How to choose a Spanish residence route: a decision guide

Spain has many residence routes, but for most people the choice comes down to three questions: are you an EU citizen, will you work in Spain, and where are you applying from? This guide walks through those questions, compares the main routes in one table, and explains the conditions that most often decide the answer. It is general information — the right route for you depends on details a licensed immigration lawyer should check.

Three questions that narrow it down

1. Are you an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen — or the family member of one? If so, you register rather than apply for a permit (Real Decreto 240/2007).
2. Will you work while living in Spain? If not, non-lucrative residence. If you work remotely for companies outside Spain, international teleworking. If you will work for a Spanish employer or run your own business, a work permit.
3. Do you already live in Spain? Most first permits are applied for at the Spanish consulate where you live. If you have spent years in Spain and built ties, arraigo is applied for in Spain.

The main routes compared

Living in Spain without working: non-lucrative residence

Non-lucrative residence is for people who can support themselves without working in Spain. The regulation sets the means required at 400% of the IPREM (a public income index updated yearly) per month for the applicant, plus 100% of the IPREM for each family member, for the whole period of the permit. You also need public or private health insurance with an insurer authorised in Spain, and a criminal record certificate. You apply in person at the Spanish consulate for the place where you live. The first permit lasts one year and does not allow work (RD 1155/2024, arts. 61–62).

Working remotely for companies abroad: international teleworking

The international teleworking route — usually called the digital nomad visa — is for non-EU professionals who work remotely, exclusively through digital means, for companies based outside Spain. You need a degree or at least three years’ professional experience; the employer or client must have been operating for at least a year, and your working relationship must have lasted at least the last three months (Ley 14/2013, arts. 74 bis–ter). Employees may work only for the foreign company; self-employed teleworkers may take up to 20% of their work from Spanish clients. The government’s guidance for this route sets the income required as a multiple of the Spanish minimum wage (SMI). From abroad you apply for a visa at the consulate; if you are already legally in Spain, you apply online in Spain.

Working for a Spanish employer or for yourself

For an employee work permit, the Spanish employer applies. The job must be one that the national employment situation allows to be filled from abroad — for example, an occupation on the official shortage list — and the contract must guarantee continuous work. After the permit is granted, the worker applies for the visa at the consulate. Highly qualified professionals and EU Blue Card holders follow a faster route under Ley 14/2013, also started by the employer. To be self-employed, you apply at the consulate and must show that your business meets the legal requirements, that you hold any qualification it needs, and that the planned investment is sufficient; the first permit is limited to one region and one sector (RD 1155/2024, arts. 72–85).

Joining family

A non-EU national who has lived legally in Spain for at least a year, and has applied to stay at least another year, can bring their spouse or partner, children under 18 and dependent parents over 65. The family must show means of 150% of the IPREM for a two-person household plus 50% for each additional member, suitable housing and health insurance (RD 1155/2024, arts. 65–68). Relatives of EU citizens follow a different, simpler route: they apply in Spain for a family-member card within three months of arriving (Real Decreto 240/2007, art. 8).

Already in Spain: arraigo

Arraigo regularises people who are already in Spain and have built ties here. Since the 2024 regulation there are five forms: second chance, socio-labour, social, socio-training and family. Most require at least two years of continuous stay in Spain before applying; time spent as an asylum applicant does not count, and family arraigo has no minimum stay. Each form then has its own condition — a job contract of at least 20 hours a week for socio-labour, enrolment in eligible training for socio-training, family ties or an integration report for social. Permits last one year, except family arraigo, which lasts five (RD 1155/2024, arts. 124–131). An extraordinary arraigo window created in 2026 closed on 30 June 2026.

Routes that are closed or temporary

• The Golden Visa (residence through investment) was repealed by Ley Orgánica 1/2025 with effect from 3 April 2025. Existing permits stay valid for their term and renew under the rules that applied when they were first granted.
• Temporary protection for people displaced from Ukraine has been extended by the EU until 4 March 2028. It is a protection status, not a permanent route — holders should plan a move to one of the routes above.

Mistakes that most often derail an application

• Choosing a route that does not allow the work you plan to do — for example, taking Spanish clients on non-lucrative residence.
• Health insurance that does not meet the requirement: the official teleworking guidance rejects travel insurance and policies with co-payments or waiting periods.
• Foreign documents without an apostille or legalisation, or translated by someone other than a sworn translator.
• Missing the one-month window to apply for the TIE card after arriving or after the permit is granted.