LEGALTICA GUIDE

Spain’s non-lucrative visa: requirements, money and renewal

Spain’s non-lucrative visa lets non-EU nationals live in Spain without working, provided they have enough money of their own: in 2026 that is at least €2,400 a month (€28,800 for the first year) for the main applicant plus €600 a month (€7,200 a year) for each family member. The first permit lasts one year and each renewal two years, and to renew you must have actually lived in Spain for more than 183 days a year and not worked at all, not even remotely for clients abroad.

The rest of Legaltica is in Spanish.

Legaltica editorial team Reviewed 24 October 2026 · 13 min read

12 FIRMS

8 OFFICIAL SOURCES

THE GUIDE · FULL READ

Which route fits you

01 Retired, living on a pension, rents, dividends or savings, and not working at all the non-lucrative visa is your route.

02 You still work remotely for an employer or clients outside Spain the non-lucrative visa is the wrong permit, use the digital nomad (international teleworking) visa.

03 You are an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen you need no visa, you simply register as an EU resident after three months.

04 You are married to, or the registered partner of, a Spanish citizen the family-of-a-Spaniard permit is free, lasts five years and lets you work.

05 You want to buy a home to get residence that no longer works, Spain abolished the golden visa on 3 April 2025, but the property can help you prove accommodation for this permit.

Who can and who cannot apply

You can apply if you are a national of a country outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland, are 18 or over (minors apply as family members), live legally in the country where you file the application and do not intend to do any paid work, in Spain or for anyone abroad.

You cannot apply if you are in Spain irregularly, if you are within the period of a no-return commitment signed under a voluntary return programme, or if you are on a Schengen ban list. Being in Spain as a tourist does not let you file from Spain: the first application always goes through a consulate.

01 Family members who can come with youyour spouse, registered partner or stable partner (one year of proven cohabitation, or less if you have children together), your unmarried minor children and those of your partner, and adult children who need support because of a disability or cannot provide for themselves because of their health.

02 Edge case, parentsthe Regulation’s definition of family member for this permit does not include your parents. A dependent parent normally has to qualify with their own application and their own means, so plan this before you move.

03 Edge case, a business you ownif your income comes from shares in a Spanish company, you must certify that you do not work in it and sign a declaration to that effect.

HOW WE MADE THIS GUIDE

Written from 8 official sources, linked at the end.

Rules, amounts and deadlines checked on 24 October 2026.

KEY FIGURES

Main applicant€2,400

Each family member€600

Couple€36,000

Couple with one child€43,200

Renewal for a couple€72,000

Immigration lawyers in Spain who speak English

Tell a firm about your situation in English: they receive your message and your phone number, and you see theirs straight away. It’s free and you’re not committing to anything. Languages are taken from each firm’s profile. Firms marked “Registered with Legaltica” manage their own profile.

Registered with Legaltica

CITY
Barcelona
LANGUAGES
ES · CA · EN · IT · RU · OTHER · ARMENIO

Abogada Elmira Parikyan - Boutique legal

5.0 · 12 Google Speaks English

Elmira Parikyan es abogada colegiada en el Ilustre Colegio de la Abogacía de Barcelona y directora de KPLEX Boutique Legal, un despacho ubicado en el distrito de Gràcia concebido para ofrecer una atención jurídica de la más alta exigencia, caracterizada por el rigor técnico, la visión estratégica y un trato estrictamente a medida. Su práctica profesional se centra en el …
Registered with Legaltica

CITY
Alicante
LANGUAGES
CA · EN · ES · FR · PT

Hurtado & Bárez Abogados

5.0 · 125 Google Speaks English

Hurtado & Bárez Abogados es un despacho de Alicante con más de 25 años de experiencia, que ofrece asesoramiento integral y personalizado para cada cliente. Se caracteriza por un seguimiento cercano y una solución a medida para cada procedimiento, defendiendo los intereses de sus clientes. El despacho se presenta como líder en Alicante y cuenta con especialistas en diversas ramas …
Registered with Legaltica

