Spain digital nomad visa from Latin America: requirements, consulates and how to apply

Spain created this permit with Ley 28/2022 on startups (empresas emergentes), in force since 23 December 2022, which added the international remote worker to Ley 14/2013 ². It lets you live in Spain and work remotely, using computer and telecommunication tools, for companies based outside Spain ¹.

The requirements specific to this visa are ¹:

• Being an adult and a national of a country outside the European Union ³.
• Holding a bachelor's or postgraduate degree from a university, vocational training centre or business school of recognised prestige, or having three years of professional experience.
• If you are an employee: at least three months with the company and its express permission to work remotely.
• If you are self-employed: a contract with one or more foreign companies for at least three months.
• The company or group must have had real, continuous activity for at least one year.

As an employee, you can only work for companies outside Spain. As a self-employed worker (autónomo), you can have clients in Spain as long as they make up no more than 20% of your professional activity ¹. The UGE adds that this work for Spanish companies must be a self-employed professional relationship and that you must keep working with the company named in your application ³. The general requirements also apply: no criminal record in Spain or in the countries where you lived in the last two years, with a sworn statement covering the last five, health insurance and sufficient financial means ^{1 3}.

Consulates ask for an amount equal each month to 200% of the Spanish minimum wage (salario mínimo interprofesional, SMI) for the main applicant, at least 75% of the SMI for the first family member and 25% for each additional one ^{9 3}. The reference is the SMI in force when you apply.

The 2026 SMI is €1,221 a month and €17,094 a year ⁴. The Consulate General of Spain in Buenos Aires puts it this way: €2,442 a month over 14 payments for the main applicant ⁷. If you spread that annual total of €34,188 over 12 months, you get €2,849 a month: the same requirement expressed in 12 payments (our own calculation from the figure in the BOE, Spain's official gazette).

People	Per month (14 payments)	Per year	Per month (12 payments)
You alone	€2,442	€34,188	€2,849
You and one family member	€3,357.75	€47,008.50	€3,917.38
You and two family members	€3,663	€51,282	€4,273.50

Online you will find other figures, because many sites were never updated. €2,160 and €2,520 come from the 2023 SMI (€1,080 a month, €15,120 a year) ⁶: that is the figure the Buenos Aires consulate published in its 2023 information sheet ⁸. €2,368 and €2,762.67 come from the 2025 SMI (€1,184 a month, €16,576 a year) ⁵. For 2026, the official figure is the one in the table.

You can prove your income by any means: an employment contract, a firm job offer or a commercial contract, and you must show that the funds are yours, lawful and available ⁹.

From your country. You apply for the visa at the Spanish consulate for the area where you live. The visa lasts up to one year and works as your residence and remote work permit while it is valid ¹. The consulate has a legal deadline of 10 working days to decide, which gets longer if it asks for more documents or an interview ^{1 9}.

From Spain. If you are already in Spain lawfully, you can apply directly for the remote work residence permit to the Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos (UGE), online ¹. The permit lasts up to three years and is renewed for two years at a time ¹. The UGE has 20 days to decide; if it does not answer, the application counts as approved by administrative silence (silencio administrativo) ¹. The initial fee is €73.26 for the main applicant and for each family member, paid online before you apply ³.

From visa to permit. The UGE states that you cannot apply for the permit from abroad: from outside Spain, the route is the consulate visa ³. When your visa has 60 calendar days left, you can apply for the residence permit in Spain if you still meet the requirements ¹.

If you hold a non-lucrative residence permit, the UGE says you cannot use it to switch to remote work by claiming earlier remote work, because that permit does not allow you to work ³.

The core requirements are the same everywhere, and each consulate sets out the documents in its own way.

Bogotá. Applications are filed at BLS International, which since 29 April 2026 is located at Cra 20b #77-05 Local 02 ⁹. Colombian citizens pay no visa fee for this application ⁹. The criminal record certificate is issued by the Policía Nacional de Colombia, must read "NO REGISTRA ANTECEDENTES" and must be apostilled for immigration purposes ⁹. If you do not register with Spanish Social Security, the consulate accepts form ES-CO.3 under the agreement between Spain and Colombia, signed by the Colombian authority and apostilled ⁹.

Lima. Applications go through BLS International at Av. Javier Prado Este 560, Oficina 2201, San Isidro, and since 1 June 2026 you must bring a printed copy of your appointment letter ¹⁰. The criminal record certificate must be no more than 3 months old, and Peruvian documents are apostilled by Peru's Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores ¹⁰. You are asked for bank statements for the last 3 months with the bank's original stamp on every page ¹⁰.

Mexico City. The consulate's page lists a visa fee of $1,905.00 in cash and asks for the same general documents: criminal records from the countries where you lived in the last 2 years and a sworn statement (declaración responsable) covering the last 5 ¹¹.

Buenos Aires. This is the consulate that publishes the figure in euros: €2,442 a month over 14 payments ⁷.

Working from Spain means you must register with Spanish Social Security (Seguridad Social) ³. If you are an employee, your foreign company must register with Social Security as a non-resident company, unless there is an agreement between Spain and your country and your country's social security issues a certificate that covers you in Spain ³. If you are self-employed, you join the RETA (the Spanish scheme for self-employed workers), and in that case the bilateral agreement does not work as a substitute ³. The UGE warns that if, as a self-employed worker, you do not register as soon as you get the permit and a later review finds out, the permit ends for you and your family members ³. To register, you can take your decision letter to a Punto de Atención al Emprendimiento (PAE), an office that handles your registration with the tax agency and Social Security for free ³.

Health insurance must be public, or private with an insurer authorised in Spain, with no copayments and no waiting periods; travel insurance does not count ³. If Spanish Social Security already covers you, you do not need private insurance ⁹.

Your spouse or partner, your minor children, adult children who depend on you and dependent ascendants such as parents can come with you, in the same application or later ¹. Your family members can work in Spain without restrictions, as employees or self-employed ³.