5 Best Visas to Live in Spain: Your Complete Guide

Do You Need a Visa to Work or Live in Spain?

Before we dive into the depths here, it's important you first see if you actually need a visa to live and work in Spain. For most nationalities, the answer is yes, you do.

If you're from another European Union country, it's possible to live in Spain and get the job without the need for a visa. The same applies if you're from Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway under the European Economic Area agreement, or from Switzerland.

Most people (including U.S. citizens) can travel to Spain for tourism, business meetings, or family visits without needing a visa for up to 90 days within a 180-day period. This visa-free access is part of the Schengen Zone agreement.

Two EU border systems are worth knowing about. The Entry/Exit System (EES) replaced passport stamping and has been fully operational since 10 April 2026, so your entries and exits are now recorded biometrically and overstays are detected automatically. The ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorization System) is the one people often confuse it with, and it is not yet running. The European Commission says no applications are being collected at this point, with launch expected in late 2026, so check before you travel rather than relying on a date you read somewhere.

For the rest of this article though, I'll assume you're from outside of the EU and want to stay in Spain for longer than 90 days.

Best Visas for Long-Term Stays in Spain (More than 90 Days)

Although each of these visas has a different set of requirements and offers different rights in the country, most have a path to permanent residency and even Spanish citizenship after 10 years. That ten-year wait drops to two years if you're a national of a Latin American country, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal, or if you're of Sephardic origin.

Each visa application form will also ask for a list of required documents in order to apply but for simplicity today, I'll cover the most important requirements for you to see which visas could be best for you to move to Spain.

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1. Digital Nomad Visa (Remote Work Visa)

A new visa has caused a lot of excitement and is one of the most popular options for people who contact us at Moving to Spain. There are a handful of other countries that offer a digital nomad visa but Spain is one of the newest.

Spain’s Digital Nomad Visa (officially called the "Visado para teletrabajo de carácter internacional") offers remote workers and digital professionals an exciting opportunity to live in Spain while working mainly for non-Spanish companies. If you're self-employed, up to 20% of your work can be for a company based in Spain.

This visa was introduced as part of Spain's Startup Law, which the Spanish government passed in December 2022 to attract international talent.

Eligibility Requirements for this visa are:

• Minimum monthly income of €2,442 in 2026, being 200% of Spain's minimum wage. It is set in euros and re-baselines every year, so check it before you apply. Add €916 a month for your first family member and €305 for each additional one.
• Private Health Insurance
• Either a degree from a recognised university, vocational school or business school, or at least three years of professional experience in your field.
• The company you work for must have been trading for at least a year, and your relationship with it must be at least three months old.
• Registration with the Spanish Social Security system, or proof your employer has applied for it. Self-employed applicants register under RETA.

Benefits:

• If you apply from your home country, the visa runs for up to 1 year. If you apply from inside Spain, the residence authorisation runs for up to 3 years and is renewable in 2-year periods.
• You may qualify for a reduced tax rate of 24% on employment income up to €600,000 (47% above that), for the year you move plus the following five years. It's the regime usually called the Beckham Law, and the route that names this visa directly is written for employees rather than the self-employed, so check your own position before counting on it.
• Family members (spouses and children) can join as dependents.

This visa is ideal for freelancers, entrepreneurs, digital nomads, and remote workers with an employer or clients outside of Spain.

"The Digital Nomad visa is becoming very popular. You can apply in Spain or your home country and there can be good tax advantages. Just remember that US W2 remote employees can’t use this visa at present." - Raquel, Immigration Lawyer.

Worth knowing where that last point comes from, because the paperwork and the practice differ. On paper the consulates do document an employee route: your employer applies to register with the Spanish Social Security system and you show your affiliation. In practice, as Raquel sees it, US employers rarely agree to take that step, which is what makes the visa hard to use as a W2 employee.

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2. Non-Lucrative Visa (Retirement or Passive Income Visa)

The Non-Lucrative Visa is perfect for retirees or those with passive income who do not need to work while living in Spain. This visa has been around for a long time so immigration teams, like mine at Moving to Spain, have the application process down pat. The main key to getting this visa is being able to prove you have the sufficient financial means to comfortably live in Spain without needing to work.

Key Requirements for the Non-Lucrative Visa include:

• Proof of passive income: A monthly income of €2,400 is required, being 400% of the IPREM. Add a further €600 a month for each family member you bring, so a couple needs €3,000.
• Private health insurance is mandatory.
• You cannot work in Spain.

The original visa is for 1 year, and you can renew it as long as you still qualify.

"This is the most popular visa for retirees, but there are two things you must remember. First, you can only use passive income like pensions, annuities, and investment income. Secondly, you cannot apply in Spain - you must use the consulate nearest to your home.” - Raquel, Immigration Lawyer.

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3. Student Visa (Study Visa)

You don’t have to be young to come to Spain on a study visa. Pick anything from a Spanish language course to a Masters degree, and you can qualify.

