Which route fits your situation
The table maps common situations to the routes Spain actually has in this dataset. Where a row says no route is tracked, that is a statement about the 6 routes on this page, not a ruling that nothing exists. Check the official pages before you rule anything out.
| Your situation | Route that fits | Permanent residence |
|---|---|---|
| You have an offer from an employer based in Spain |
| Can lead to PR |
| You keep your US employer and work remotely |
| Can lead to PR |
| You are retired and living on pension or investment income |
| Can lead to PR |
| You are investing capital or buying into a business | No investor route is among the ones tracked here. Some countries handle business owners through a self-employment or entrepreneur permit instead. | Not applicable |
| You are enrolling at a university, college or language school |
| Not directly |
| You are the spouse or close family of a citizen or resident |
| Can lead to PR |
Routes on this page that none of those situations covers: Autorizacion de residencia para emprendedores (entrepreneur / startup visa, Law 14/2013).
Every route at a glance
One row per route, in the order they are set out below. The costs are the official government fees recorded in the data. They exclude translations, apostilles, medicals and legal help, which together often come to more than the fee itself.
| Route | Category | Valid for | Official cost | Permanent residence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visado y autorizacion de residencia por teletrabajo de caracter internacional (digital nomad visa) | Digital nomad | One-year visa if applied for at a Spanish consulate in the US, or a three-year authorisation if applied for inside Spain within the first 90 days of a tourist stay; renewable in two-year blocks, and five years of legal residence opens EU long-term residence. | US citizens pay a $140 national visa fee at a Spanish consulate plus a $13 residence permit fee, then roughly 16 to 22 euros for the TIE identity card in Spain. Budget $1,500 to $3,500 all in once you add the FBI background check with apostille, sworn translations and a year of private health cover (estimate). | Counts toward it |
| Visado de residencia no lucrativa (non-lucrative residence visa) | Retirement | One year initially, then renewable for two years and two more years; after five continuous years you can apply for EU long-term residence. | $140 visa fee for US citizens plus a $13 residence permit fee at the Consulate General in Washington DC, plus BLS handling charges. Total out of pocket including apostilles, translations and the first year of insurance typically runs $2,000 to $4,000 for one applicant (estimate). | Counts toward it |
| Autorizacion de residencia para profesionales altamente cualificados (Law 14/2013 highly qualified professional) | Work | Three years, or the length of the contract plus three months where the contract runs shorter than three years; renewable in two-year periods, and five years of legal residence opens EU long-term residence. The Unidad de Grandes Empresas resolves applications within twenty working days, with approval by administrative silence if it misses that deadline. | Government fee for the residence authorisation is payable on Modelo 790 code 038, plus the TIE card fee; employers usually cover both. Expect a few hundred dollars in fees and translations (estimate). | Counts toward it |
| Autorizacion de residencia para emprendedores (entrepreneur / startup visa, Law 14/2013) | Other | Three years, renewable for two more, with the same 20-working-day fast track. | Modelo 790 code 038 fee plus the TIE card fee; the ENISA report itself is free. Legal and business plan preparation is the real cost, commonly $2,000 to $6,000 (estimate). | Counts toward it |
| Autorizacion de estancia por estudios (long-stay student authorisation) | Study | Matched to the length of the course for higher education, capped at one year for secondary education, renewable annually while you remain enrolled. | $140 consular visa fee for US citizens plus the TIE card fee; tuition is separate and public university fees for non-EU students commonly run 1,500 to 6,000 euros a year (estimate). | Not directly |
| Tarjeta de residencia de familiar de ciudadano de la Union (EU family member card) | Family | Five years, or the expected residence period of the EU citizen if shorter, then permanent residence. | The fee is set at the same level Spanish citizens pay for a national ID card, paid on Modelo 790 code 052, so it is a matter of tens of euros rather than hundreds. | Counts toward it |
Route by route
The facts in each panel come from the Spain data and the official page beside it. The paragraph underneath describes how routes of that class usually work, wherever they are issued, so you know what the application will ask for before you open the form.
