Retiree, remote worker, employee or student, which route is yours?

Terms used

• IPREM — The IPREM is the public income index Spain uses to set limits for benefits and aid: €600 a month in 2025.
• Oficina de Extranjería — The Oficina de Extranjería is the immigration office that handles foreigners' registrations, permits and changes to your NIE record.

Key rules

• Retirees: The non-lucrative visa does not let you work in Spain.
• Remote workers: Your clients must be mostly outside Spain, and your company must have existed for at least one year.
• Employees: Your employer starts the application, and your first authorisation is limited to one sector and territory.
• No retiree visa: Spain has no separate retiree visa, so retirees use the non-lucrative route, or the remote worker route if they also work remotely.

Start with how you earn money

Your route depends on where your money comes from and whether you will work in Spain.

These routes are for non-EU nationals. If you hold an EU passport, or you are the family member of someone who does, you follow a different and simpler path: see Do you need a visa for Spain? for the EU registration path.

Retiree or living on savings: non-lucrative residence

Spain has no separate retiree visa. A retiree with a pension or passive income (savings, rentals, dividends) normally uses the non-lucrative residence visa.

• What you need: income or savings of at least 400% of the IPREM per year for the main applicant and 100% for each dependant (€28,800 and €7,200 in 2025), and full private health insurance. The conditions are on Non-lucrative visa or digital nomad visa, which one is legal for you?.
• What it rules out: any work in Spain. A retiree cannot work on this visa, and a foreign state pension does not create a different route.

If you are a high-income retiree who also works remotely, look at the remote worker route instead.

Remote worker: digital nomad visa

This is the route for people who work remotely for companies outside Spain, or who are self-employed with clients mostly outside Spain.

• What you need: a degree, vocational qualification or three years of experience, a company that has existed for at least one year, health insurance, a clean criminal record and the income threshold. Full conditions: Non-lucrative visa or digital nomad visa, which one is legal for you?.
• What it rules out: a Spanish job or a Spanish client base. No more than 20% of your income may come from Spanish clients.
• How long: up to three years, then two-year renewals.

The application goes to the UGE, the national unit that handles it. You can file it at a consulate abroad or from inside Spain while you are legally there.

Employee: work and residence authorisation

Here a Spanish employer starts the process, not you. The employer applies at the Oficina de Extranjería. Only after approval do you apply for the visa at the consulate, enter Spain, register with Social Security and get your TIE.

• What it rules out: working for anyone else. The first authorisation lasts one year and is tied to a sector and a territory.
• Watch for: the job must be on the list of hard-to-fill occupations or pass the national employment situation test, unless an exemption applies. You cannot have been in Spain irregularly in the past.
• Highly qualified: with a degree or professional qualification and a job offer in a qualified role, you file through the UGE, can do so from inside Spain while you are legally present, and your partner and children can come with you.

Self-employed or entrepreneur

This route suits people who start a business or work as freelancers in Spain.

• What you need: a viable business plan, proof of funds or investment, income that supports your family, the licences for your activity, and the right qualifications if your profession is regulated.
• What it rules out: a quick start. Some applications need a report from the regional government or a professional body.
• How long: the first authorisation lasts one year, then it is renewable for two years. After approval you must register in the RETA (the self-employed Social Security regime) and with the tax authority.

Student

Student permits allow you to work up to 30 hours per week alongside your studies, with no separate work permit.

• What you need: an admission letter from a Spanish school or university, proof of funds, health insurance and a clean criminal record, filed at a consulate abroad. See Applying for student residence from abroad.
• What it rules out: full-time work during your studies, and settling long term on the student permit alone.
• After your studies: you can apply for a 12-month job search and entrepreneurship permit once you have completed a qualifying course in Spain. After one year of studies, you can also ask to change your situation toward a work authorisation. Arraigo for training is another option for people who have spent longer in Spain.

Permits for long-term residents, arraigo and family reunification allow full work. If your situation fits two routes, pick the one whose limits you can live with. Changing route later is possible, but it is a new application.

Documents you need

Documents for the employee and self-employed routes

• A job offer or employment contract from an employer based in Spain, for the employee route. The contract must meet the salary of the sector's collective agreement or at least the minimum wage.

• Proof that your employer is registered with Social Security and up to date with tax and Social Security payments, for the employee route. Your employer provides it.

• Proof of the qualifications or experience that fit the job, for the employee route.

• A clean criminal record, needed on both the employee and self-employed routes.

• A business plan showing the project is viable, including investment, expected income and job creation, for the self-employed route.

• Proof of sufficient funds or investment, and of income that supports you and your family, for the self-employed route.

• All licences and registrations needed to carry out your activity, for the self-employed route.

• Professional qualifications, such as the right degree or recognised accreditation if your profession is regulated, for the self-employed route.

• A report from the autonomous community or your professional body, which is often requested on the self-employed route.