Digital Nomad Visa · Spain
Can you keep your current job and do it from Spain as a Chilean, Argentine or Mexican citizen?
The short answer is that it depends on who pays you.
If what you want is for a Spanish company to hire you, this is not your route, and it is better you know that now. If you already work remotely for a company outside Spain, or you invoice clients outside Spain, there is a route that does depend on you.
And it has a consequence almost nobody mentions: if you are Ibero-American, the time you live legally in Spain starts counting toward a Spanish passport after two years. For people from most other countries, it takes ten.
First, what this is not
If you are looking to be hired in Spain, this is not for you
There are two searches that look almost identical and have nothing to do with each other. Confusing them is the number one reason people lose months reading about the wrong visa.
Search 1
“I want a Spanish company to give me a job.”
The employer controls this route: it needs a specific offer, a work permit processed by that company and, in many cases, proof that the role cannot be filled by someone already in the country. There is no form you can fill out on your own to get it.
You don't control it → close this tab
Search 2
“I already have my job, I want to do it from Spain.”
This one you do control, because the income already exists and the only thing that changes is where you sit down to work. It is the one the rest of this page answers.
You control it → keep reading
If you are in the first case, you will get more out of searching Spanish job boards than reading about visas. We mean that.
The route
So which visa can you actually apply for?
It is called the digital nomad visa. On the official paperwork it appears as a residence authorization for international teleworking, and it was created by Law 28/2022. It is the permit Spain grants to people who live in the country but are paid from outside it.
The name is misleading. “Digital nomad” sounds like someone who changes country every three months, and this visa asks for the opposite: it asks you to stay. If you are granted it and then spend most of the year outside Spain, that time stops counting for you.
The requirements
Six of them. The first two are the ones that rule people out
01
That your work can be done remotely
Your contract has to allow it
This filter has nothing to do with how much you earn. If your job has to be done in person, this visa is no use to you even if you meet everything else: what Spain authorizes is remote work. Your contract — or your relationship with your clients, if you are self-employed — has to allow you to work from anywhere.
02
A minimum monthly income
≈ €2,900 a month
It is calculated as a multiple of Spain's minimum wage. If your income falls below the threshold, there is a path almost nobody knows about: documented savings can weigh in the assessment, and a family application can sometimes be structured differently.
03
That the income comes from outside Spain
No more than 20% from Spain
If you are self-employed you can have some Spanish clients, but there is a cap: at most 20% of your income can come from there.
04
Length of service
At least 6 months · permanent contract
A contract signed last week will not do. You must show a minimum period of work with your employer, or of activity as a self-employed person.
05
Health insurance
The travel policy that comes bundled with your flights is not enough: it covers three months. What is required is dedicated digital nomad cover, with no caps and no waiting periods (for example, Asisa).
06
The paperwork
Police clearance certificates, apostilled documents, forms and translations. It is the tedious, confusing part, and it is where a lawyer earns their fee.
The two routes
How long does it take? There are two routes, and they are not equivalent
Where you file changes the timeframe and changes how many years you are granted: arriving with one year is not the same as arriving with three. It is the most underrated decision in the process.
| From the consulate in your country | From inside Spain | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal decision deadline | 10 business days | 20 business days |
| Granted for | 1 year | 3 years |
| Renewable | Yes | Yes |
| How you travel | You arrive with the visa already granted | You file while you are on Spanish soil |
Timeframes depend on the workload of each consulate and the officials handling it. And on either route, every renewal requires meeting the same conditions as the first application: contract, provable income, savings, insurance.
Tax
What happens to my taxes when I move?
When you move to Spain your tax residency changes, and that change has consequences in both countries at once: where you file, on which income, and how the same money is kept from being taxed twice.
You are a Spanish tax resident if you live more than 184 days inside the country. From there on, everything depends on your situation and your goals.
We are not going to improvise figures from two jurisdictions in an article. This is exactly the kind of calculation you run with your actual numbers, checking which treaties exist between Spain and your country.
A warning about the Beckham Law
This is the special tax regime everyone has heard about. It is not automatic and it does not apply to everyone who arrives on this visa: it is aimed at high-net-worth individuals. We have had a client who had built his entire decision around that benefit and did not qualify for it. If your decision depends on that regime, settle it before you move anything.
Mobility
Do I have to stay locked inside Spain?
No. You can travel, and inside the Schengen Area — nearly all of the European Union — you move without border checks. What is asked of you is that Spain be your real home, not an address on a form.
That said, if your goal is the passport, the calendar stops being flexible: you must spend a minimum of 18 months in the country within any 24-month period, and leaving Spain for more than three consecutive months is not advisable.
Almost always, underneath this question there is another one: “and how would anyone know if I travel?”. The trail exists. When the time comes to prove residence for citizenship, what gets reviewed are your records, not your word — so planning your trips from the start is cheaper than explaining them later.
Family
Can my spouse work? And do the children go to school?
The children go to school, and that is the point that reassures families most. The Spanish state system enrols resident minors. What does run on its own calendar is the application: places are requested during a specific window of the year and, if you miss it, you go on a waiting list.
As for your spouse, the answer depends on which authorization they enter under and what they want to do afterwards. There is a real difference between three things that tend to get mentioned as if they were one: joining you as a dependant, entering the Spanish labour market, and switching from one type of authorization to another without leaving the country. All three exist and they do not mean the same thing, so it is one of the questions worth settling with your actual case on the table before you commit to anything.
The minimum income requirement also rises for each person travelling with you: with a partner it goes to around €4,000 a month, and with a partner and two children to around €5,000. These are orders of magnitude, not an official table: the additional percentage depends on who each person is and is calculated on top of your base requirement.
The comparison
Spain or Portugal?
It is the comparison that comes up first in almost every conversation we have, and the answer depends on a single question: do you care more about the passport, or more about the tax bill?
| Spain | Portugal | |
|---|---|---|
| Route to citizenship for Ibero-Americans | Reduced term: 2 years of legal residence | No such benefit: the general term applies |
| Language | No barrier | A real barrier in daily life |
| Route for income earned abroad | Digital nomad visa | D7 passive income visa and remote work routes |
| Tax treatment | It is the variable most oversimplified online and the one that can least be answered in general terms: it depends on the regime in force, on how your income is structured, and on the treaties with your country. We calculate it with your numbers. | |
FAQ
What people ask us on calls
My company is Chilean and I work from my house in Chile. Does that still count?
Is this only for Ibero-Americans?
Which countries count as Ibero-American?
Do I need a signed rental agreement in Spain before I file?
If I am refused, can I appeal?
Will the health insurance I already have in my country work?
Can I switch to another visa later, or start a business in Spain?
How much does the service cost?
9
Years of experience
200+
Golden Visa
550+
Citizenships granted
800+
Residence permits