Spain · Passive income
Non-Lucrative Residence Visa (Visado de residencia no lucrativa)
Open. The income requirement is 400% of the IPREM for the main applicant, plus 100% of IPREM per dependant. This is widely quoted at roughly EUR 2,400/month for 2026, but the IPREM is fixed annually in the state budget and has been carried over in recent years.
The NLV is the closest thing left to a Spanish Golden Visa, and it is a poor substitute. No work is permitted at all, including remote work, on the reading most consulates apply. Tax residency at Spanish rates is mandatory, with full wealth-tax exposure. It is a retirement visa that UHNW families are now being pushed toward for want of alternatives, and the tax arithmetic frequently fails.
Qualifying routes
Roughly EUR 2,400/month (400% IPREM) for the main applicant, plus roughly EUR 600/month (100% IPREM) per dependant. Some consulates accept liquid savings in lieu of recurring income.
The facts
- Minimum
- €28.8k
- Total landed cost
- EUR 2–5k in consular and legal fees, plus mandatory private health insurance with no co-payments.
- Route type
- Income requirement
- Timeline
- 2–6 months (The consular decision typically arrives within 1–3 months. The TIE card is issued after arrival.)
- Physical presence
- 183+ days per year. The NLV requires you to be tax resident, and renewals are refused for absence.
- Family
- Spouse or registered partnerDependent childrenDependent ascendants
- Permanent residency
- 5 years
- Citizenship
- 10 years (2 for Ibero-American, Andorran, Filipino, Equatorial Guinean, Portuguese nationals and Sephardic Jews)
- Language test
- DELE A2 plus the CCSE test
- Dual citizenship
- Not permitted. You would have to renounce.
- Requirements
- non-EU/EEA/Swiss nationalsufficient passive income or savings at 400% IPREM plus 100% per dependantfull private health insurance from a Spanish-authorised insurer, no co-paymentsmedical certificate confirming no diseases with public health implicationsclean criminal record for the last 5 years, apostilledcommitment not to work in Spainresidence 183+ days per year
- No work of any kind is permitted, and most consulates read that to include remote work for foreign employers. Using an NLV as a covert digital nomad visa risks refusal at renewal. The DNV exists precisely for this.
- The NLV forces Spanish tax residency, which means worldwide income at up to 54%, Modelo 720 reporting, regional wealth tax and the Solidarity Tax on Large Fortunes. For a EUR 10m+ family this can be a seven-figure annual cost. The visa itself is cheap. The consequence is not.
- Regional wealth-tax planning has been largely neutralised. Madrid and Andalucia's 100% rebates on Patrimonio no longer help, because the state Solidarity Tax simply collects what the region forgoes.
- The IPREM figure is set annually and has been rolled over in recent budgets. Quoted 2026 thresholds vary between sources.
- Health insurance must be full-coverage, Spanish-authorised, with no co-payments and no waiting periods. Travel policies and many international plans are rejected.