Your visa lasts as long as your course of study, and since the 2025 immigration reform it allows up to 30 hours per week of work, not the 20 you'll still see quoted on a lot of sites. If you're on a higher-education course that right is automatic, with no separate work permit to apply for, though it's limited to the region that granted it. People from the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and many more come to study in Spain, both English-language tertiary degrees and Spanish language courses.

The routes break down like this:

• Short stay: For courses of 90 days or less, you travel on a short-stay visa or visa-free entry rather than a study authorisation.
• Study authorisation: For anything longer than 90 days. This is the one most people mean by "student visa", and it's the one that allows part-time work.
• Moving on afterwards: Once you've finished, you can change status to a work permit from inside Spain without applying for a new visa. If you've completed a degree-level qualification, you can also stay for up to 24 months to look for work or start a business.

"Make sure that the course you choose is approved by the Spanish immigration department because you’ll need an acceptance letter to apply for your visa. And remember - only 50% of Student visa residency counts towards your five year qualification for permanent residency.” - Raquel, Immigration Lawyer.

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4. Golden Visa (Investment Visa): Closed Since April 2025

Spain’s Golden Visa offered fast-track residency to people investing in Spanish property, and for years it was one of the most popular pathways to residency here. It no longer exists. Parliament passed the legislation, and the investor visa was struck out of Spanish law with effect from 3 April 2025.

What that means in practice:

• No new applications have been possible since 3 April 2025, at any investment level. The old €500,000 property threshold is no longer a route to residency.
• If you already hold one, it stays valid for the period it was granted, and renewals are handled under the rules that applied when it was first issued.
• If you applied before 3 April 2025, your application was still decided under the old rules.

If buying a home in Spain was your plan, you can still do it. It just isn't a residency route any more, so you'd pair the purchase with one of the other visas on this page. If it was the investment itself you were after, the closest thing still open is the entrepreneur route, which is for starting an innovative business in Spain rather than buying property, and it sits among the work visas below.

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5. Work Visas

Spain has a whole family of work visas covering everything from small business owners to highly qualified professionals. The Digital Nomad Visa is great, but if you’re looking to work in Spain for a Spanish employer or with Spanish clients, you’ll need to choose a different work visa.

If you have a job offer from a Spanish company, a great business idea, or want to freelance in Spain, there are opportunities for you. Many expats move to Spain to teach English, though it's worth knowing that the two most popular programs run on a student authorisation rather than a work visa, since teaching assistant work counts as a training activity. They are:

• Auxiliares de conversación
• BEDA

We won't cover every option here as it is pretty complicated. You can find more information about work visa options in Spain here.

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Healthcare For Your Visa

Spain’s healthcare system is ranked among the best in Europe, but private health insurance is required for most visa types.

Like many expats, even though our family has access to public health insurance, we still keep private health coverage because it offers outstanding care and value. Thankfully, private health insurance is much cheaper than in, for example, the US. You can use this tool to get quotes for healthcare costs in Spain for your visa.

If you prefer an insurance that also covers travel, I recommend SafetyWing. SafetyWing now offers different levels of coverage under their Nomad Insurance so you can either just get the essential travel coverage or the complete coverage for living in Spain and travel as well.

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The Next Steps to Move to Spain

We speak to people every day who find Spain’s visa options overwhelming. We think that’s a good thing as it means there is an enormous range of options to choose from. The ability to pick and choose a visa that fits your wants and needs makes Spain one of the easiest countries to move to.

The downside? You must choose a visa that you can get, and that gives you the life you want to live in Spain.

Spain’s immigration red tape can seem intimidating, but using an excellent Spanish immigration lawyer like Raquel makes it much, much easier!

My company, Moving to Spain, has a range of packages to help you plan your move to Spain. Although we had it a bit easier when we first moved to Spain, we have since realized just how difficult it is for most to confidently settle in this beautiful country.

My husband and I started the company with the desire to make moving abroad as smooth as possible for you and your family members.

If you're interested in joining us in Spain and want to skip the headaches, our planning packages include a consultation with Raquel’s firm to help you pick your visa. You’ll also cover tax, financial planning, foreign exchange, and health insurance - all key to a successful move. You’ll also get access to unique tools to help you work out your cost of living in Spain, your budget for the move, and an online checklist to keep your plan on track.

Use code AWAYABROAD10 for 10% at checkout.

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Best Places to Live in Spain

We all know that visa applications are the least fun aspect about moving abroad. The most fun? Deciding where you'll live and visualizing your new Spanish lifestyle.

Just like when it comes to visas, Spain also offers so many great places to live, from remote islands to cities bursting with life. If you haven't yet decided where the best places to live in Spain are, we recommend:

• Madrid
• Barcelona
• Mallorca
• Gran Canaria
• Cadiz
• Cordoba
• Marbella

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Which Visa Will Bring You to Spain?

With so many different visa options to live in Spain, you really do have a wide range of possibilities here, especially compared with other EU countries. Living in Spain means easy access to the rest of Europe and North Africa, a relatively affordable cost of living, charming cities and towns, and an incredibly unique landscape.

I'm so glad we took that leap of faith so many years ago and moved to Spain. Will you join us?