Spain residency for Americans: the visas and how to get one

Residency in Spain means holding a residence authorisation and the card that proves it, the TIE. Without one, a US citizen is limited to 90 days in any 180 in the Schengen area. This page compares the routes and explains the steps they share. The linked guides cover each one in detail.

The main routes for Americans

	Non-lucrative visa	Digital nomad visa	Work or self-employment visa
Who it suits	Retirees and others living on passive income or savings	Remote employees and freelancers with foreign employers or clients	People with a Spanish job offer or a business plan
Money required	Roughly €29,000 a year for one person, more per dependant	Roughly €2,700 to €2,900 a month, more per dependant	A contract, or a funded plan
Work in Spain	No	Remote work for foreign clients; limited Spanish clients for freelancers	Yes, as authorised
Apply where	Spanish consulate in the US	Consulate, or inside Spain	Usually starts in Spain with the employer, then the consulate
First grant	1 year	1 year from a consulate, up to 3 years if applied for in Spain	Usually 1 year

• Non-lucrative visa: requirements and steps
• Digital nomad visa: requirements and how to apply
• The golden visa has ended: what to use instead
• NIE number and TIE card
• Spanish citizenship

These figures are approximate. They are set in euros as a multiple of an official index or the minimum wage, both of which can change each year. Confirm the current amount with the consulate or an immigration lawyer before you apply.

Other routes

• Work visa. A Spanish employer applies for your work authorisation first, and for most jobs has to show the post couldn’t be filled locally. Highly qualified roles have a faster track.
• Self-employment and entrepreneur visas. For people starting a business or working for themselves in Spain, based on a business plan. The entrepreneur route is for innovative businesses and is assessed by a government agency.
• Student visa. For full-time study. It allows limited work and counts only partly toward long-term residency.
• Family routes. Spouses, partners and some relatives of Spanish and other EU citizens apply for a family member’s residence card, which is a separate and usually easier process. Family of non-EU residents use family reunification.

An immigration lawyer can tell you quickly whether one of these fits better than the two main visas.

Requirements most routes share

• A passport with enough validity, usually at least a year.
• A criminal record certificate from each country you have lived in over the last several years. For Americans this is an FBI background check with an apostille.
• A medical certificate stating you have no disease of public health concern.
• Health cover: private Spanish insurance or, for workers, Spanish Social Security.
• Sworn Spanish translations of foreign documents.
• The visa and residence fees. The consulate fee for US citizens is higher than the standard one.

How to get residency in Spain

1. Check which route you qualify for against the current income figures.
2. Collect documents in the right order. Background checks and medical certificates are generally accepted for only about three months.
3. Apply. For the non-lucrative visa, apply to the Spanish consulate that covers your US state. Some consulates take applications through an outside visa centre.
4. Wait for the decision, commonly one to three months for consulate applications. Digital nomad applications made inside Spain are decided faster.
5. Collect the visa and travel within its validity.
6. Register at the town hall and apply for your TIE within a month of arriving. See NIE and TIE.
7. Renew on time. Renewal can be filed from 60 days before the card expires.

Steps 6 and 7 happen in Spanish and depend on appointments that are scarce in the big cities. This is where most people use an immigration lawyer or gestor.

From temporary to long-term residency

Stage	What happens
Years 1 to 5	Temporary residence, renewed as your visa type requires
After 5 years	Long-term residency: live and work in Spain indefinitely. The card is renewed every five years, the status isn’t.
After 10 years	Most Americans can apply for Spanish citizenship

Time abroad matters. To renew a non-lucrative permit you generally need to have spent more than half the year in Spain, and long absences can break the five-year count for long-term residency. Keep your boarding passes and passport stamps.

What residency doesn’t do

• It doesn’t give you the right to work unless your authorisation says so.
• It doesn’t give you free public healthcare on most routes. See healthcare in Spain.
• It doesn’t decide your tax position, but living in Spain for more than half the year usually does. See taxes in Spain.
• It doesn’t let you live in other EU countries. You can visit the rest of the Schengen area for up to 90 days in any 180.

Common questions

What are the requirements for residency in Spain?

It depends on the visa. The non-lucrative visa requires passive income or savings of roughly €29,000 a year for one person and private health insurance, and doesn't allow work. The digital nomad visa requires remote income of roughly €2,700 to €2,900 a month from outside Spain. Both need a clean criminal record and a valid passport.

How long does it take to get residency in Spain?

Allow four to six months from starting your documents to holding a resident card. Gathering the FBI check, apostilles and translations often takes longer than the consulate's decision, which commonly arrives within one to three months.

How do you get permanent residency in Spain?

After five years of continuous legal residence you can apply for long-term residency, which lets you live and work in Spain indefinitely. Long absences during the five years can break the count, so keep a record of your travel.

Can a US citizen get residency in Spain by buying a house?

Not any more. The golden visa, which gave residency for a property purchase of €500,000 or more, ended in April 2025. Americans can still buy property, but owning it doesn't give you the right to live in Spain.