📄 VISADO

Digital nomad visa

Residence for international teleworking, for people working remotely — employed or self-employed — for companies based outside Spain (art. 74 bis, Law 14/2013). It is not a non-lucrative residence — its very purpose is to work.

Minimum income 200% of the annualized SMI = €2,849/month (2026). It updates every year with the SMI — check the current amount on the UGE teleworker sheet when you apply. Family: +75% SMI (2nd member ≈€1,068/month) + 25% per additional (≈€356/month; amount per the current UGE sheet).

Initial duration Visa up to 1 year (art. 74 quater.1); authorisation up to 3 years as a MAXIMUM (art. 74 quinquies.2), less if the work period is shorter

Decision time 20–45 working days

Work allowed? ✓ Yes

Family allowed? ✓ Yes

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

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Step by step

For applicants who are currently outside Spain. What you apply for here is the VISA, before the consulate (art. 75), not the authorisation.

Gather documentation

Prepare all required documents. Foreign documents must be apostilled and translated into Spanish by a sworn translator.

Book a consulate appointment

Schedule an appointment at the Spanish consulate in your country of residence. Depending on the consulate, appointments may take several weeks to secure.

Submit application at the consulate

Submit Form MI-T and all supporting documentation. Fingerprints will be taken.

Decision

What is decided here is the VISA, and it is issued by the Diplomatic Mission or Consular Office, not by the UGE (art. 75.1, Law 14/2013). The deadline is 10 WORKING DAYS (art. 75.5), unless your application goes through the consultation in art. 22 of the Visa Code, in which case that Code's general deadline applies. Note — the 20 days with POSITIVE silence in art. 76.1 belong to the residence AUTHORISATION processed by the UGE, not to this visa.

Collect visa

If approved, collect the visa from the consulate. You must enter Spain within 1 month of the visa being issued.

Apply for TIE in Spain

With the teleworking VISA you do NOT need a TIE. Art. 75.4 of Law 14/2013 states that these visas authorise residence in Spain without having to obtain the foreigner identity card, and art. 74 quater.2 adds that the visa is sufficient title to reside and telework while it is valid. The TIE only comes in when you move to the residence AUTHORISATION and it lasts more than six months (art. 76.2); then yes, Form 790, code 012.

✅ Alternativa: solicitarlo desde España

For applicants who are already legally present in Spain (e.g. as tourists or on another permit). Applications are submitted directly to the UGE.

Condición: Being legally in Spain (a valid tourist visa or another permit)

Duración concedida: Up to 3 years as a maximum

The authorisation applied for from within Spain has a MAXIMUM validity of three years, not an automatic grant of three — art. 74 quinquies.2 says literally maximum validity of three years unless applied for a shorter period of work. And here art. 76.1 does work in your favour — filing the authorisation application EXTENDS the validity of the residence or stay you already hold until a decision is issued, so you are not left without status while you wait.

Mistakes that get applications refused

⚠️ Submitting travel insurance instead of health insurance

Consecuencia: Request for further documents, or refusal

Solución: The law asks for public or private health insurance with an insurer authorised in Spain (art. 62.3.e, Law 14/2013). Travel insurance does not qualify. On cover and minimum amounts, see the note in the documents section: part of what is asked for is law, part is consular practice.

⚠️ Failing to meet the €2,849/month income threshold or failing to demonstrate it adequately

Consecuencia: Rejection for not meeting the financial requirement

Solución: Provide 3–6 months of bank statements showing regular income. Cryptocurrency or volatile investment income may not be accepted.

⚠️ Employment contract with less than 3 months' tenure

Consecuencia: Rejection for not meeting the prior employment relationship requirement

Solución: Wait until you have completed 3 months with your employer before applying

⚠️ Documents without a Hague Apostille or without a sworn translation

Consecuencia: Documents not accepted, resulting in delays or rejection

Solución: Have all documents apostilled in the country of origin and translated by a sworn translator officially registered in Spain

⚠️ Getting confused about working for Spanish companies

Consecuencia: It depends on your situation: under an EMPLOYMENT relationship you may only work for companies based outside Spain, with no exceptions.

Solución: If your relationship is PROFESSIONAL (self-employed), the law does allow you to work for a company based in Spain, provided it is no more than 20% of your total professional activity (art. 74 bis.1, Law 14/2013). That 20% does not exist for employees.

⚠️ Believing that with the VISA you must obtain a TIE in the first month

Consecuencia: A procedure and a fee that do not apply, plus a false alarm about irregular status

Solución: With the teleworking visa there is no TIE obligation and no risk of losing the visa for not applying — art. 75.4 of Law 14/2013 states that these visas authorise residence without having to obtain the card. The TIE appears when you move to the residence AUTHORISATION and it lasts more than six months (art. 76.2); then yes, within the period set in the decision.

