You freelance, you plan to invoice from Spain, you know the country has a permit for remote work, and you assume your business fits. Review it the way the authorities will: six mistakes and the rule that corrects each one.
Having clients is not the same as having contracts
In law, the so-called digital nomad permit is international remote work (Articles 74 bis to 74 quinquies of Law 14/2013): for adults from outside the EU, the European Economic Area and Switzerland who work solely by telematic means.
As a freelancer, you come in through the professional route: a commercial relationship of at least three months, as of the application date, with one or more companies not located in Spain, proven with the contract and its terms and conditions. Those companies also need at least one year of real and continuous activity, according to the certificate from their commercial register or equivalent.
A scenario: a developer has invoiced a U.S. agency for two years; for two months, he has also invoiced a British company that used to have him on staff; and he invoices an Australian startup that has been operating for eight months. The agency works if there is a contract, not just emails. With the British company, two months fall short of three, and the time on staff does not count: a previous employment relationship does not prove a professional one. The startup falls short of the year.
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The 2026 minimum: gross and in your name
The threshold depends on the SMI (minimum interprofessional wage, Spain’s legal minimum wage), set for 2026 at 14 payments of €1,221: €17,094 a year (Royal Decree 126/2026).
Whether you apply at a Spanish consulate for the visado nómada digital España, as Spain’s digital nomad visa is known in Spanish, or for the residence permit while already lawfully in Spain, the 2026 minimum for the main applicant is €2,849 gross per month: twice the annual SMI spread over twelve months. Some websites publish €2,442, twice a single payment; the prudent benchmark is €2,849. Each family member adds €1,068.38 (the first) or €356.13 (each one after that).
“Gross” means before taxes and social security contributions. Before the Large Companies and Strategic Groups Unit (UGE), which processes applications filed from Spain, the official documentation for the main applicant asks for invoices for the three months before the application and a bank certificate for those months, in your name and stamped or signed by the bank, with the payments for those invoices marked separately: they must match.
If you fall short of the minimum, the difference must be covered, for the entire validity of the residence permit, with savings or other liquid income proven with bank certificates in your name.
Spanish clients: up to 20% and never on the payroll
Working for companies in Spain is possible under three conditions: it must not exceed 20% of your total professional activity, it must be as a freelancer and never under an employment contract, and you must keep your relationship with the foreign company you based your application on. If a Spanish company offers the developer a half-time staff position, the answer is no; a project invoiced within that 20%, yes.
Paying contributions at home does not replace RETA
Article 15 of the General Social Security Act requires anyone who is self-employed in Spain to register with RETA, the scheme for self-employed workers.
The UGE’s official FAQ spells it out: unlike an employee, a self-employed person cannot replace that registration with coverage from their home country under a bilateral agreement. If you do not register after approval and this is detected in a review, termination of the residence permit is in order (Seventh Additional Provision of Law 14/2013), including for your dependent family members.
Don’t count on the Beckham Law either (the inbound expatriates tax regime, Article 93 of the Personal Income Tax Act): its remote-work route is for people who perform employment activity remotely, as employees. A freelancer could only qualify through an entrepreneurial activity or as a highly qualified professional who works for start-ups or in training, research, development and innovation activities.
Invoicing through your own company: a restrictive approach
If you invoice through your own company (an LLC or a limited company) and you are its sole owner or have effective control of it, the official documentation treats you as an autónomo societario, a self-employed person working through their own company. The length of the relationship is presumed if you prove full ownership and that the company has had real and continuous activity for more than a year. You also provide proof of ownership or control, the latest corporate income tax return, investments in productive assets and a report from your home country’s social security body with the history of employees. In the absence of invoices, income is proven with your personal tax return for the previous year.
That said, in 2026 these files are examined under a restrictive processing approach. No published rule or instruction excludes the autónomo societario, but in practice the authorities look at whether the company has real substance: clients, investments, tax returns filed and, if there are any, employees.
A file that explains itself
The UGE considers it advisable to attach an explanatory letter, especially when the documents do not exactly match what is requested. It is not mandatory, but with several clients it lets you explain who each one is, how long you have worked with them and where each payment is.
What is required is the contract setting out the terms of each relationship and a letter from the foreign company authorizing the work from Spain, with duties, pay in euros and conditions. Anything not in Spanish needs, as a general rule, a sworn translation; foreign public documents also need an apostille or legalization.
Almost everything is decided before you file: in your contracts, in your bank account and in the way your business is set up. And the minimum changes every year with the SMI: check which year the figures are from.
