Digital nomad visa

• Remote work for companies outside Spain, as an employee or freelancer, done from Spain using computers and telecommunications
• An established relationship: at least three months with your employer or main clients before you apply, and the company must have been trading for at least a year
• Permission from your employer to work remotely from Spain
• Qualifications or experience: a degree or professional qualification, or at least three years' experience in the work you do
• Enough income (see Money below)
• Health cover: private insurance from an insurer authorised in Spain with no co-payments, waiting periods or pay-and-claim-back terms, or Spanish social security cover (for example through a certificate of coverage)
• A clean criminal record for the last five years (ACRO certificate, apostilled and translated)
• You must not be in Spain irregularly

How much: 200% of Spain's minimum wage (SMI). The 2026 minimum wage is €17,094 a year (Royal Decree 126/2026), so you need €34,188 a year (€2,849 a month), plus 75% (€1,068 a month) for the first family member and 25% (€356 a month) for each one after that. These are our sums from the official minimum wage; the government doesn't publish them in euros.

How you show it: payslips, contracts and bank statements for employees; invoices, contracts and bank statements for freelancers. Savings can support an application but consulates expect the work income itself.

Costs to budget for:

• Visa fee: £719 for British nationals at the consulate (2025 fee list), or €73.26 if you apply from Spain
• Private health insurance if you're not covered by social security
• ACRO police certificate, degree certificates, apostilles and sworn translations
• TIE residence card fee once you're in Spain

• Passport and application form
• Employment contract or client contracts showing remote work is allowed
• Employer letter confirming you can work from Spain and that the company has traded for at least a year
• Proof of income: recent payslips or invoices and bank statements
• Degree certificate or proof of three years' experience
• Health insurance, or a social security certificate
• Criminal record certificate (ACRO), apostilled and translated
• Family documents (marriage and birth certificates) for anyone coming with you

• Padrón at your town hall, then your TIE residence card.
• Renewal: a one-year consular visa is followed by a residence permit applied for in Spain; permits are renewed for two years at a time while you still meet the conditions.
• Social security: employees of UK companies may stay in the UK system for a period with a certificate of coverage; freelancers usually register as autónomos in Spain.
• Long-term residence after five years.

Living in Spain more than 183 days a year usually makes you Spanish tax resident. Digital nomads can ask for the Beckham law special regime, which taxes employment income at a flat 24% up to €600,000 (47% above) for the year you arrive and the next five, if you weren't Spanish tax resident in the previous five years. You opt in on form 149 within six months of registering with Spanish social security. Read our Beckham law guide and get a tax adviser.

• Applying straight after changing jobs, before the three months with the employer
• An employer letter that doesn't explicitly allow work from Spain
• Freelancers drifting over 20% of income from Spanish clients
• Forgetting social security: someone must pay into a system
• Assuming you stay UK tax resident; you usually won't

• You own the company that employs you
• Your income is near the threshold or from several sources
• You want the Beckham law regime
• Family members come with you on linked applications