Visado y autorizacion de residencia por teletrabajo de caracter internacional (digital nomad visa)
- Valid for
- One-year visa if applied for at a Spanish consulate in the US, or a three-year authorisation if applied for inside Spain within the first 90 days of a tourist stay; renewable in two-year blocks, and five years of legal residence opens EU long-term residence.
- Official cost
- US citizens pay a $140 national visa fee at a Spanish consulate plus a $13 residence permit fee, then roughly 16 to 22 euros for the TIE identity card in Spain. Budget $1,500 to $3,500 all in once you add the FBI background check with apostille, sworn translations and a year of private health cover (estimate).
- Permanent residence
- Yes, time on this permit counts
- Government page
- Official requirements →
Who qualifies. Remote work for companies based outside Spain. Article 74 bis of Law 14/2013 draws a line most summaries blur: if you are an employee you may work only for non-Spanish companies, full stop, and the 20% allowance for Spanish-based work applies only if you are self-employed, capped at 20% of your total professional activity. You also need at least three months of relationship with the employer or client, a company that has been genuinely trading for at least a year, a degree from a recognised university, vocational school or business school or three years of relevant professional experience, a clean criminal record, private health insurance, and income of at least 200% of the Spanish minimum wage. With the 2026 SMI at 1,221 euros a month over 14 payments (17,094 euros a year), that is 34,188 euros a year, about 2,849 euros a month, plus 75% of the SMI for the first dependant and 25% for each additional one.
Typical of digital nomad routesNomad and remote-work permits are built around income earned outside the country. Expect to evidence a minimum monthly income or savings balance with bank statements and contracts, hold private health cover for the whole period, and produce a criminal record check. They usually do not allow you to take local clients or a local job, and whether the years count toward permanent residence varies more than any other route type. In Spain this covers one route tracked here. It is one of the routes here that builds toward permanent residence.
Visado de residencia no lucrativa (non-lucrative residence visa)
- Valid for
- One year initially, then renewable for two years and two more years; after five continuous years you can apply for EU long-term residence.
- Official cost
- $140 visa fee for US citizens plus a $13 residence permit fee at the Consulate General in Washington DC, plus BLS handling charges. Total out of pocket including apostilles, translations and the first year of insurance typically runs $2,000 to $4,000 for one applicant (estimate).
- Permanent residence
- Yes, time on this permit counts
- Government page
- Official requirements →
Who qualifies. Passive income or savings of 400% of the IPREM, which is 2,400 euros a month or 28,800 euros a year in 2026, plus 100% of IPREM (600 euros a month) for each dependant. You must not work at all, including remotely for a US employer, which is the single most common reason Americans pick the wrong permit. Also required: full private health insurance from an insurer authorised in Spain with no co-payments and no coverage cap, a medical certificate, and an FBI criminal record check with a Hague apostille.
Typical of retirement routesPassive-income routes ask you to show recurring money you do not have to work for: pension, annuity, rental or investment income, in your name, evidenced by statements and award letters rather than projections. Local employment is typically ruled out, and health cover is almost always a condition of the first permit. In Spain this covers one route tracked here. It is one of the routes here that builds toward permanent residence.
Autorizacion de residencia para profesionales altamente cualificados (Law 14/2013 highly qualified professional)
- Valid for
- Three years, or the length of the contract plus three months where the contract runs shorter than three years; renewable in two-year periods, and five years of legal residence opens EU long-term residence. The Unidad de Grandes Empresas resolves applications within twenty working days, with approval by administrative silence if it misses that deadline.
- Official cost
- Government fee for the residence authorisation is payable on Modelo 790 code 038, plus the TIE card fee; employers usually cover both. Expect a few hundred dollars in fees and translations (estimate).
