomad Visa (Spain)

By Sam Parks · Last reviewed: 23 July 2026

Residence permit for remote workers and international freelancers under the Startup Law (Ley de Startups).

No sponsorship requiredLeads to permanent residencyInitial 1-year consular visa, extendable to 3-year residence permit, then renewable for further 2 years; counts toward permanent residence after 5 years.

Processing time: UGE-CE decisions typically 20 working days; consulate 1–3 months.
Government fees: Visa application fee varies by consulate; residence permit and TIE fees additional.
Typical duration: Initial 1-year consular visa, extendable to 3-year residence permit, then renewable for further 2 years; counts toward permanent residence after 5 years.
Sponsorship required: No
Leads to permanent residency: Yes

Reviewed 23 July 2026Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations ↗

In short

As of 23 July 2026, the Digital Nomad Visa (Spain) for Kingdom of Spain has a typical government cost of about €1,017.02 and typical processing of 3 weeks – 6 weeks. Sources: official Kingdom of Spain government pages, reviewed 23 July 2026.

Cite this: https://visaatlas.org/visas/spain/digital-nomad-visa#answer

What is the Digital Nomad Visa (Spain) in Kingdom of Spain?

Digital Nomad Visa (Spain) is an unsponsored Spain route. Indicative government fees are Visa application fee varies by consulate; residence permit and TIE fees additional; indicative processing time is UGE-CE decisions typically 20 working days; consulate 1–3 months; typical duration is Initial 1-year consular visa, extendable to 3-year residence permit, then renewable for further 2 years; counts toward permanent residence after 5 years. This route can lead to permanent residence.

Verified against Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations on 22 June 2026.

Europe digital-nomad money stack

Europe digital-nomad cost, income and settlement methodology

The route guide answers eligibility. This method layer ties that answer to source-backed cost data and warns where comparator routes are not dedicated nomad visas.

No generic best-country claim

Portugal, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands answer different eligibility questions. Rank them only after stating the criterion: income floor, paid-away cost, family scaling, renewal path, settlement or tax exposure.

Income evidence is not an application fee

Remote-work income, retained business capital and accommodation cash-flow are evidence or liquidity gates. They must not be merged with consular fees, residence-card fees, insurance, translations or apostilles.

Tax residence is separate from visa eligibility

Visa approval does not settle income-tax, social-security, Beckham-regime, Portuguese ordinary-residence or Dutch/German business-tax treatment. Those are separate jurisdiction-specific checks.

Route	Income or funds gate	Applicant paid-away baseline	Family and renewal caveat	Settlement and tax caveat	Source date
Portuguese Republic - D8 visa (digital nomad / remote work)Dedicated EU digital-nomad residence route with a remote-work income floor.	€44,160/year; Remote-work income evidence (last 3 months at D8 floor): €11,040	€420-€1,040Mandatory refundable/show-only line: €11,040.	Residence-track D8 budgeting should keep accompanying-family national visa and AIMA card lines separate from the principal applicant. Tracked lines: Accompanying family-member national visa (€110); Accompanying family-member AIMA residence card (€170-€230).	Counts toward Portugal long-term residence or citizenship planning, but Portuguese tax residence must be modelled separately from D8 eligibility.	1 July 2026VistosMNE - D8 digital-nomad requirements
Kingdom of Spain - Digital Nomad Visa (Spain)Dedicated international-teleworker route tied to Spain SMI and non-Spanish-client income.	€34,188/year; Remote-work income evidence (200% of 2026 SMI): €34,188	€647.02-€1,677.02Mandatory refundable/show-only line: €34,188.	Family analysis must keep UGE/TIE/consular fees and SMI-linked dependant income uplifts visible as separate lines. Tracked lines: Family-member UGE/TIE/consular fees (€26.08-€116.08); First dependant income uplift (€12,820.50).	Counts toward Spanish permanent residence, but Beckham-regime and tax-residence treatment are separate advice questions.	1 July 2026UGE-CE teleworker documentation and BOE - Real Decreto 126/2026
Federal Republic of Germany - Freelance / Self-employment residence permit (§21 AufenthG)Comparator self-employment route, not a dedicated digital-nomad visa; the binding evidence is viability, clients and financing.	Comparator self-employment route, not a dedicated digital-nomad visa; the binding evidence is viability, clients and financing.	No dedicated cost-to-complete model tracked yet; use the route guide source before publishing a cost answer.	Do not publish a generic Germany nomad cost claim without local authority, health-insurance and family-residence evidence.	Can be settlement-track for successful self-employment, but German tax and social-security exposure start from the resident fact pattern.	22 June 2026Make it in Germany — Self-employment
Kingdom of the Netherlands - Dutch-American Friendship Treaty (DAFT) entrepreneurComparator treaty route, not a global digital-nomad route; eligibility is nationality-gated and built around business capital.	Comparator treaty route, not a global digital-nomad route; eligibility is nationality-gated and built around business capital.	No dedicated cost-to-complete model tracked yet; use the route guide source before publishing a cost answer.	Do not treat DAFT as a generally available Netherlands digital-nomad visa because US/Japanese treaty access is the gate.	Can count toward long-term Dutch residence, but retained business capital and Dutch tax residence are different checks.	22 June 2026IND — Self-employed person (DAFT / Dutch-Japanese friendship treaty)

Publisher-ready citation snippet

Visa Atlas separates Europe digital-nomad application costs from income evidence: Portugal D8 and Spain Digital Nomad Visa show remote-work income as evidence, not a fee, while Germany freelancer and Netherlands DAFT remain comparator self-employment routes unless a route-specific cost model is present.