CITY
Sevilla
LANGUAGES
EN · ES

M&C Abogados y Consultores

5.0 · 1 Google Speaks English

M&C Abogados y Consultores es un despacho boutique jurídico ubicado en Sevilla. Se caracteriza por situar al cliente en el centro de su trabajo, con un equipo que asume un número limitado de casos para garantizar la máxima calidad, proximidad y éxito. Se autodefine como una “boutique jurídica”, enfocada en ofrecer un servicio cercano y exclusivo, con premisas de transparencia, …

How much money you need in 2026

The Regulation sets the minimum as a percentage of Spain’s IPREM, a public income index: 400% of the monthly IPREM for the main applicant and 100% for each family member you support. The IPREM is €600 a month and €7,200 a year in 2026, because Spain is still running on the extended 2023 budget, which fixed it at that level.

The amount has to cover the whole period of the permit you are asking for. That is the detail most people miss at renewal: the first permit is for one year, but each renewal is for two years, so at renewal you must show two years of means.

€2,400 Main applicanta month, €28,800 for the one-year initial permit.

€600 Each family membera month, €7,200 a year.

€36,000 Couplefor the first year (€3,000 a month).

€43,200 Couple with one childfor the first year (€3,600 a month).

€72,000 Renewal for a coupleto cover the two-year renewed permit, or regular income of at least €3,000 a month.

Worked example: a retired US couple with a joint pension of $3,900 a month (about €3,350 at the exchange rate on the day you apply) meet the €3,000 monthly minimum on income alone. If their pension were only €2,500, they would need savings of at least €6,000 to cover the €500 a month shortfall for the first year, and €12,000 more at renewal. You can combine regular income (pension, rents, dividends) and available savings; money locked in a pension plan you cannot access today does not count as available.

The requirements

Sufficient means for the whole permit period, as above, shown with bank certificates. For foreign accounts the certificate must give the bank’s name and address, the account details, the opening date, the balance on 31 December of the previous year and the average balance over the last year.
Health insurance with an insurer authorised to operate in Spain. The Regulation only says «seguro de enfermedad», but consulates ask for full cover equivalent to the public system, without co-payments, waiting periods or caps; travel insurance is not accepted.
No criminal record, for applicants of criminal age, in the countries where you have lived in the last five years for offences that also exist under Spanish law.
A medical certificate stating that you do not have a disease with serious public health implications under the International Health Regulations (2005).
A passport valid for at least one year.
Not being in Spain irregularly and not being within a no-return commitment period.
The fees paid: €10.94 per person for the initial permit (form 790, code 052) plus the consular visa fee.

Documents checklist

National visa application form, completed and signed, with a recent passport photo.
Passport valid for at least one year, with a copy of every page used.
Proof of legal residence in the consular district if you are not a national of that country (residence card, green card or similar).
Form EX-01 (application for the non-lucrative residence permit), one per applicant.
Bank certificates and proof of income: pension award letters, rental contracts, dividend statements, investment statements.
Health insurance certificate stating full cover in Spain with no co-payments or waiting periods, for at least the first year.
Criminal record certificates for every country where you lived in the last five years.
Medical certificate (the consulate usually provides or specifies the wording).
For family members: marriage certificate, partnership registration or proof of cohabitation, and birth certificates.
Apostille or legalisation of every foreign public document and a sworn translation into Spanish. Criminal record and medical certificates are usually accepted only if recent, typically issued within the last three months: check your consulate’s page.

How to apply and how long each step takes

Book an appointment at the Spanish consulate, or its visa centre, that covers the place where you legally live. In busy consulates this can take several weeks, so book first and gather documents while you wait.
File the visa application with all documents. The consulate checks your means and insurance and sends the file to the immigration office in Spain.
The immigration office checks your Spanish criminal record and the police report (they have seven days to report) and must decide within one month of receiving the file. If it does not reply, the application is treated as refused.
Once the permit is granted, the consulate has up to one month to issue the visa, which incorporates the residence permit. Collect it promptly: the visa has a fixed validity and you must enter Spain while it is valid.
Travel to Spain while the visa is valid, register on the padrón of your town hall and, within one month of entering, apply in person for your foreigner identity card (TIE) at the police (first card €16.08).