- Permanent residence
- Yes, time on this permit counts
- Government page
- Official requirements →
Who qualifies. A job offer or employment contract in Spain for a highly qualified role, plus the qualification article 71 of Law 14/2013 asks for. Since the startups law (Ley 28/2022, in force 23 December 2022) rewrote that article there are two modalities. The EU Blue Card needs higher education of at least three years at MECES level 2, or five years of comparable professional experience, cut to three years within the last seven for ICT professionals and managers, together with a contract or firm job offer of at least six months and a gross annual salary at or above a reference threshold set by regulation at between 1.0 and 1.6 times average gross annual pay. The national highly qualified professional authorisation needs a qualification equivalent to at least MECES level 1, or three years of comparable professional experience. One thing to unlearn: the original 2013 version of article 71 also gated the route on the employer being large, over 250 staff or over 50 million euros of turnover or over 43 million euros of equity or over 1 million euros a year of inbound investment, or an SME in a designated strategic sector. That employer test was deleted in December 2022 and appears nowhere in the consolidated text today, so an ordinary small Spanish firm can sponsor this permit.
Typical of work routesEmployer-sponsored routes normally start with a signed offer, not with you. The employer usually has to prove the role was advertised or that it sits on a shortage list, and the permit is tied to that job, so changing employer generally means notifying the immigration authority or filing again. Time held on a work permit is the kind that most often counts toward permanent residence. In Spain this covers one route tracked here. It is one of the routes here that builds toward permanent residence.
Autorizacion de residencia para emprendedores (entrepreneur / startup visa, Law 14/2013)
- Valid for
- Three years, renewable for two more, with the same 20-working-day fast track.
- Official cost
- Modelo 790 code 038 fee plus the TIE card fee; the ENISA report itself is free. Legal and business plan preparation is the real cost, commonly $2,000 to $6,000 (estimate).
- Permanent residence
- Yes, time on this permit counts
- Government page
- Official requirements →
Who qualifies. A business project of an innovative nature with special economic interest for Spain. ENISA, the state innovation agency, issues a binding favourable report based on your professional profile, the business plan, financing and investment, and the value the project adds to the Spanish economy. There is no fixed minimum investment or job creation threshold, which makes this the main replacement route for the golden visa that Spain abolished on 3 April 2025.
Typical of other routesRoutes outside the standard categories carry their own conditions and are the most likely to change between one application cycle and the next. Read the official page in full before you build a plan around this one. In Spain this covers one route tracked here. It is one of the routes here that builds toward permanent residence.
Autorizacion de estancia por estudios (long-stay student authorisation)
- Valid for
- Matched to the length of the course for higher education, capped at one year for secondary education, renewable annually while you remain enrolled.
- Official cost
- $140 consular visa fee for US citizens plus the TIE card fee; tuition is separate and public university fees for non-EU students commonly run 1,500 to 6,000 euros a year (estimate).
- Permanent residence
- Not directly
- Government page
- Official requirements →
Who qualifies. Admission to an authorised Spanish institution for a full-time programme leading to a degree or certificate, proof of 100% of IPREM per month (600 euros in 2026) plus more for dependants, health insurance and a clean record. Students may work up to 30 hours a week if the work is compatible with studies. Under the 2025 immigration regulation you can convert to a work or residence authorisation, but the study stay by itself does not put you on the permanent residence track, so treat it as a stepping stone.
Typical of study routesStudy permits are tied to an accredited institution and an unconditional acceptance letter. Alongside tuition you normally have to show living funds for the year, accommodation and health cover. Work rights are capped at a set number of hours, and the permit ends when the course does, though many countries offer a post-study period to look for work. In Spain this covers one route tracked here. It does not lead to permanent residence on its own.
Tarjeta de residencia de familiar de ciudadano de la Union (EU family member card)
- Valid for
- Five years, or the expected residence period of the EU citizen if shorter, then permanent residence.
- Official cost
- The fee is set at the same level Spanish citizens pay for a national ID card, paid on Modelo 790 code 052, so it is a matter of tens of euros rather than hundreds.
