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A Comprehensive Guide to Applying for a Digital Nomad Visa in Spain: the application process
In terms of the Visa Application: It’s crucial to note that the completion of this process is exclusively in person, necessitating you to physically arrive at local Spanish diplomatic missions or consular offices within your country of residence. Prior to commencing your application, it’s highly recommended that you acquaint yourself with the specificities of the relevant diplomatic mission or consular office.
On the topic of the Residency Permit: For those currently residing in Spain lawfully, the application process can be conveniently completed online. This may be achieved via the E-portal of the Large Company and Strategic Groups Unit (UGE-CE).
Procedure to undertake for digital nomads in Spain
Personal application for visa
Procedure 1: Procure and duly complete the national visa application form, outlining your intended reason for travel. For those travelling accompanied by family, each member should similarly download, fill out and sign an independent national visa application form, subsequently submitting the forms together in unison.
Procedure 2: Schedule an appointment with either the diplomatic mission or consular office within your residing country. It’s compulsory to apply for the visa in person unless there’s a valid reason to justify exceptional cases where the consulate may grant permission for the application to be filed via an authorized representative.
Procedure 3: Submit the requisite fee associated with the International teleworker residence visa. Details of the set fee rate can be found below.
Procedure 4: Presentation of necessary documents direct to your residing country’s diplomatic mission or consular office for the purpose of visa application.
Procedure 5: Visa acquisition. Once your documentation has been confirmed, the set fee remitted and all listed requirements met, a decision will ensue about your residency visa for international teleworkers (digital nomads).
You will receive a notification from the diplomatic mission or consular office through email reflecting the outcome of your visa application. Depending on the rules of your residing country, you may either receive the visa at home or would need to pick it up in person from your nation’s diplomatic mission or consular office.
In any event where the visa was denied, an official notification will be delivered to you.
Online application for a permit
Complete the application form
Initiate your application by downloading and filling out the official permit application form MI-T. This document must be appended to your application later on. Notably, the official form is accessible only in Spanish.
If you plan on travelling with your family, please fill in an additional form for every family member who is accompanying you. The appropriate form would be MI-F for each family member intending to join in the permit application. This form is also only available in Spanish.
Eligibility for Application Submission
For those intending to apply for a visa, it’s generally expected that you, the individual applicant, will submit the application yourself. Nonetheless, there may be extraordinary circumstances when your home country’s diplomatic mission or consulate may permit an authorized representative to submit the application on your behalf, granted that persuasive reasons are provided.
However, when it comes to applications for a permit, they may be tendered by yourself, the foreign national, or by an authorized representative.
Required Documents
Essential notice
It is imperative that all submitted documents are translated into Spanish through a certified translation process and are appropriately legalised. Please note, documents in the standard multilingual EU format are exempt from translation and legalisation requirements.
The method of legalisation is dependent on whether the country issuing the document is a party to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961:
In situations where the country that issued the public document is a signatory, validation of the document will be facilitated if adorned with the Hague Apostille stamp. The certificate must be obtained in the originating country.
However, if the country from which the public document originates is not a signatory, the document must undergo the legalisation process via diplomatic channels.
Further information on legalisation and translation of documents are hopefully useful to you.
Documents for visas and permits
- In accordance with Spanish law, during the past two years, if you have resided in any countries, you are compelled to furnish a from those countries. Additionally, you need to affirm through a declaration of conformity that your criminal record has been inviolate for the past five years. Note that this requirement is not relevant if you already possess a residence or stay permit in Spain for more than six months, for which you would have already submitted this document.
- One must also secure a from an insurance company that is authorised to operate in Spain. Keep in mind that this will not be a mandate in the absence of a reciprocal agreement with your home country, instead, in such cases, you will have to enrol with the Spanish Social Security system. It is also pertinent to note that travel insurance policies will not suffice. Should you already be registered with the Spanish Social Security system, this requirement will be redundant.
- The application process necessitates possession of a graduate or postgraduate degree from a university of repute or a distinguished professional training or business school. In case you lack such qualifications, you would be required to submit a authenticated by your current or prior employer. This should certify that you possess a minimum of three years of professional experience in job functions comparable to those that you intend to carry out. In case you are applying for regulated professions, it is imperative to prove that your qualification has been formally approved and recognised.
- You must provide the from the company that retains your services as a teleworker. If you function as a professional and not as an employee, you should provide equivalent documentation or a certificate from the company that verifies an ongoing professional relationship spanning more than three months.
- Evidence of the foreign entity’s legitimacy is required, such as a certificate from a relevant Commercial Registry. This must verify that the company or business group has been operating consistently for at least a year.
- If an employment relationship exists, company approval for remote work from Spain is necessary. You will need to provide evidence of the role’s specifics, the salary to be received, and the conditions under which the remote work will be executed.
- When it comes to a professional relationship, comparable documents that certify the conditions under which the remote work will be done should be presented. An instance of this might be a letter approved by a client.
- If it’s an employment situation, you are required to produce the job contract or a firm job proposal; if it’s a professional engagement, you’ll need the trade contract related to the specific activity for which permission is sought. Other similar documents are acceptable depending on the circumstances.
- If a Social Security agreement exists between Spain and the source country, the requester must present a Certificate of Social Security Coverage, along with a Declaration of Compliance pledging adherence to Social Security obligations before commencing the employment or professional activities.
- If there isn’t a Social Security pact between Spain and the issuing country, or it cannot be provided, the foreign company’s registration with Spanish Social Security must be certified. Furthermore, a document promising to register the worker should be included, along with the previously mentioned Declaration of Compliance.
Pertaining specifically to the visa
- A national visa application form (long-stay).
- Your legal identity document or passport.
- The receipt indicating successful fee payment.
Pertaining specifically to the permit
- A completed and signed permit application form.
- A copy of your full passport or a valid travel document (including all pages).
- The receipt of payment for the required fee.
