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Spain Retirement Visa Key Summary:
The Non-Lucrative Residence Visa is often called a retirement visa, as the visa does not allow you to work or conduct any economic activity. But, the Non-Lucrative Visa is a long-term stay visa that allows you to live in Spain without an age limitation. If you meet the minimum passive income requirement of €25,560 annually, you have a path to legally stay in Europe long-term.
Quick Facts On Retiring To Spain
Watch Out For Foreign Exchange Fees. The best way to save money in Spain is by using Wise to transfer money and make payments in Euro. Wise offers you the best exchange rates and lowest bank fees.
Do Get Travel Health Insurance. Your home insurance will not cover emergency healthcare overseas, but you can find affordable travel insurance for less than $50 that will cover your medical bills in Spain.
Do learn some basic Spanish phases. 22% of Spanish people speak English. Learning some basic Spanish language helps. Get a FREE Language Lesson using the same learning technique used by the US State Department, FBI, and overseas military.
Be Careful With Expat Taxes. Spanish authorities may consider you a tax resident after 183 days in Spain. Get a FREE consult with an expat tax specialist to understand how taxes in Spain can impact you.
Retiring in Spain: Quick Facts
Currency: Euro
Languages: Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Occitan
Capital: Madrid
Cost of Living
Total living expenses including rent are ~46% LESS than the Cost of Living in the US. While Madrid and Barcelona, ranked in the Top 100 most expensive cities in the world, the smaller towns, even on the desirable Mediterranean coast are surprisingly affordable.
Health Care
Spain ranks 10th in the World, when comparing overall quality of the health care system: equipment, staff, doctors, cost, etc. The US ranks 29th.
English Score
Only 22% of the country's population speaks English as a second language. However, the ones that speak English, speak well.
Quality of Life
An extremely high Quality of Life driven by low cost of living, affordable rents, low crime, and sunny moderate temperatures.
Are you ready to Retire Early? Ready to dip your toes in the warm water of the Mediterranean? Or sip refreshingly boozy sangrias in a cosmopolitan European city? What about enjoying a mid-day siesta in a charming Old World villa? Spain offers warm sunny beaches with the ease of developed European infrastructure and a surprisingly Low Cost of Living. The entire region is a dream destination for early retirement and Spain's Non Lucrative Visa is how to make it happen.
Other Guides On Expat Life In The Spain
The 2nd largest country in Southern Europe, Spain has a vast changing landscape. There is the natural beauty of the Costa Del Sol Mediterranean beaches, Sierra Nevada mountains, and the Northern vineyards along with the rich culture, arts, and social nightlife you would expect from major European cities. High-speed train and bus routes crisscross Spain to allow for easy exploring and intra-country travel. From Madrid, you can swim on the southern coast in four hours or enjoy tapas in Barcelona in three hours. Madrid and Barcelona are the main airports connecting Spain with the rest of Europe and the World.
What Visa Does an American Need To Visit Spain?
If you are from the United States and Canada, you can enter Spain Visa Free. Spain is part of the Schengen Agreement allowing short-term stays for up to 90 days out of every 180 days. That is 90 days for ALL the 26 European countries that comprise the Schengen Area. There are no renewals or extensions allowed. You can stay for 90 days, but then you must leave the entire Schengen area for 90 days before you can return.
Do I Need A Tourist Visa To Enter Spain?
Spain is part of the Schengen Agreement allowing citizens of 63 countries visa-exempt travel to any of the 26 European Union countries in the "Schengen Area."
The USA and the UK are 2 of the 63 countries that can enter Spain without a visa for up to 90 days out of every 180 day period. No renewals or extensions of the visa are allowed.
Citizens of countries requiring a Schengen tourist visa, will need to apply at the Spanish Consulate in your country of origin. You can locate the Immigrant visa requirements on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.
How Can A US Citizen Legally Stay Long Term in Spain?
This short-term visa works if you want to travel through the cities and get an idea of where you’d like to live long-term. Once you chose a city right for you, you must obtain a long-stay visa from the Spanish embassy of your HOME country. You cannot apply for a Spanish Retirement Visa while you are in the country.
For people working toward Financial Independence and Early Retirement, residing in Spain can help accelerate those goals. If you have passive income sufficient to support yourself and your dependents, you may apply for a Non Lucrative Residence Visa. As this visa does not allow you to work in Spain, your income must come from passive sources: investments, rental income, annuities, retirement pension, etc.
Another way to stay in Spain is if your partner is an EU citizen, then a partnership visa might be your ideal solution. I have a detailed article on the Unmarried Partnership Visa for Spain here.