- Permanent residence
- Yes, time on this permit counts
- Government page
- Official requirements →
Who qualifies. For the spouse, registered partner, documented stable unmarried partner, dependent children or dependent parents of a Spanish or other EU/EEA/Swiss citizen who is living in Spain. This is by far the cheapest and fastest route if you qualify, with no income test comparable to the non-lucrative or nomad visas, and it carries full work rights from day one. Separate rules under the general immigration law apply to reunifying family with a non-EU resident.
Typical of family routesFamily routes turn on the sponsor’s status rather than yours, so the sponsor usually has to meet an income or housing standard. The bottleneck is civil documents: marriage, birth and sometimes divorce certificates, apostilled and translated by an approved translator. Relationships that are genuine but poorly documented fail more often than relationships that are questioned. In Spain this covers one route tracked here. It is one of the routes here that builds toward permanent residence.
Which routes actually go somewhere
Whether a permit renews forever or accumulates toward settlement decides what a decade in Spain is worth at the end of it. These are the routes on each side of that line.
Builds toward permanent residence
- Visado y autorizacion de residencia por teletrabajo de caracter internacional (digital nomad visa) · One-year visa if applied for at a Spanish consulate in the US, or a three-year authorisation if applied for inside Spain within the first 90 days of a tourist stay; renewable in two-year blocks, and five years of legal residence opens EU long-term residence.
- Visado de residencia no lucrativa (non-lucrative residence visa) · One year initially, then renewable for two years and two more years; after five continuous years you can apply for EU long-term residence.
- Autorizacion de residencia para profesionales altamente cualificados (Law 14/2013 highly qualified professional) · Three years, or the length of the contract plus three months where the contract runs shorter than three years; renewable in two-year periods, and five years of legal residence opens EU long-term residence. The Unidad de Grandes Empresas resolves applications within twenty working days, with approval by administrative silence if it misses that deadline.
- Autorizacion de residencia para emprendedores (entrepreneur / startup visa, Law 14/2013) · Three years, renewable for two more, with the same 20-working-day fast track.
- Tarjeta de residencia de familiar de ciudadano de la Union (EU family member card) · Five years, or the expected residence period of the EU citizen if shorter, then permanent residence.
Temporary or renewable only
- Autorizacion de estancia por estudios (long-stay student authorisation) · Matched to the length of the course for higher education, capped at one year for secondary education, renewable annually while you remain enrolled.
A residence permit and tax residence are decided by separate tests, and it is common to trip the second without intending to. Spain sets its own rule for when you become taxable there, and the US carries on taxing its citizens wherever they live. How US citizens are taxed in Spain →
Most residence applications require proof of health cover from the day the permit starts, before you are inside the local system. What healthcare access looks like in Spain →
How the Spain route mix compares
Spain has 6 tracked routes, 5 of which build toward permanent residence. Across the 15 countries on this site the median is 7 tracked routes and 4 that lead to settlement. The table counts routes by category, so if one specific door is the one you need, you can see which destinations have it.
| Category | Spain | UK | Italy | Japan | Mexico |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visitor | None | 1 | None | None | 1 |
| Work | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Digital nomad | 1 | None | 1 | 1 | None |
| Retirement | 1 | None | 1 | None | 1 |
| Investment | None | 1 | 1 | 1 | None |
| Study | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Family | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Ancestry | None | None | 1 | None | None |
| Other | 1 | None | None | None | 1 |
A category with no tracked route is a gap in this dataset for that country, not proof that no such permit exists. Each count is only as complete as the government pages listed on that country's own guide.
How the process usually sequences
The order below is typical rather than specific: it holds for most residence routes in most countries, and the official page for your route governs wherever the two differ. What varies between countries is the length of each stage, not usually its existence.
