📄 VISADO

Non-lucrative residence visa

Residence authorisation to live in Spain without working, by proving enough passive income or savings. The classic route for retirees and the financially independent.

Minimum income 400% of IPREM = €2,400/month (≈€28,800/year) + 100% of IPREM (€600/month) per dependent family member (art. 62.1)

Initial duration 1 year (art. 61.4) → renewals of 2 years (art. 64.7)

Decision time 1 month to decide the permit — and silence means REFUSAL (art. 63.4)

Work allowed? ✗ No

Family allowed? ✓ Yes

Fee 2026 Form 790, code 052 (check the current amount on the e-office when you apply)

The IPREM does not update itself. The €600/month everything else is built on is set by the ninetieth additional provision of Law 31/2022 (the 2023 budget), still the last budget act passed — 2024, 2025 and 2026 have been rolled over, so the figure stands. When a new one passes, the 400% and the amount change with it.

📋 No work of any kind: no employment, no self-employment, and no remote work for a foreign company. For remote work, the route is the Digital Nomad Visa.

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Health insurance valid for this visa — a mandatory requirement. Get a policy accepted at the visa office, online in minutes, with no copays or waiting periods.

See insurance →

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Step by step

You apply at the Spanish consulate of your country of residence. It does not allow work; you live on the income or savings you prove.

Gather proof of funds

Bank statements, pension or income showing €2,400/month (or the annual amount).

Documents

The application form duly completed and signed (art. 38.a), passport, proof of funds, health insurance, criminal-record certificates from your last five years of residence (apostilled) and a medical certificate.

Apply at the consulate

Book an appointment and file at the Spanish consulate of your country, with the fee paid. What almost nobody knows — applying for this visa is also applying for the residence permit: "the application for a non-lucrative temporary residence visa (…) shall entail the application for the corresponding temporary residence permit" (art. 39.1). That is why two offices decide, not one.

Decision and visa

Three different deadlines, and they are worth keeping apart. The permit is decided within ONE MONTH from the consulate's notification, and if no answer comes the application is deemed REFUSED (art. 63.4). Once granted, the consulate issues the visa within one month of receiving that favourable decision, and the visa carries the residence permit within it (art. 39.5). Once in Spain, you have ONE MONTH from entry to apply in person for the foreigner ID card (art. 63.5).

Renew

Renew in the two months before expiry, for two-year periods (art. 64.7), keeping the funds and the insurance. And the real way out comes at five years — those who have held temporary residence in Spain "during five years continuously" and who "meet the conditions laid down by regulation" are entitled to long-term residence (art. 32.2 LO 4/2000). It is not automatic, but long-term residence does authorise you "to reside and work in Spain indefinitely, under the same conditions as Spaniards" (art. 32.1). The non-lucrative permit is the door, not the house.

Mistakes that get applications refused

⚠️ Thinking it allows work (even remote)

Consecuencia: Applying for the wrong visa

Solución: The NLV does NOT allow any work. To work remotely for a foreign company, use the Digital Nomad Visa; to look for a job after studying in Spain, the job-seeking permit.

⚠️ Proving less than 400% IPREM

Consecuencia: Refusal

Solución: Show €2,400/month (≈€28,800/year) + €600/month per family member, with stable income or sufficient savings.

⚠️ Submitting a basic travel policy, or one with co-pays and long waiting periods

Consecuencia: A request to fix the file and, in practice, a risk of refusal

Solución: The rule only requires you to hold health insurance (art. 61.2.b RD 1155/2024), but consulates look for coverage equivalent to Spanish public health care with no co-pays or waiting periods. A short-stay travel policy is rarely enough.

Renewal

Renewed for: 2 years, unless you already qualify for long-term or EU long-term residence (art. 64.7)

When to apply: During the TWO MONTHS before expiry — and you can still file within the THREE MONTHS after it (art. 64.1)

Requirements:

Hold a valid non-lucrative permit, or be within three months of its expiry (art. 64.2.a)
Have sufficient funds under art. 62 — the same 400% of IPREM plus 100% per family member (art. 64.2.b)
Have kept health insurance for the whole period of the permit, and still have it (art. 64.2.c)
Have school-age children in your care enrolled in compulsory schooling (art. 64.2.d)
Have paid the processing fee (art. 64.2.e)
Have actually and effectively lived in Spain for MORE THAN 183 DAYS in the calendar year (art. 64.2.f)

If you fall short of a requirement there is a lifeline — renewals take into account your integration effort, evidenced by a favourable report from your autonomous community recommending the renewal (art. 64.6). The report certifies knowledge and respect for Spain's constitutional values and, where applicable, the learning of the official languages of the place where you live. If the region does not issue it within a month and you can prove that, the requirement may be met by any evidence admitted in law.

Mind which way the rule runs — it does not say how long you may be away, it says how long you must have been HERE: "having actually and effectively resided in Spain for more than one hundred and eighty-three days during the calendar year" (art. 64.2.f). It is counted by calendar year, not by the card's validity year.