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Can A Brit Retire To Spain After Brexit?
Yes, citizens of the UK can apply for a Non-Lucrative Visa and retire in Spain. The rules that changed after Brexit only meant you lost the special privileges EU citizens enjoyed.
Post-Brexit, British expats now have the same rights as other 3rd country nationals: US, Canada, etc. UK citizens can follow the same retirement visa and residency process detailed below like other non-EU citizens.
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How Long Does It Take To Process the Visa Application?
Your visa can take between 3-weeks to 3-months or more to process. Three key factors determine the processing time.
- Is your application missing any requirements? This is the biggest delay. If you are missing any documentation, the Consulate will request additional information. More information means hunting for the requested info, getting another apostille, and certified translation. You must submit all documents in person, which means making another appointment. Meanwhile, your application sits there in limbo.
- Is the local Spanish Embassy or Consulate you are assigned a popular one? If the Consulate has a backlog of applications, your visa application is another one in the pile.
- What mood your Visa Administrator is? Your contact at the Consulate has the power to make the application process a nightmare. The burden of proof is on the applicant to show they meet the requirements. If your administrator is skeptical of anything in your application, the process drags.
The last two points are out of your control. But, the first, and also the biggest potential delay is the is 100% under your control. The visa application process is a beast of paperwork. Use this document organizer to ensure you don't miss an essential forms.
What Does It Cost to Retire in Spain?
Income requirements for a Non Lucrative Visa are a relatively low ~$30,453/€25,816 annually, plus ~$7,613/€6,454 per each additional family member. These minimum income requirements covert to roughly $2,550 per month for a single person or $3,150 per month for a couple.
Assuming a 4% Safe Withdrawal Rate (SWR), you can move to Spain with a retirement nest egg of roughly $722,125.
*US Dollar amounts using estimated exchange rate of 1 EUR to 1.18 USD.
How Long Can I Live in Spain on a Non Lucrative Visa?
The Non Lucrative Residence Visa is a temporary residence permit valid for two years but is renewable, provided you still meet the financial requirements and you have lived at least 183 days in Spain each year. After five years of holding the temporary residence permit, you will be eligible for permanent residency, allowing you to live and work in Spain indefinitely. After ten years of continuous Spanish residency (five years temporary residency and five years permanent residency), you may be eligible for Spanish Citizenship.
*INSIDER TIP*: Spanish Territory Citizenship- People born in the Philippines, Andorra, Spanish-American countries (like Colombia), Equatorial Guinea, Portugal, as well as individuals with Jewish Sephardic origin, are eligible for Spain citizenship after two years of Spanish residency.
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Do Americans Retiring To Spain Still Pay US Taxes?
Maybe. Even after acquiring Spanish residency or citizenship, Americans abroad must file a personal income tax return every year with the IRS.
However, Spain has a double taxation treaty with the US. To understand how to minimize your expat tax liability, speak with a tax specialist for details.
What Are the Requirements for a Spain Retirement Visa?
Health Insurance Requirements
You will need public or private health insurance either with a health insurance company in Spain or another medical insurance equivalent to Spain's National Health System that explicitly covers you while you are a Spanish resident.
Will My Home Country Health Insurance Cover Me?
Most likely no. Most health insurance will not cover you for any injuries sustained outside your home country. You will either need to get Spanish medical insurance or Expat Medical Insurance.
If you retire abroad, expat health insurance is a more complete option. Expat Medical Insurance is the "normal" insurance you are familiar with to from home. Coverage is built for expats outside the US and insurance premiums are much cheaper than in the US.
What Documents Do I Need To Apply for A Non Lucrative Visa?
Documents, Documents, Documents. The application process to retire in Spain is a beast of paperwork. We created this FREE Document Organizer to ensure you don't miss any of the 22 REQUIRED forms.
Spanish Retirement Visa Application Forms
Home Country (US) Official Documents
Pretty much every document you submit to the Spanish consulate for your application will need a "certified translation" and an Apostille.
What is an Apostille?
An apostille is a certification that a document is “legal” or “authentic” by a Federal or State agency. Basically, it's one government (the US) certifying that the document you are sending to another government (Spain) is legitimate. After your document is apostilled, the document will be attached with an official seal. DO NOT attempt to separate the document from the seal.
For Federal documents (FBI Background Check), your document will need to be apostilled by the State Department in Washington, DC. For state level documents (state police background checks, marriage licenses, birth certificates, etc.), you must get these documents apostilled in the state they were issued. If you lived in several states in the last five years, you will need documents AND separate apostilles from each state.