Where Spain sits in this
Of the 6 routes tracked for Spain, 1 needs an employer or sponsor to start the process and 5 you can begin yourself. 5 of them build toward permanent residence.
Pick the route and read its official page end to end
Nearly every rejected application was filed under the wrong category or against last year’s requirements. The route decides the document list, the fee and where you file, so it is the only decision that is expensive to get wrong.
Order civil documents early
Birth and marriage certificates, a criminal record check and, where relevant, degree certificates usually need an apostille and a certified translation. This step is administrative and typically the longest one, because it depends on record offices rather than on you.
Assemble the money and cover evidence
Most residence routes want bank statements covering several consecutive months, a signed employment or income document, and proof of health cover valid from the day you arrive. Statements that skip a month or arrive as screenshots are a common reason files are sent back.
File the application, usually from outside the country
Residence applications are commonly lodged at the consulate covering your US address, or through a government portal that still ends in a consular appointment. Slots can be the binding constraint on your timeline, so book before the file is perfect rather than after.
Attend the appointment and give biometrics
Fingerprints and a photograph are taken at the appointment or shortly after, and the original documents are checked against the copies you submitted. Fees are normally paid at this point and are rarely refundable if the application fails.
Wait for the decision, then collect the entry visa
The decision arrives as a visa sticker or approval letter that lets you travel. It usually carries its own window in which you must enter, which is why booking flights before approval is a gamble rather than a plan.
Arrive and register locally
Most countries expect a local registration within days or weeks of arrival: an address registration, a tax or social security number, and often a local bank account. Several of these steps depend on each other, so the order they are done in matters more than the effort each one takes.
Collect the residence card and diarise the renewal
The physical permit is issued after registration, sometimes at a separate appointment. Renewal windows open before expiry and close on the day, and continuous lawful residence is what later counts toward permanent residence or naturalisation, so a lapsed permit can reset a clock you have been building for years.
Nothing in that sequence is a substitute for the instructions on the official page for your route. Treat it as a checklist for planning your months, not as the requirements themselves.
Residency questions about Spain
Can I work remotely for my US employer on a Spanish visa?
Only on the digital nomad permit, which was created for exactly that. The non-lucrative visa prohibits all work, including remote work for a US company, and Spanish consulates and immigration offices treat that as disqualifying. If you are an employee the nomad permit lets you work only for companies based outside Spain; the 20% allowance for Spanish-based work applies to self-employed holders. It also requires at least three months with your current employer or client and about 2,849 euros a month in income.
Can I still get a Spanish golden visa by buying property?
No. Organic Law 1/2025 repealed the investor residence provisions of Law 14/2013, and the programme closed to new applicants on 3 April 2025. Applications filed before that date are still honoured and renewable. There is no replacement investment route. Americans with capital now typically use the entrepreneur permit, which needs a favourable ENISA report on an innovative business plan rather than a minimum investment, or the digital nomad or non-lucrative visas.
How long until I can get permanent residence or a Spanish passport?
Five years of legal continuous residence gets you EU long-term residence in Spain, which carries indefinite work rights. Citizenship normally requires ten years of legal residence for Americans, with language and civics exams, though nationals of Ibero-American countries, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Andorra, Portugal and people of Sephardic descent qualify after two. Spain asks new citizens to declare renunciation of their previous nationality, but the United States does not treat that declaration as effective expatriation.
Official pages and sources
Every route on this page was read from a government source. These are the pages behind them, unduplicated, so you can check the current fee and document list yourself.
- Visado y autorizacion de residencia por teletrabajo de caracter internacional (digital nomad visa): official requirements
- Visado de residencia no lucrativa (non-lucrative residence visa): official requirements
- Autorizacion de residencia para profesionales altamente cualificados (Law 14/2013 highly qualified professional): official requirements
- Autorizacion de residencia para emprendedores (entrepreneur / startup visa, Law 14/2013): official requirements
- Autorizacion de estancia por estudios (long-stay student authorisation): official requirements
- Tarjeta de residencia de familiar de ciudadano de la Union (EU family member card): official requirements
Wider sources for this country
What these numbers are. The headline figures were re-derived from primary sources during review. Some category indices could not be matched to a published statistic and are reasoned estimates, marked as such in the list below. Where a source entry says a value is derived, estimated or crowd-sourced, that is exactly what it is: no international body publishes a like-for-like index for every category, and private insurance premiums are not published at all in most countries. Rent figures are national market averages, so a capital city will run above them. How the dataset is built.
