Digital Nomad Visa in Spain makes the dream reality that many have always sought after:
- Living long-term in Spain
- Paying almost no taxes
We have investigated the situation for you, we will show you how it works and how you can implement it for yourself.
At the end of this article we will show you how you can combine your digital nomad visa in Spain with a Hong Kong or US LLC for maximal freedom of taxation, asset protection and investment capabilities.
Digital Nomad Visa Spain: Requirements
There are 8 requirements that you need to fulfill for the Digital Nomad visa in Spain.
Digital Nomad Visa Spain: Citizenship
You cannot be an EU citizen.
EU citizen can work and live in Spain without restrictions by EU law.
This is why they don’t need a digital nomad visa and are therefore not eligible for it.
So if you are British, American and Canadian, this article can be very interesting for you.
Digital Nomad Visa Spain: Current Location
It is best to apply for the digital nomad visa from abroad from your consulate – this makes the process easier.
While you can apply within the country in Spain while traveling, it is not recommended as local authorities are not always familiar with the processes for the digital nomad visa and it may delay the timeline.
Digital Nomad Visa Spain: Work contract
The authorities require that 80% of your income comes from companies outside of Spain.
This can be both through
- employment at a foreign company
- self-employed and having foreign clients
Example.
Case 1:
You can be an Indian software engineer employed by a Indian company. This would make you eligible for the visa.
Case 2:
You are a Filipino virtual assistant for several US clients. This would make you eligible because you do not hold a EU passport, nor do you have any Spanish income.
Documents:
The authorities want to confirm two aspects:
- that you have an existing work relationship
- that the work relationship has already been established for a year to prove consistency
In the case of a remote employee, you would show them your work contract and the start of the contract.
In the case of the freelance or self-employed person, you would show them all your client contracts. Best to show them those with the longest durations.
Digital Nomad Visa Spain: Education or Experience level
The Spanish authority wants to make sure that you have a certain level of knowledge when applying for the digital nomad visa.
This knowledge can be proven by either
- a university degree (bachelor’s degree or higher) or
- 3 years of work experience
For the first one, prepare your university degree..
For the second one, you need your resume and supporting documents such as work contracts, certificates etc.
Digital Nomad Visa Spain: Health insurance
For you entire stay as a digital nomad in Spain, you need a health insurance that
- covers the whole stay
- covers all health-related issues without down payments
It can be private Spanish or international insurance – this does not matter.
Attention:
Make sure that your insurance not only covers emergencies in a hospital.
They also need to cover non-urgent surgeries.
Digital Nomad Visa Spain: Criminal Record
This may be the hardest obstacle.
You need a criminal record from the countries you have lived in the past 5 years.
The document needs to be
- legalized/apostilled by the consulate and
- translated by an official translator
This may be hard for digital nomads who have been travelling for a few years and did not have a residence permit.
The best case would be trying to get this from your home country.
Digital Nomad Visa Spain: Income
The monthly income requirement has to be 2.500 Euros for 2025.
This is adjusted each year and is calculated by taking 200% the minimum Spanish wage that was 1200 Euros in 2025.
Attention:
If you come with a spouse and/or children, the minimum wage will be adjusted and it will increase
Documentation:
As proof, you can show them payslips, contracts, invoices and bank statements.
At the end of the day: The more the better. Authorities love documentations and proof.
Digital Nomad Visa Spain: Taxes
Let us continue to the more interesting or maybe scary part: Taxes.
Usually, most people would dislike this topic as Span’s taxes for self-employed are even higher than high-taxation-countries such as Germany.
This is why many foreigners do not choose to become a self-employed person or an autonomo (Spanish word for self-employed) in Spain.
The Spanish system has not been made for small freelancers and business owners to make it worthwhile.
But here comes the trick:
As a foreigner with a digital nomad visa, you have it better than most Spanish ciitzen.
Here are two reasons:
Reason 1:
Obtaining the digital nomad visa in Spain, does not make you a tax resident and eligible for paying taxes in Spain.
It only allows you to stay in Spain.
If you stay less than 180 days (6 months), then you do not have to pay taxes in Spain.
So you would not even need to pay attention to taxes.
Reason 2:
The more interesting case is even you stay longer than 6 months and maybe even for a few years.
Then the Beckham Law comes in handy for digital nomad visa holders in Spain.
With this law, you do not need to pay taxes on foreign-sourced income (such as dividends, capital gains etc.).
This means if you
- are self-employed and
- write invoices from a foreign company outside of Spain to your clients and
- only pay yourself in dividends,
then you would not need to pay taxes on this income in Spain.
Practical example:
A client of ours from Australia lives in Spain on the digital nomad visa.
He has marketing agency for Australian clients.
He has setup a Hong Kong company with us and he bills his clients through the Hong Kong company.
When the money arrives in Hong Kong, he does two things every month:
- part of the money he transfers to a Spanish bank account without paying taxes (as it is declared as dividends)
- the other part is invested in the US stock market and his capital gains are also outside of Spain and will not be taxed.
He can do this for a total of 6 years until he then has to pay taxes on his foreign-sourced income.
If you want to know how a Hong Kong company can also work for you, your clients and your location, book a consultation call with our Hong Kong legal experts.
Read more:
Read about the benefits why many self-employed around the world choose a Hong Kong company without living in Hong Kong.