What is a certified translation?
Spain is very particular about this. Any documents that are submitted in English MUST be translated into Spanish by a Sworn Spanish translator certified by the Government of Spain. The latest list of official translators can be found at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs website. Be prepared to pay between $35 to $50 per page for certified translations. This was easily the biggest expense for my application.
Note that Apostilles must also be translated, but translations DO NOT need to be apostilled. Get your documents Apostilled first, then send everything over to the translator.
Passports and Photos
Optional For Non-US citizens residing in the US: Alien Residence Card (Green-Card) or residence visa valid in the USA. Original and photocopy. Please note, B-1 and B-2 Visa holders cannot apply in the United States. You will need to apply in your home country.
Medical Documents
Additional Documentation
Required Documents for Spouse and Dependent Children of Primary Applicant
In addition to the documents above, your spouse will need a lot of the same documents you need. The easiest way to keep track of everything is using our FREE Document Organizer.
What Is Proof of Income vs Proof of Funds?
Ideally, you will have verifiable Proof of Income equal to or greater than €2,152 per month. Proving your income is straightforward if you have easily documented income: annuities, social security, state pension, etc. If you are are like me (and most early retirees), your ability to fund early retirement is through assets: stocks, ETFs, and/or real estate. You will need Proof of Funds to convince the consulate you have enough savings to support yourself.
This is where it gets tricky. The Consulate gets to decide how they want you to prove you have sufficient savings. The Visa Administrators can request more documents at their discretion, until you can prove to them that you can meet the income requirements.
I've known some people who had to show 6 months of bank statements, while I was asked to only show my most recent. I've known a husband and wife who showed a net worth of less than $700,000 and was approved. As a single person, I showed over $1,000,000 in net worth AND $1500 in monthly rental income and my Visa Administrator was still skeptical.
Can I work doing Digital Nomad, Remote, or Location Independent work while on a Spanish Non Lucrative Visa?
Short answer, no. Non Lucrative means no money. Long answer, maybe? This is another topic that is up to the discretion of the Visa Administrator. I have read about people who successfully argued that all their income came from outside of Spain, that none of their clients were Spanish, and that they had to plans to attract new clients in Spain.
I have also read Immigration Attorneys suggesting that Spanish Consulates are no longer allowing remote work on Non Lucrative Visas. The safe answer is do not count on working and prepare to show sufficient Proof of Funds.
Benefits of Retiring To Spain
Live Legally in Europe Long-Term with a Spanish Retirement Visa
Pros
Cons
Conclusions: Retiring To Spain
With no minimum age requirements, a reasonable income requirement, first-class infrastructure and health care, a low Cost of Living, and a High Quality of Life, Spain should be on the top of the list of anyone looking to Retire Early in Europe.
Retiring To Spain Key Takeaway:
Warm climate, European charm, and Low Cost of Living make Spain an ideal Early Retirement destination.
If Early Retirement is in your future, you can enjoy a European lifestyle, First Class infrastructure, and some of the best food and wine around for about 50% less than the US. In Spain, you really can have it all: sunny beaches, scenic mountains, sprawling vineyards, and sophisticated cities. And, even better, living here is a fraction of the cost of the US, Canada, or the UK. Spain has one of the lowest costs of living across all of the EU. If you’ve ever dreamed of an affordable European retirement, it's time to check out Spain.
photo credit: Miradortigre/Photopin
FAQs: Retiring To Spain
There is NO Spanish language requirement.
Unlike many other countries' retirement visas, Spain allows anyone over the age of 18 years old to apply. The Spanish Non Lucrative Visa ideal for Early Retirees.
After residing in Spain for 10 continuous years, you qualify for Spanish Citizenship. However, dual citizenship is only available in LIMITED circumstances. Most US citizens would have to give up their US citizenship.
To start, you will need to show:
- Income sufficient to support yourself
- Proof of private Spanish medical insurance
- Police background checks from your country of residence
Next Steps: Find out more about retiring in Spain. View my guides to the Best Cities In Spain to Retire.
Are you looking to retire to Spain? Be prepared for LOTS of paperwork. The easiest way to ensure you don't miss a form is to use our FREE Document Organizer with the 22 REQUIRED forms you need to retire to Spain.