Unsupported digital-nomad long-tail variants stay excluded until unique source-backed value exists. Latest source record in this cluster: 1 July 2026. This cluster supports retrieval and review, not ranking, traffic, AI-citation or market-share outcome claims.

Overview

Spain's Digital Nomad Visa (Visado de teletrabajador de carácter internacional) was introduced by the Startup Law in December 2022. It allows non-EEA nationals to live in Spain while working remotely for companies outside Spain, or as freelancers with predominantly non-Spanish clients (typically 80%+ non-Spanish income).

Guidance by nationality

Specific information for applicants from these countries. Don’t see yours? The general eligibility criteria above apply to everyone.

Eligibility

Application pathway

Decide consular vs. in-country route
Apply at a Spanish consulate for a 1-year visa then extend; or enter on tourist status and apply to UGE-CE for the 3-year residence permit directly (faster in practice).
Prepare evidence package
Employer letter, contract, qualifications, income, insurance, clean criminal record.
Submit application
To Spanish consulate or, in-country, to UGE-CE via the online Mercurio system.
Receive approval and obtain TIE
Book TIE appointment (fingerprints) at a Spanish police station.
Renew and progress to long-term residence
After 5 years of lawful residence, apply for permanent residence.

Official application links

Where to actually go next

Government links only

These are the official pages to use for this route. Open them before preparing documents: the forms, fees, appointment systems, and sponsor steps can change without warning.

ApplyApplicant
Submit Ley 14/2013 residence application ↗
Use the official electronic procedure to submit an in-country international telework residence application and related documents.
Ministerio de Inclusion, Seguridad Social y Migraciones · verified 22 June 2026
Official guidanceApplicant
Check telework requirements ↗
Use this official guidance to confirm international telework eligibility, income and document requirements before applying.
Ministerio de Inclusion, Seguridad Social y Migraciones · verified 22 June 2026

Fees and processing time

A typical Digital Nomad Visa (Spain) application runs about €1,017.02 in government fees (single applicant, applying from abroad). A decision then typically takes 3 weeks – 6 weeks. Both change over time, so the dedicated pages below carry the itemised breakdown and the current official figures.

Matches these professions

Software engineer Data scientist Digital nomad DevOps engineer

Also explored by

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Frequently asked questions

How much income do I need for the Spanish Digital Nomad Visa?+

Roughly 200% of the Spanish minimum wage (SMI) for the principal applicant, with uplifts of approximately 75% for a spouse/first dependant and smaller uplifts for further dependants. Exact figures update annually with the SMI.

Is the Spain DNV tax-favourable?+

Qualifying applicants can apply for the Beckham-style special expats regime (Régimen especial aplicable a trabajadores desplazados a territorio español under Article 93 LIRPF), which flat-taxes non-Spanish-source income at 24% for the first €600k and exempts most overseas income for 6 years. Tax advice from a Spanish asesor fiscal is essential.

Can I move to Spain on the Digital Nomad Visa without a job offer in Spain?+

Yes. The Digital Nomad Visa is for non-EEA nationals who work remotely for a company based outside Spain, or freelance with predominantly non-Spanish clients, and it is not employer-sponsored, so no Spanish job offer is required. Confirm your eligibility against the official Ministerio guidance.

Can I work for Spanish clients on the Spain Digital Nomad Visa?+

Only to a limited degree. The route requires that at most 20% of your income comes from Spanish clients, and too high a share of Spanish-client income is a common reason applications are refused. Check the current rules with the official source before applying.

Does the Spain Digital Nomad Visa lead to permanent residence?+

Yes. It starts as a 1-year consular visa, extends to a 3-year residence permit and renews for a further 2 years, and the time counts toward permanent residence after 5 years of lawful residence. Confirm current settlement rules with the official source.

Need tailored advice?

We do not provide legal advice. For an application that depends on your exact circumstances, consult a regulator-listed immigration advisor.

Find a regulated advisor in Spain

How we verified this

We check every figure on this page against the primary government source, record the date it was last checked, and re-check it on a regular schedule. Rules change, so always confirm time-sensitive details with the official source before you rely on them. Visa Atlas is an information-only publication and does not give legal advice.

Primary source: Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations

Last checked: 22 June 2026

See the full evidence trail and methodology

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