Moving to Spain from the US: which visa or residence route fits

A US passport gets you into Spain as a visitor, but it does not let you live there. To stay longer than the Schengen visitor allowance, you need a national (long-stay) visa or a residence authorization, and for most routes the application starts at the Spanish consulate that covers the US state where you legally live. This guide compares the routes Americans use most: the non-lucrative visa, the telework (digital nomad) visa, work visas and the study visa.

All figures below come from the visa pages of the Consular Section of the Embassy of Spain in Washington, DC, checked on the date shown on this page. Each Spanish consulate in the US publishes its own pages, and the Washington pages themselves warn that they are guidance and that only the legal rules in force on the day you apply count. A new immigration regulation, Royal Decree 1155/2024, came into effect on May 20, 2025, and changed several procedures, so older blog posts are often out of date.

Start with the question that decides everything: will you work?

Spain sorts long stays by what you will do while you are there. Before comparing paperwork, answer these:

• Will you live on savings, pensions or investment income and not work at all? Look at the non-lucrative visa.
• Will you keep working remotely for a company or clients outside Spain? Look at the telework (digital nomad) route.
• Do you have a job offer from a Spanish employer, or do you plan to run your own business in Spain? Look at the employee, highly qualified worker or self-employed visas.
• Are you enrolling in a recognized course, degree or language program? Look at the study visa.

Picking the wrong one creates real problems. The Washington consulate states plainly that the non-lucrative visa is not a work permit and does not allow any work, including remote online work.

The non-lucrative visa: living on your own means

This is the route most retirees and people with substantial savings use. The consulate describes it as a visa to reside in Spain without carrying out any gainful activity, provided you have sufficient and guaranteed means to live on. A spouse or partner, minor children and certain dependent adult children can be included.

The money test is tied to IPREM, Spain's Public Income Indicator. The applicant must show 400 percent of the annual IPREM, plus 100 percent for each accompanying family member. For 2026 the consulate gives IPREM as 600 euros a month or 7,200 euros a year, which makes the requirement 28,800 euros for one applicant and 7,200 euros more per dependent. The consulate lists these in dollars as roughly $32,000 and $8,000.

Proof means three months of statements from every account, a bank certificate with balances and averages, and documents for any regular income such as Social Security or a pension. You also need private or public health insurance from a company authorized in Spain with full coverage and no copayments, a medical certificate, and an FBI background check with an apostille and a sworn Spanish translation. The Washington consulate also asks for a notarized affidavit in which you commit not to work, either on site or online. Our guide to the Spain non-lucrative visa covers each document in detail.

The telework visa: remote work for companies outside Spain

Spain's international telework visa is the one people call the digital nomad visa. According to the Washington consulate, it is for people who will work remotely for companies located outside Spain, using only computer and telecommunication systems.

Key conditions on the consulate page:

• Employees may only work for companies outside Spain. Self-employed professionals may also work for Spanish companies, as long as that work is no more than 20 percent of their total activity.
• You must work for companies or provide services to companies. The consulate says the route does not cover work for individuals, government agencies, universities, nonprofits or international organizations.
• You need a university degree or recognized professional training, or at least three years of professional experience.
• The company must have existed and been active for at least one year, and employees need at least three months of seniority and written permission to work from Spain.
• You must get a Spanish NIE before applying for the visa.

The income test uses Spain's minimum wage (SMI). For 2026 the consulate gives the SMI as 1,221 euros a month and requires 200 percent of it, or 2,442 euros a month, for the applicant alone, plus 916 euros for the first family member and 306 euros for each additional one.

One detail matters for Americans: the consulate notes that a person already legally in Spain, including a US citizen within the visa-free 90 days, can apply for the telework residence permit directly in Spain without a prior visa. That permit can last up to three years, while the visa from a consulate lasts at most one year. The in-country application goes to the UGE unit of Spain's Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration. More on this in our Spain digital nomad visa guide.

Work visas: a Spanish employer or your own business

Employee visa. You cannot apply on your own initiative. The consulate requires that your employer first obtains an initial residence and work authorization from the Government Delegation or Sub-delegation in the province where you will work. You then take that authorization to the consulate. The legal decision period is one month. Once in Spain, you register with Social Security before starting work and apply for your foreigner identity card.

Highly qualified worker and intra-company transfer. These are handled under Law 14/2013 and are built for companies hiring or moving qualified staff. The consulate states a decision period of 10 days from the day it forwards the file, extendable if more documents or an interview are needed.

Self-employed visa. For people who want to run their own activity in Spain. The legal decision period is three months, and the consulate notes that several Spanish authorities must sign off. After arrival you must register with Social Security within three months and before you begin working.

The study visa

Study visas cover degree programs, recognized courses, language programs that meet the rules, exchange programs, internships and volunteer service. The money test is lower than for other routes: for 2026, 100 percent of the monthly IPREM, or 600 euros for each month of stay, plus 450 euros a month for a first accompanying family member. You can apply from six months before your program starts. The visa is generally valid from one month before the course begins until 15 days after it ends.

Where and when you apply

Spain divides the United States into consular districts. The Washington consulate only accepts applicants who legally reside in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia or North Carolina, proven with a driver's license or state ID. Residents of other states apply at the Spanish consulate for their state, which runs its own procedure.

At Washington, most national visa applications are submitted in person by appointment at the BLS Spain Visa Application Center, not at the embassy itself, and only complete files are accepted. The consulate says most visas can be requested up to six months before your travel date and not earlier.

For the non-lucrative visa, the consulate lists a US citizen visa fee of $140 plus a residence permit fee of $13 from January 1, 2026, paid to BLS and revised quarterly.

Which routes require a consulate visa first

• Non-lucrative visa: yes, apply at your US consulate before you travel. The visa cannot be swapped for in Spain.
• Telework: either a consulate visa before travel, or an in-country residence application while you are legally in Spain.
• Employee: the employer's authorization comes first in Spain, then you collect the visa at your consulate.
• Self-employed, highly qualified, study: apply at the consulate before travel, following the specific page.

After you land

Every route ends with the same two steps: registering your address with the town hall and getting your TIE residence card through a fingerprint appointment. The order and deadlines are in your first weeks in Spain. If you are unsure how long you can stay as a visitor while you prepare, read entering Spain on a US passport.

Common questions

Can I enter Spain as a tourist and then apply for residence? For most routes, no: the non-lucrative, employee, self-employed and study visas are requested at the Spanish consulate for your US state before travel. The telework residence permit is the main exception, since the Washington consulate says people legally in Spain, including US citizens within their visa-free stay, can apply in Spain.

How much money do I need for the Spain non-lucrative visa in 2026? The Washington consulate requires 400 percent of the annual IPREM, which for 2026 is 28,800 euros for one applicant, plus 7,200 euros for each dependent family member.

Can I work remotely on a non-lucrative visa? No. The consulate states that the non-lucrative visa does not allow any work or professional activity, including remote online work, and asks applicants to sign a notarized commitment not to work. Remote workers should use the telework route.

Which Spanish consulate do I apply at? The one whose district covers the US state where you legally reside. Washington, DC handles DC, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina. Other states belong to other Spanish consulates.