Realistic total: one to three months from filing to visa, plus the time to get an appointment and the apostilles. The law gives the consulate a fixed timetable, but consulates warn that the whole process can take up to three months, so apply well before your planned move.

Renewal: the 183-day test

Apply to renew in the two months before your permit expires. If you apply up to three months after it expires, the permit is still extended while the renewal is decided, but you can be fined for the late filing.

To renew you must still have enough money for the two-year renewal period, have kept your health insurance without interruption during the first year, have your school-age children in school, have paid the fee (€16.40, plus €19.30 for the new TIE) and have actually lived in Spain for more than 183 days during the calendar year. The immigration office also looks at whether you met your tax and social security obligations. It has three months to decide; if it does not reply, the renewal is treated as granted.

After five years of continuous legal residence you can apply for long-term residence, which no longer depends on your means or on this permit.

Tax: the part that surprises retirees

Spending more than 183 days a year in Spain, which you need for the renewal, will normally make you a Spanish tax resident. From then on Spain taxes your worldwide income: pensions, interest, dividends, rents and gains on investments, at progressive rates, and you must report foreign assets above certain thresholds.

The tax treaty between Spain and the country paying your pension can change who taxes it, particularly for government pensions (for example US federal or UK civil service pensions are generally taxed only by the paying country). Get the tax side checked before you move: it often decides whether the move works financially.

Can I work later?

Not on this permit. Working in Spain without authorisation is a serious immigration offence, and working remotely for foreign clients is also work for this purpose. After at least one year of residence you can apply from Spain, without a new visa, to switch to a residence and work permit if you meet its requirements, for example a job offer from an employer who meets the legal conditions or a viable self-employment project. The new permit lasts one year and only takes effect once you are registered with Spanish social security, which you must do within one month of the decision.

Common reasons for refusal

Means not clearly available or not enough for the whole period: money in a pension plan you cannot access, a large deposit made just before applying without explanation, or forgetting that the renewal covers two years.
Health insurance with co-payments, deductibles or exclusions, or a policy that does not cover the whole first year.
A criminal record certificate that is too old, not apostilled, or missing for a country where you lived during the last five years.
Evidence that you are working: a LinkedIn profile, invoices or a remote employment contract are enough for a consulate to refuse or for a renewal to fail, and can lead to a fine.
Spending less than 183 days a year in Spain, then being refused at renewal.
Applying from Spain as a tourist, or at a consulate that does not cover the place where you live legally.

If you are refused: deadlines that matter

A refusal of a residence visa must be notified in writing with the reasons. You can file an optional request for reconsideration (recurso potestativo de reposición) with the same consulate within one month, or go straight to the courts with a contentious-administrative appeal within two months. A refusal of the residence permit by the immigration office, including one by silence after the one-month deadline, can be challenged in the same way.

Often a new, better-prepared application is quicker than an appeal, for example when the problem was the insurance policy. When the refusal is based on your means, a criminal record or alleged work, get advice before you reapply: what you say in the first application will be compared with the second.

When a lawyer is worth it

Many people apply on their own. A lawyer adds real value in the situations below, where a mistake costs months or the permit itself. The firms listed say they speak English.

Income from several countries, a company or a trust: the consulate has to understand what is available to you, and a poorly documented file is refused.

A criminal record anywhere, even an old conviction: it is assessed case by case and has to be presented well.

A family member who does not fit the definition, such as a dependent parent or an adult child: the strategy has to be decided before anyone applies.

Your renewal is at risk because of the 183-day rule, a gap in insurance or a drop in income: there are only two months to file and three months after expiry before the permit is lost.

You have been refused: the one-month reconsideration and two-month court deadlines run from notification.

You want to switch to a work, self-employment or nomad permit, or plan your tax residence before the move.

Talk to a lawyer who speaks English

MORE FIRMS

Immigration lawyers in Spain who speak English