Spain Digital nomad visa

Who the DNV is for

Spain’s international telework authorization — usually just called the digital nomad visa or DNV — is for non-EU citizens who work remotely, exclusively through computer or telematic means, for companies outside Spain. Both employees of a foreign company and self-employed professionals with foreign clients qualify. You need a working relationship of at least three months with that company, the company must have been genuinely operating for at least one year, and you must hold a university or business-school degree, vocational training, or at least three years of relevant professional experience.

The headline financial requirement for 2026 is gross income of €2,442 per month — 200% of Spain’s monthly minimum wage (SMI) as raised in February 2026. If your income falls short, savings in a Spanish or foreign bank can cover the difference for the full authorization period. One honest caveat: some practitioner sources compute the threshold from the annualized minimum wage and arrive at roughly €2,849 per month; the government sources behind this page consistently use the monthly figure, but the higher number circulates.

This is not a route into the Spanish labor market. Employees may work only for their foreign employer, full stop. Self-employed holders may take Spanish clients, but only up to 20% of their total professional activity and never as an employment relationship. Intra-company transferees are excluded, and holders of the non-lucrative residence permit cannot switch to this authorization from inside Spain.

How to apply, step by step

1. Pick your route. If you are already legally in Spain — including as a visa-free tourist — you can file electronically with the UGE and receive the authorization directly for three years. Otherwise, apply at a Spanish consulate for a telework visa valid up to one year.
2. Resolve social security early, because it is structural. Employees need their foreign employer registered with Spanish Social Security, or a certificate of coverage under an agreement that expressly covers remote work from Spain. Self-employed applicants must register with RETA.
3. Assemble income evidence: payslips or invoices plus bank certificates for the three months before filing, with savings documentation if you are topping up.
4. Arrange compliant health insurance (see below), unless you will be registering with Spanish Social Security after approval.
5. Pay the fee and submit. The in-country application fee (modelo 790-038) is €73.26 for the holder and for each family member, paid online; consular visa fees vary by nationality under reciprocity rules.
6. Wait for the decision. The legal terms are short — 10 days at consulates, 20 days at the UGE — but both are extendable, and real-world processing can take longer.
7. If you entered on the one-year visa, convert it to the three-year residence authorization in the 60 days before it expires. Renewals then run in two-year periods while you keep meeting the conditions.

The consulate and UGE pages define exact document formats; check the office where you will file.

Taxes

Spend more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year — or move your center of economic interests there — and you become a Spanish tax resident, taxed by default at progressive IRPF rates. The interesting option is the impatriate regime under article 93 LIRPF, the “Beckham regime,” which since 2023 explicitly covers remote teleworkers including DNV holders: employment income is taxed at a flat 24% up to €600,000 (47% above) for the year you relocate plus the five following tax years. You must not have been a Spanish tax resident in the previous five years, and you must opt in via Modelo 149 within six months of the activity start date shown in your Social Security registration. One interpretive limit: the teleworker pathway into the regime is built around employment income, so self-employed contractors on the DNV generally do not qualify through it and fall back to standard IRPF unless another article 93 category fits. Outcomes are highly fact-dependent, so get individual advice for your situation.

Health insurance

Insurance is an explicit legal requirement, and Spain is stricter than most: travel insurance is expressly not valid, and neither are reimbursement-only policies or policies with copays or waiting periods. A private policy must come from an insurer authorized to operate in Spain (DGSFP-registered) and match the public health system’s coverage with no coverage limit, for the entire authorization period — there is no euro minimum because the standard is SNS equivalence. You can skip the private policy in two cases: you will register with Spanish Social Security after approval (mandatory for most applicants anyway), or you hold a certificate of entitlement under an international social-security coordination instrument. If you do need a private policy, see our comparison of plans measured against the Spanish standard at /digital-nomad-visas/spain/health-insurance/.