Help with a Spanish digital nomad visa application

Who this route is designed for

The law defines this situation directly: a third-country national authorised to remain in Spain to carry out a labour or professional activity remotely for companies based outside national territory, using only computing, telematic and telecommunication means.

The two cases are not identical. On an employment relationship the holder may work only for companies based outside Spain. On a professional relationship the law permits work for a company located in Spain, provided it is no more than 20 per cent of total professional activity.

The route is also confined to qualified professionals: the law asks for a degree or postgraduate qualification from a university, vocational training institution or business school of recognised standing, or a minimum of three years’ professional experience.

It is a different instrument from the non-lucrative route, under different legislation, and the two should not be read across to each other.

Two ways in, and the choice matters

This is the fork that shapes everything else on this route.

From a consular office. The visas in this section of the law are issued by Spain’s diplomatic missions and consular offices. This is the path for somebody applying before they travel.

From inside Spain. The law also allows a person who is lawfully in Spain, or who entered on the visa provided for in the preceding article, to apply for the residence authorisation itself.

Which of those is open to you depends on where you are and on what basis you are there, and that is a question for a partner rather than something to settle from a web page. What we can say is that the two paths differ in where the application goes, and in when your cover needs to be in place — which is why our start-date guide treats them separately.

How long it runs — and the two durations are different

This is where the choice of path has a consequence people are rarely told about, so it is worth being exact.

The consular visa for international telework has a maximum validity of one year, unless the period of work is shorter. It is enough on its own to reside and work remotely in Spain while it lasts.

The residence authorisation has a maximum validity of three years, unless applied for over a shorter period of work.

They are not the same grant. Somebody who enters on the visa and wants to stay beyond it applies for the residence authorisation in the sixty calendar days before the visa expires, provided the conditions that generated the right are maintained. If you are on the consular path, that conversion step is part of your timetable from the start.

Renewal of the authorisation is dealt with separately, and has its own page.

What the law asks for, by category

The requirements sit in three places, which is itself worth knowing: the definition article sets who the route is for, a dedicated requirements article adds the route-specific conditions, and a general article covers the whole section. Taken together, the categories are:

• a professional qualification, or a minimum period of professional experience;
• a real and continuous activity of at least a year by the company or group you work with;
• evidence that the relationship can be performed remotely, and that it has existed for at least the three months before the application;
• public or private health insurance taken out with an insurer authorised to operate in Spain;
• sufficient economic resources for yourself and any family members;
• the general conditions that apply across the section, including the criminal-record condition.

We are not going to publish an exhaustive document list. The consular offices and the immigration unit publish their own requirements, they are not identical, and a list copied here would go stale without anyone noticing.

How health insurance fits in

Health insurance is a named requirement, and it is the part we arrange. The wording is more specific than the non-lucrative article’s: it names public or private cover, and it names an insurer authorised to operate in Spain.

What that does and does not require of an actual policy — including the point on which this route is commonly misdescribed — is set out on our DNV insurance guide, which is where we keep that detail.

When to arrange cover

The honest answer is that it depends on which of the two paths you are on, because they put the application at different moments. Our guide to when DNV cover should start is written around exactly that, and is the better page for the question.

What we can arrange

Private health insurance that meets what this route asks, together with the documentation the insurer issues. Separate purchase, separate price, and you can take it without using a partner at all.

What to confirm with the processing partner

• Whether you are eligible on this route at all.
• Which of the two paths applies to you.
• Whether your employment or client arrangement is treated as qualifying.
• The income evidence the office will want, and in what form.
• Family members applying with you.
• Timing, which we do not estimate.

Common misunderstandings

“It is just the non-lucrative visa for people who work.” It is a different instrument under different legislation, with different requirements and a different duration.

“You can only apply from your home country.” The law expressly provides for an application made in Spain by somebody lawfully present here.

“Any travel policy will do.” The law names an insurer authorised to operate in Spain, which is a narrower thing than it sounds. Our DNV insurance guide is where that is worked through.

“The visa and the authorisation are the same thing.” They are different grants with different maximum durations, and moving from one to the other is a step with its own window.