Looking for More Information About Living in Spain? Check Out These Articles
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Useful External Websites For Legal Immigration
Hola! Thank you for this super informative article. I have a question I am hoping you can help me answer as I can’t seem to find info about this anywhere. If you are a US citizen and approved for the non-lucrative visa, are you able to travel outside of Spain (into other Schengen countries) if you’ve spent all 180 days in Spain? (meaning, does the 180-day Schengen rule no longer apply to you as long as you hold Spain’s non-lucrative visa?) Thank you so much in advance for your input/answer.
Hi Amy,
Yes, you can travel to other Schengen countries even if you spend 180 days in Spain. Your time living in Spain with the Non-Lucrative Visa does not count against your Schengen days. You can spend 180 days in Spain and then up to another 90 days in the Schengen area.
Any questions or concerns, drop me a line.
Cheers,
Marco
Hi Marco, thanks for this very useful page!
Now, I have a question, how long do we need the proof of accommodation? How easy is to rent a home from USA? Could it be a short-term rent, such as 6 months?
After obtaining the visa and entering the country (Spain) how long do we need to stay before leaving, temporarily for vacation or so?
Thanks, your support would be much appreciated.
Nelson
Hi Nelson,
A 6-month rental is plenty of time. Short-term rentals are OK, but you’ll need someplace to use as your registered address in Spain. Not all landlords (and very few Airbnbs) will allow you to register, as it opens them up to government scrutiny and taxes. I’m not accusing anyone of trying to dodge taxes, but yeah…it may take some looking to find someone who allows you to register at a short-term rental.
Once you are granted your Non-Lucrative Visa (NLV), you have 3-months to register for a TIE (Foreigner’s Identity Card) in Spain. You’ll need to get your fingerprints taken at the police station in the municipality where you will be living to start the TIE process.
Once you have the TIE, you can start traveling outside Spain. However, you will need to live in Spain for at least 6-months out of the year to renew your NLV. Vacationing outside of Spain any longer than 6-months total, and the Spanish government will not consider you residing in Spain.
If you have any other questions, let me know.
Cheers,
Marco
Hi Marcos, thanks for your reply, I have further questions, if you do not mind:
1 – Is “Solicitud de Visado Nacional – Application for Long Term Visa” the same as National Visa Application?
2 – How and when do we obtain the NIE number?
3 – Besides the Insurance option indicated (Do Get Travel Health Insurance. Your home insurance will not cover emergency healthcare overseas, but you can find affordable travel insurance for less than $50 that will cover your medical bills in Spain.) can you indicated other options?
4 – Having a double nationality (USA and Venezuelan) and living in USA, could we (my wife and I) apply as Venezuelan citizens?
Some other questions may arise along the process, would you mind if I keep asking you?
Many thanks,
Nelson Gonzalez
Hi Nelson,
1 – Is “Solicitud de Visado Nacional – Application for Long Term Visa” the same as National Visa Application? yes, this is the same form. Also, note that you will need Form-EX01 in your application
2 – How and when do we obtain the NIE number? Your NIE number will be stamped on your visa.
3 – Besides the Insurance option indicated (Do Get Travel Health Insurance. Your home insurance will not cover emergency healthcare overseas, but you can find affordable travel insurance for less than $50 that will cover your medical bills in Spain.) can you indicated other options? Travel insurance is only valid if you were in Spain short-term. To apply for the NLV, you will need to purchase Spanish Health Insurance. I used ASEFA for roughly 55 Euros per month paid in 3-month increments. Though you could get 5% off by prepaying 12-months upfront.
4 – Having a double nationality (USA and Venezuelan) and living in USA, could we (my wife and I) apply as Venezuelan citizens? I also had dual citizenship from a former Spanish colony. I still used my stronger US passport to apply. However, I am not sure if you know, but people born in a former Spanish colony get a special fast-track option for Spanish citizenship, so your Venezuelan citizenship can still be helpful.
Good luck with your application. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Cheers,
Marco
How do i apply for a residency and work visa for spain for myself my wife and our friend .
my wife and i are both 60 our friend is 58 . I work in the construction industry and would like to live and work in Spain
Hi Dave,
Thanks for reaching out. Are you a citizen of the EU or EEA?
This information has been VERY Helpful. We are planning on moving to Spain in about 2 years and needed to get an idea how to begin. I will delve into more of your details as time permits. Thanks !
Hi Michael,
I’m glad you found it useful. If you want an overview of the essentials of expat life in Spain, you can start with our Expat Guide To Living In Spain.
If you have any questions, let me know.
Cheers,
Marco
Glad to have found a greatly helpful article on NLV application specifically one that is geared for a Filipino applicant (most articles I read are from the US)
Thanks Lesther! I’m glad you found it useful. Good luck with your application. Let me know if you have any other questions.