Two deadlines that work in your favour and almost nobody knows. First, filing in the two months before expiry extends the old permit until the decision; and if you missed the date, you can still file within three months after expiry, with the same extension — though it triggers a penalty procedure for the infringement in art. 52.b) of LO 4/2000. Second, and the opposite of the initial application — a renewal is decided in three months and, if nobody answers, it "shall be deemed GRANTED" (art. 64.8). Once granted, you have one month from notification to apply for the TIE at the police station (art. 64.9).

"Not having worked" is not one of the renewal requirements listed in art. 64.2 — what the rule demands is sufficient funds WITHOUT needing to work (art. 64.2.b), because non-lucrative residence is by definition that of someone residing "without carrying out work or professional activities" (art. 61.1). And a sentence served, pardoned or suspended is not an automatic refusal — art. 64.5 says renewal is ASSESSED in those cases, as is any breach of tax or social-security obligations.

Frequently asked questions

How much money do I need for the Spain Non-Lucrative Visa?

400% of IPREM = €2,400/month in 2026 (≈€28,800/year), plus €600/month per family member.

Can I work on a Non-Lucrative Visa?

No — no work at all, including remote work. For remote work use the Digital Nomad Visa.

How long does it last?

One year for the initial permit (art. 61.4) and two years per renewal (art. 64.7), unless you already qualify for long-term residence.

Can I bring my family?

Yes, by proving an extra 100% of IPREM (€600/month) per dependent family member. But "family member" is not just anyone — art. 61.3 limits it to three cases: the spouse, registered partner or stable partner (a lasting bond, taken as proven with one continuous year of marital cohabitation, or less if you have children together); unmarried minor children who have not formed their own family unit, yours or your partner's; and adult children with a disability requiring support or who are not objectively able to provide for themselves because of their state of health. Parents and siblings do not qualify through this route.

Does it lead to permanent residency?

Yes. Art. 32.2 LO 4/2000 grants long-term residence to those who have held temporary residence in Spain for five continuous years and meet the conditions set by regulation — and long-term residence does allow you to work (art. 32.1).

Where do I apply?

At the Spanish consulate in your country of residence.

Legal basis

LO 4/2000 (LOEX) arts. 30 bis, 31 and 32; RD 1155/2024 (Immigration Regulation), arts. 38, 39 and 61-64.

Checked against the consolidated text on 2026-09-01.

Official sources

🔗 Ministerio de Inclusión — Residencia no lucrativa → 🔗 RD 1155/2024 (Reglamento de Extranjería) → 🔗 LO 4/2000 (LOEX) →

Última actualización: 2026-09-01

📁 Documentos necesarios

📄 Valid passport Opcional

Original and copy. The rule asks for a valid passport or travel document, recognised in Spain and with AT LEAST ONE YEAR of validity left (art. 38.d).

📄 Proof of sufficient funds Opcional

Passive income or savings of 400% IPREM (€2,400/month ≈ €28,800/year) + 100% IPREM (€600/month) per dependent family member (art. 62.1). Availability may be proven by any means admitted in law, and the article itself names title deeds, certified cheques or credit cards — the latter ALWAYS with a bank certificate stating the available credit. If you submit accounts or financial instruments held abroad, the information must include four items — the bank's full name and address, full identification of the accounts, the date of opening or closing, and the balances at 31 December of the previous year together with the average balance over the last year (art. 62.3). And if the money comes from shares in Spanish, joint or foreign companies based in Spain, you must provide a certificate from those companies stating that you carry out no work in them, plus a sworn statement to that effect.

📄 Health insurance Opcional

The rule requires exactly this and no more — "holding health insurance" (art. 61.2.b RD 1155/2024). It does not call it private, sets no minimum coverage and does not ban co-payments. What does carry a time requirement is the renewal — you must have kept the policy for the whole validity of the permit and still hold it (art. 64.2.c). In practice, consulates usually ask for a policy from an insurer authorized to operate in Spain, with coverage equivalent to Spanish public health care and no co-pays or waiting periods — that is consular practice, not law, but the better the policy, the less likely you are to be asked for more.

📄 Criminal record certificate Opcional

From the countries where you have lived in the last five years, apostilled and translated. The rule is narrower than it is usually told — it applies to applicants above the age of criminal responsibility, and only offences "provided for in Spanish law" count (art. 38.e). You do not supply the SPANISH certificate — the immigration office obtains the central criminal records report and a police report on its own initiative, issued within seven days (art. 63.3). And a detail that puts many people at ease — a record showing in the police report "shall not in itself and automatically be grounds for refusal": the authority must assess case by case that you are not a threat.

📄 Medical certificate Opcional

Certifying that you have none of the diseases capable of SERIOUS public-health consequences under the International Health Regulations 2005 (art. 38.i). Who checks what — "the consular office shall assess compliance with the requirements set out in article 38 and, in the case of non-lucrative residence visas, the specific requirements set out in article 61.2 a) and b)" (art. 39.2), that is your funds and your insurance. The immigration office assesses the other two — the no-return commitment and public order (art. 39.3.a).

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