Five Checks for US Remote Workers Before Applying for Spain’s Nomad Permit

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The idea is simple: keep the job you already have, move your laptop to Valencia or Madrid, and live in Spain legally while you work for clients or an employer back home. Spain has a permit built for exactly that. But it has precise conditions, and most refusals come from overlooking one of them rather than from the big picture. Before gathering documents, run through these five checks.

Check 1: Is the work genuinely remote and genuinely foreign?

The permit is regulated by Law 14/2013, in articles added in 2022. It covers people who work remotely for companies located outside Spain, either as employees or as independent professionals.

Two details matter here:

1. The employer or client company must have been operating for at least one year, and the working or commercial relationship with you must have lasted at least three months before you apply.
2. Freelancers can also work for Spanish companies, but only up to 20 percent of their total professional activity. Employees cannot take a Spanish employment contract under this permit.

The job also has to be one that can actually be done remotely, which the application has to show.

Check 2: Do you meet the qualification requirement?

The law asks for a university degree or postgraduate degree, a vocational qualification, a qualification from a business school of recognized prestige, or at least three years of professional experience in the field. Many US applicants have the degree and the experience. The question is which one is easier to document with official papers.

Check 3: Does your income clear the threshold?

The income threshold is tied to Spain’s minimum wage. For 2026 the usual reference is 2,849 euros gross per month for the main applicant. That figure is twice the minimum wage, calculated over twelve months. Each family member adds to it: 1,068.38 euros for the first and 356.13 euros for each additional one.

A note for planners: the minimum wage is updated every year, and so is the threshold. A budget built on last year’s figure can fall short, which is why a firm that prepares digital nomad visa Spain applications will usually recalculate it with you for the date you actually plan to file, family members included.

Check 4: Consulate or Spain?

There are two ways to apply, and the choice changes what you receive:

From the US, at the consulateFrom Spain, during a lawful stay
What you get	A visa	A residence permit
Duration	Up to one year	Up to three years, renewable for two-year periods
Legal deadline to decide	Ten days	Twenty days
If no answer arrives	—	The application is deemed approved

Applying from Spain has another advantage: filing extends your stay while the application is pending, even if your ninety days as a visitor run out in the meantime. What is extended is the stay, not a right to work, and the work you do for your US employer only becomes lawful in Spain once the permit is granted.

Comparing these two routes is where most people decide the timing of their move: the choice depends on your dates, your lease and your family.

Check 5: Are your US documents ready for Spanish eyes?

The documents are where US applicants lose the most time:

1. Criminal records from the last two years, from every country where you have lived, legalized or apostilled and with a sworn translation into Spanish. You also sign a declaration covering the last five years.
2. Your contract, the company’s registration certificate and your qualification, with sworn translations.
3. Bank certificates showing that you have been paid under the contract over the previous three months.
4. Health insurance. You need private insurance with no co-payments and no waiting periods, unless you will be registered with Spanish Social Security. For employees, that depends on how the employer registers.

The government fee is 73.26 euros per applicant, paid online.

The short version

Spain’s remote work permit rewards preparation. If your employer has been operating for a year, your contract has lasted three months, your income clears the threshold and your documents are apostilled and translated, the rest is mostly a matter of choosing between the consulate and Spain.