Embrace The Spanish Sun: Your Guide To The Digital Nomad Visa
¡Hola, digital nomads! Are you dreaming of sipping sangria under the Spanish sun while working on your laptop? Well, guess what? Your Mediterranean fantasy can become a reality with Spain’s digital nomad visa. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to make your move to Spain a breeze.
Designed for freelancers, remote workers, and entrepreneurs, this visa allows you to live and work in Spain for between 1 and 3 years depending on how you apply. It also allows you to take advantage of the Beckham Law tax regime.
My own family took advantage of the digital nomad visa earlier in 2023 and we haven’t looked back. While the visa is still in its infancy the rules and requirements are a lot to navigate and seemed to evolve as the Spanish processed more applications, learning as they went!
What do you need to apply – Visa Eligibility Criteria
Financial Resources – Gross income of at least €30,240 per year. If you will be moving with family members, you will need and an extra €11,340 for the first family member, then €3,780 for each additional family member after that. So for a family of 4 you need earnings of €49,140 for example.
Work Experience & Qualifications – You need to haveworked for your current employer or clients for at least 3 months, and your employer or clients need to have been in business for a minimum of 1 year. You will also need them to write you a letter giving you consent to work from Spain.
You need to have a professional qualification related to your line of work or 3 years of experience.
If you are self-employed, your clients do need to be registered businesses not individuals.
No Criminal Record – You will need to apply for a criminal record certificate from the country you have lived in for the last two years.
Application Process: Navigating the Spanish Bureaucracy
Spanish bureaucracy is complicated, especially if you don’t speak the language. I personally recommend using an expert like Moving to Spain Guide or Richelle De Wit to assist with this process, they can are experts on the subject, advising you along the way and guide you with everything you will need to pull together and the timings. We found that lining everything up for the application can be a challenge in itself.
They require recent copies of documents such as birth certificates and marriage certificates. At the time we applied nothing could be older than 6 months since it was issued, so this needs bearing in mind throughout the application process, as certain documents do take some time to come through.
Criminal record certificate
Birth certificate – Only required for your dependents if you are applying with them
Marriage certificate – Only required if you are applying with your partner as a dependent
Qualifications certificate or employment contract and supporting letter from employer
CV
Social Security Certificate (A1 if you are in the UK) – only required if you are applying as an employee
Health Insurance Certificate – Private Health insurance paid in full for the first year
Not only do you need to gather all the above documents they will need officially translating and an apostile stamp (this is an official stamp to authenticate the document)
Submitting Your Digital Nomad Visa Application
You can head over to Spain and apply through their UGE, if you apply this way you’ll receive a 3-year residency approval or the length of your longest contract or in line with your A1 form (if shorter).
You don’t have to stay in Spain, just a short trip over to get your application in is all that is required. Your passport must show you in Spain at the time of application – so make sure that you are stamped in!
You can now apply for the digital nomad visa to the Spanish Consulate in your home country. If you choose this option please note you will only get issued with a 1 year visa. So I would recommend applying from within Spain, as I know I wouldn’t want to repeat the process next year!
If you apply from within Spain my advice would be to do it through a representative, all you need to do is to be there, they will do the rest for you as you will have done all the hard work on the run up to the application. If you choose to apply yourself you will need to already have a NIE number and a Digital Certificate.
Once your application is in, the UGE state that you will have a response within 20 working days. Ours actually came back approved on day 15 so is was a very quick turnaround. They come back to you for more information or with questions within the 20 days, if they do, that then adds another 10 days onto the application processing time. Either way this is much quicker than other visas like the NLV which can take months.
Living the Spanish Dream
Moving to Spain with the digital nomad visa is not just a change of location; it’s a lifestyle upgrade. The rich culture, delicious cuisine, and warm weather await you. So, if you think you meet the criteria get your application underway, pack your bags, grab your laptop, and get ready to make Spain your home away from home like we did. ¡Buena suerte! (Good luck!)
