How to Obtain a Spanish Residence Permit through the Digital Nomad Visa in 2026

In this blog, I will explain to you all the nuances of obtaining a residence permit in Spain. After reading this text , you will learn who can apply for a residence permit in Spain, what income is required, what other conditions are needed to obtain residence in Spain.

So, what is Spain at all? It is a residence permit, right? And we mean that it is the European Union, right? That is, by obtaining a residence permit in Spain, you can actually live throughout the entire European Union. That’s the first thing. You can move legally within the territory of the entire European Union without Schengen visas, enter and exit freely. And to renew your residence permit, you must stay legally on the territory of Spain. If it is a Digital Nomad Visa, you receive a residence permit for 3 years. Then you renew your residence for 2 years. You pay taxes during this whole time. And after that, that is, after 5 years of residence, you can obtain permanent residence. It is also issued for 5 years. Permanent residence is actually almost, one might say, a passport, yes, but you just cannot vote and there are a few other restrictions. But basically, permanent residence — that is almost like a small passport, one could say, yes.

The first is the non-lucrative visa — this is a visa without the right to work, for people who have passive income. That means you must have 30,000 euros in your account — that is the basis for obtaining residence through the non-lucrative program. Or you have passive income — that is, you receive, for example, dividends from a business you invested in, or dividends from shares, and you can prove a steady flow of funds. Then, in your country of residence, you apply for this non-lucrative visa; it is issued for 1 year. Then you can renew it for 2 years.

The second type of visa is a startup visa, right? You must also have a business plan, a business model. You defend it before special Spanish authorities, and they approve your startup visa. There are, yes, some nuances there. In my own words, I will say that you must fulfill what you promised, yes, and that is not always feasible, so we recommend applying for the Digital Nomad Visa. The Digital Nomad Visa is a relatively new type of visa. It is a visa for people with remote income, yes, and now we live in a time when many professions can work remotely. If you are a business owner, you can also manage your business remotely, right? You can be an employee — for example, an IT specialist or have other digital professions. And you can, conditionally speaking, perform your duties from your laptop.

That is, you must prove that you can work remotely. And the second requirement is income, right? If you are alone, you must show income for the last 3 months each month. You also show, for example, a contract stating that you are not required to visit the office or that you can work remotely. And that is the basis for obtaining residence through the Digital Nomad Visa. Once again, regarding income per month for 2025: if you are single, you must show an income of 2,800 euros per month. If you are a couple, you must show at least 3,700 euros per month. If you are a family of three, you must show an income of 4,250 euros for a family of three. Plus, as I said earlier, show a contract where it is written that you have remote income. Plus, even if they cannot make such a contract for you, we know legal ways to prove that you can work remotely.

Of course, the original passport, of course, a diploma if you have one. If you do not have a diploma, there is also a template. We will give you a letter confirming your work experience. For example, if you are a marketer and you do not have a marketing diploma or a related profession, you need a letter confirming your experience that you worked as a marketer. Also, if you have children, birth certificates of the children. Also, if you are married, a marriage certificate. Plus, a certificate of no criminal record. That is, you must obtain a certificate of no criminal record from every country where you have lived for more than 3 months. But here, too, there are some peculiarities. In principle, in some cases, this rule can be ignored, and it is enough to have a certificate of no criminal record from the country of your citizenship.

There are also two ways to apply. The first way — you apply through the consulate of the country where you have citizenship. The second way — you arrive in Spain, for example, on a Schengen visa, a tourist one, yes, and you apply while on the territory of Spain. We recommend the second option because when you apply from the territory of Spain, you immediately receive residence for 3 years. If you apply from the country where you have citizenship through the consulate, they approve it for only 1 year. A huge, huge plus of the Digital Nomad Visa is that it is issued to the whole family. That means if you have a family of four people or you are a couple, one main applicant, family members are attached to them, and everyone receives it for 3 years.

That means, if you have children, we help with choosing schools, we help with choosing kindergartens, we help you get SIM cards, we help open bank accounts, we help open self-employment, and so on.

Now let’s look at the ideal case on a timeline — from application to receiving the cherished residence card. And what needs to be done afterward? We give you a detailed checklist for document collection. You collect them, and we check them together. Then you apostille the documents, get a Schengen visa, arrive in Spain, and through us, you submit your application. Within up to 30 days, your case is reviewed, then you receive approval. Then we schedule an appointment for you at the police to take fingerprints. After taking fingerprints, it takes about 15–30 days to receive the cherished residence card.

After you receive the cherished residence card, we help you open “autónomo” — that is, self-employment — and a bank account. We help you find an accountant because after you obtain the Digital Nomad Visa, you are required to open autónomo (self-employment) and a Spanish bank account. And those declared funds must already be deposited into your Spanish account. The average tax rate in Spain is progressive, that is, divided by portions — up to 12,500 euros, you pay 19%; up to 30,000 euros, the next portion is 22%, and so on, and so on, and so on.