- European Central Bank, euro reference exchange rate US dollar: 1.1622 on 4 September 2026, the rate used for every currency conversion on this page; 2024 annual average 1.08238 — accessed September 4, 2026
- INE, Estadistica Continua de Poblacion, 1 April 2026 provisional: Spain's resident population 49,687,120 — accessed September 4, 2026
- Ministerio de Inclusion, Seguridad Social y Migraciones (Unidad de Grandes Empresas), International teleworkers: the official digital nomad residence authorisation page — accessed September 4, 2026
- Consulate General of Spain in Washington DC, non-lucrative residence visa: 400% of IPREM financial requirement, $140 visa fee for US citizens plus a $13 residence permit fee from 1 January 2026, three-month legal decision period — accessed September 4, 2026
- Ministerio de Inclusion (UGE), Highly qualified professionals authorisation under Law 14/2013: job offer plus degree or three years of comparable experience — accessed September 4, 2026
- Ministerio de Inclusion (UGE), Entrepreneurs authorisation under Law 14/2013: ENISA assessment of an innovative project of special economic interest, with no minimum investment or job creation threshold — accessed September 4, 2026
- Ministerio de Inclusion, Autorizacion de estancia por estudios: duration matched to the course, 100% of IPREM per month in financial means, and up to 30 hours a week of permitted work — accessed September 4, 2026
- Ministerio de Inclusion, Tarjeta de residencia de familiar de ciudadano de la Union: five-year card for family members of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens, fee set at the level Spaniards pay for a national ID card — accessed September 4, 2026
- BOE, Ley 14/2013 consolidated text, article 63 (visado de residencia para inversores): the article is shown as left without content with effect from 3 April 2025 by disposicion final 21.1 of Ley Organica 1/2025, de 2 de enero (BOE-A-2025-76). This is the primary confirmation that the 500,000 euro property golden visa is closed to new applicants. Article 76 of the same law sets a twenty-day resolution deadline for Unidad de Grandes Empresas authorisations, with approval by administrative silence, and renewals in two-year periods. Articles 68 to 70 (emprendedores), 71 to 72 (profesionales altamente cualificados) and 74 bis to 74 quinquies (teletrabajo de caracter internacional) remain in force. Checked directly against the consolidated text on 4 September 2026: article 71, as rewritten by disposicion final 5.5 of Ley 28/2022 and amended by article 32.5 of Ley 11/2023, now sets only two modalities, the EU Blue Card and the national highly qualified professional authorisation, and turns entirely on the applicant's qualification. The employer-size thresholds of the original 2013 text are gone; the strings '250 trabajadores', '50 millones' and '43 millones' no longer appear anywhere in the law. Article 71.3 gives three years of validity, or contract length plus three months if shorter, renewable for two years. Article 74 bis confirms that an employee teleworker may work only for companies based outside Spain while a self-employed holder may take up to 20% of professional activity from a Spanish company, article 74 ter the one year of prior company activity and three months of prior relationship, article 74 quater the one-year visa and article 74 quinquies the three-year authorisation renewable in two-year periods — accessed September 4, 2026
- BOE, Real Decreto 1155/2024 approving the Reglamento of the immigration law (in force 20 May 2025): student stay holders may work no more than thirty hours a week, and exceeding that limit is grounds for termination of the authorisation — accessed September 4, 2026
Keep going on Spain
← Back to the full Spain guide · US vs Spain, side by side →