Savings or income: what each route actually accepts

Key rules

• Non-lucrative visa: Savings, recurring income or a mix can reach the yearly amount.
• Remote-work visa: Only monthly income counts, and savings do not replace it.
• Borrowed money: Loans and credit lines never count, because the money must be your own.

Non-lucrative visa: savings, income or both

You must reach the yearly amount in How much money you must show for Spanish residence: 28,800 euros for the main applicant at the 2025 IPREM, plus 7,200 euros for each dependant. You can reach it in any of these ways:

• Savings only. Show a bank balance certificate and the latest statements.
• Recurring income only. This means regular passive income such as a pension, rent or dividends, counted over twelve months. A pension of 2,400 euros a month is 28,800 euros a year, so it covers the main applicant alone.
• Both. Add your recurring income for twelve months to your savings; the total must reach the yearly amount. With a pension of 1,200 euros a month (14,400 euros a year), you need 14,400 euros in savings.

If a steady pension covers the amount, income alone is the simplest case to document. If your money sits in accounts, savings alone is the plainer case. How to document each kind of income: Using pension and passive income to qualify. Investments, crypto and property are not savings until they are cash in a bank: Can investment accounts, crypto or property count as funds?.

Remote-work visa: income only

You must show regular monthly income of at least 200% of the Spanish minimum wage for the main applicant, which is 2,849 euros a month in 2026. The income must come from remote work for non-Spanish companies. Bank statements are extra support and do not make up for income that falls short. How the income is measured: Proving remote or self-employed income.

Borrowed money

Loans and credit lines do not count. A credit limit you can draw on is not your money. Use savings, income or documented support from others instead: Can a parent, sponsor or gift count as your funds?.