Moving to Spain from the US, Canada or the UK

For retirees, remote workers and people with Spanish roots. The visas most people use, the 2026 money tests, and the routes that have closed.

Spain has two residence visas that suit most people moving from the US, Canada and the UK. One is for people who live on savings or a pension and will not work. The other is for people who work remotely for an employer or clients outside Spain. A third route helps people with a Spanish parent or grandparent. Two well-known options have closed since 2025, so check the date on anything you read.

Visiting first

US, Canadian and UK citizens can visit Spain without a visa for up to 90 days in any rolling 180-day period. Those days count across the whole Schengen area together, not per country. You cannot work on a visit. To stay longer, you need a residence visa or permit.

The main ways in

Non-Lucrative Visa. This fits retirees and people living on savings or passive income. You need funds or income of 400% of IPREM, Spain’s benchmark income index: EUR 28,800 a year for the main applicant. Each family member adds EUR 7,200 a year. You also need private health insurance from an insurer authorised in Spain, with no deductible, no co-payment, no waiting period and no coverage limit. Travel insurance does not count. You may not work at all on this visa, including remote work for clients abroad.

Digital Nomad Visa (international teleworker). This fits employees and freelancers working for a company or clients outside Spain. You need gross income of 200% of Spain’s minimum wage, about EUR 2,849 a month in 2026. A first family member adds 75% of the minimum wage and each further member adds 25%. Officials may calculate the threshold differently: on the 14-payment monthly wage it is about EUR 2,442. Confirm the figure with the consulate or the UGE, the government’s large-companies unit, which handles in-country applications. You need a degree or at least three years’ experience in similar work. Freelancers can earn up to 20% of their income from Spanish clients. Your employer must have existed for at least a year.

Highly qualified work permit or EU Blue Card. This fits people hired by a Spanish employer. The general salary threshold is EUR 41,356.36 a year. The Blue Card has a reduced threshold of EUR 33,085.09 for shortage jobs and recent graduates.

Citizenship after one year for grandchildren of Spaniards. If a parent or grandparent was originally Spanish, you may be able to apply for Spanish nationality after one year of legal residence in Spain. You first need a residence permit, such as the non-lucrative or teleworker visa. Whether the language and civics exams apply to this route has not been confirmed on an official page.

See every route below for the full list, including the self-employed and student routes.

Routes that have closed

• The Golden Visa. Spain abolished its investor residence visa with Organic Law 1/2025. It took no new applications from 3 April 2025. Existing holders can renew.
• The Democratic Memory Law. The window for grandchildren of Spanish exiles to apply under this law closed on 22 October 2025. Files started in time continue. The one-year residence route above is separate and still open.

Money, tax and health care

For US citizens, the non-lucrative visa fee is USD 140 from 1 January 2026, plus USD 13 for the residence permit fee paid at the consulate. Other fees vary by consulate and route.

Spending 183 days or more a year in Spain makes you a Spanish tax resident, taxed on worldwide income. Non-lucrative visa holders need that much time in Spain to renew, so plan for Spanish tax. Spain also levies a wealth tax in most regions. People who move to Spain for work, including teleworkers, may be able to choose the Beckham regime: 24% on Spanish employment income up to EUR 600,000 for the year of arrival plus five years. You must elect it within six months of registering with Spanish Social Security. Americans also keep filing US tax returns. Speak to a tax adviser who knows both systems.

For health care, non-lucrative visa holders rely on their private policy at first. After a year of registration on the local town register (the padrón), residents without public cover can usually join the national health system through the “convenio especial”. The 2014 national order set EUR 60 a month under 65 and EUR 157 at 65 or over. Each region runs the scheme and may charge differently.

Timeline and your first 90 days

1. Order documents early. Non-lucrative applicants from the US need an FBI check issued within six months, with a federal apostille and a certified Spanish translation. A state apostille on an FBI check is rejected. You also need a medical certificate issued within 90 days.
2. Apply at your consulate. Each US state is covered by a specific consulate. The Los Angeles consulate states a legal maximum of three months to decide a non-lucrative application. Teleworkers already in Spain on a legal stay can apply to the UGE instead, which must decide within 20 days. No reply in that time counts as approval.
3. Arrive and get your TIE card. Apply for your foreigner identity card within one month of arrival.
4. Register locally. Sign up on the padrón at your town hall. It starts the clock for public health cover and many local services.

What catches people out

• “Non-lucrative” means no work at all. Remote work for a US, Canadian or UK employer is still work. Use the teleworker route instead.
• The 183-day renewal rule. You must live in Spain at least 183 days each calendar year to renew a non-lucrative permit.
• Citizenship means renouncing. Ordinary naturalisation takes 10 years of residence for US, Canadian and UK citizens. Spain then asks you to formally renounce your old nationality. Whether your home country recognises that renunciation is a separate question.
• Old figures linger online. Income thresholds move each year with the minimum wage and IPREM. Use the current year’s figure.

This is general information, not legal, tax or immigration advice. Confirm every requirement with your consulate or the UGE before you apply.