💰 Ventajas fiscales

Régimen: Special regime for inbound workers ("Beckham Law")

Tipo fijo: Flat 24% on employment income up to €600,000

Duración: 6 years (year of arrival plus the following 5)

Instead of the general progressive income tax scale (up to 47%), you pay a flat 24% rate

Renewal

Renewed for: 2 years

When to apply: The law sets no advance deadline to RENEW. The 60 calendar days before expiry (art. 74 quater.3) are for moving from the VISA to the residence authorisation, which is a different procedure. Renewal follows art. 76.3 — in two-year periods, the application extends the authorisation until a decision is issued, and it is still accepted up to 90 days AFTER expiry, although that opens penalty proceedings.

Requirements:

Keep meeting the income threshold and holding valid health insurance.
Keep teleworking for companies based outside Spain.
The conditions that granted the permit must still hold (art. 74 quinquies.3).

We have left out the "no more than six months abroad per year" rule that other sites repeat: that condition belongs to the general immigration regime and Law 14/2013 does not set it for this permit. What it does require is that the conditions that granted the right still hold.

Legal basis

Law 14/2013 on support for entrepreneurs, arts. 74 bis to 74 quinquies (as amended by Law 28/2022, the Startups Act). General requirements: art. 62 of the same law.

Checked against the consolidated text on 2026-08-31.

Official sources

🔗 Ley 28/2022 de fomento del ecosistema de las empresas emergentes → 🔗 UGE - Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos → 🔗 Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores - Visados → 🔗 Sede electrónica Policía Nacional - Cita TIE →

Última actualización: 2026-07-08

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📁 Documentos necesarios

📄 Valid passport Opcional

Minimum validity of 1 year. Original and copy of all pages.

📄 Form MI-T Opcional

Application for international remote work residence authorisation. Available from the UGE (Large Companies and Strategic Groups Unit).

📄 Employment contract or employer letter Opcional

Contract with a foreign company with a minimum tenure of 3 months (employed) or supporting documentation of professional activity (self-employed). Must specify that the work can be carried out remotely.

📄 Bank statements Opcional

Proof of minimum income of €2,849/month (200% of the annualized SMI, 2026). Statements from the last 3–6 months. For accompanying family members: 75% of the SMI for the 2nd member (≈€1,068/month) and 25% for each additional one (≈€356/month); exact amount per the current UGE sheet.

📄 Criminal record certificate Opcional

From the countries where you have lived in the last TWO years, not five: here the law is more lenient than the general immigration regime (art. 62.3.c, Law 14/2013). You also sign a declaration covering the last five years. Apostilled and translated by a sworn translator.

📄 Private health insurance Opcional

The law requires public or private health insurance with an insurer authorised to operate in Spain (art. 62.3.e, Law 14/2013). In practice, many consulates and the UGE ask for broad cover with no co-payments or waiting periods, and a minimum of €30,000 is often mentioned — that figure comes from the Schengen Visa Code, which governs short stays, not from this law. Travel insurance does not qualify: take the best policy you can to avoid problems.

📄 Academic qualifications or professional experience Opcional

A university, vocational training or business-school qualification from a recognised institution, OR at least three years of professional experience (art. 74 bis.2). Either route is enough on its own: many people who qualify through experience rule themselves out believing the degree is compulsory. The certificate must be apostilled.

📄 Company trading history Obligatorio

Evidence that the company or group you work for has been genuinely and continuously trading for at least one year (art. 74 ter.a). It is a common ground for refusal when the employer is a recently incorporated company.

📄 General requirements, the police check and Social Security registration Obligatorio

On top of the above, art. 62.3 of Law 14/2013 requires that you are not unlawfully in Spanish territory, that you are OVER 18, and that you are not listed as inadmissible in the territory of countries with which Spain has signed an agreement to that effect. And art. 62.7 adds a ground for revocation, refusal or non-renewal — that the person may represent a threat to public order, public security, public health or national security, assessed on the basis of a report from the police, the Centro Nacional de Inteligencia or the Departamento de Seguridad Nacional. Two more things that are rarely explained — on receiving the visa application the consulate consults the Dirección General de la Policía, which must reply within SEVEN DAYS and whose silence is deemed FAVOURABLE (art. 62.6); and during the first six months your PASSPORT is enough to register with Social Security even if you do not yet have a NIE (art. 76.5).

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