Apply for the nomad route from abroad or from inside Spain?

Key rules

• Filing in Spain: You can only file inside Spain if you are lawfully here when you file.
• Working: A pending application does not let you work; work rights start only when it is granted.
• Travel: Leaving Spain while a file is pending risks your stay and your application.
• Decision time: The legal deadline is 20 working days, though real waits can be longer.

If you are outside Spain, file at a consulate. If you are already in Spain legally, you can file with the UGE-CE instead. Switching from another status carries its own risk: see switch from your current status.

Can you file inside Spain?

Being lawfully here includes a visa, a residence permit or a valid short stay. The UGE-CE is the central immigration unit that handles these files.

• Tourists on a short stay: you can file in Spain if you are lawfully present and meet the requirements.
• Students and non-lucrative residents: you can file in Spain with the fast-track unit if you meet the conditions for switching from your current status, or at a consulate.
• Not in Spain, or not lawful: file at a consulate.

How long does it take?

A consulate decides in 2 to 6 weeks. A filing inside Spain takes 20 to 30 working days, so filing in Spain is not faster.

If 20 working days pass after your file is admitted and you have no answer, your application is treated as approved by silence. On day 21, ask for the certificate of silence as your proof, and keep waiting in the same place: do not leave Spain if you filed there.

What can you do while you wait?

If you file in Spain:

• Your stay is extended until the decision, so you remain lawful.
• You cannot work on this permit until it is granted.
• Avoid leaving Spain.
• Once approved, register for your TIE within 30 days of the grant.

If you file abroad:

• You do not risk a lapsed stay in Spain.
• You wait outside Spain. If approved, you collect your visa, enter Spain within its validity, and register for your TIE (foreigner ID card) at the police within 30 days of entry, with fingerprints.

Which risk is bigger for you?

• Filing in Spain keeps you in the country, but a mistake about your status or leaving too early can cost you your stay and your file.
• Filing abroad avoids that, but you depend on getting an appointment, and you must follow the consulate's own document list.
• In both routes, weak evidence of income or of your work history is a common reason for rejection. Gather strong proof before you file.

Timeline and deadlines

• Gather your documents and book a consulate appointment, or use its online system: before you file

• File the application at the consulate that covers your place of residence: on the day of your appointment

• If approved, collect your visa and enter Spain: within the visa's validity

Documents you need

• Your passport

• The completed application form

• Proof of your qualifications or work experience

• Your contracts with the company or clients you work for

• Proof of your income

• A clean criminal record certificate from every country you lived in over the last five years, excluding Spain

• Health insurance valid in Spain with no co-payments

• Proof that you paid the residence authorisation fee

Fees

• Residence authorisation: €73.78 in 2026, paid with modelo 790 code 038. Everyone pays it, whether you file abroad or in Spain.
• TIE card: €16.40 in 2026, paid with modelo 790 code 012.
• Visa, at a consulate only: €80 in 2026, paid at the consulate. You do not pay it when you file in Spain.

If your application is refused

You have 1 month from notification to file an optional appeal with the same body, or 2 months to go to the courts; the details are on Employee or freelancer, how the nomad route treats each.