How to Move to Spain as a US Citizen: Visas, Documents, and Taxes

Moving to Spain as a US citizen means securing a long-stay visa at a Spanish consulate in the United States before you fly, then converting that visa into a residency card within 30 days of landing. Which visa you apply for depends on whether you plan to live off savings, work remotely, study, take a job with a Spanish employer, or join family already living there. The stakes for getting it right are real: a mistake at the consulate can push your move back by months, and missing the post-arrival steps can put your legal status in Spain at risk.

Pick the Visa That Matches Your Situation

Spain offers several long-stay visas for non-EU nationals. Each has its own income floor, work rules, and paperwork, so the first real decision is which pathway fits your life.

Non-Lucrative Visa

This is the route for people who can support themselves without working in Spain: retirees, early retirees, and anyone living off savings, pensions, or investments. You cannot work for a Spanish employer or run a business in Spain on this visa.

The financial requirement is 400% of Spain’s IPREM, a government income benchmark. For 2026, that works out to roughly €2,400 per month, or about €28,800 per year, for a single applicant. Each additional family member adds 100% of the IPREM, about €600 per month. You document this with bank statements, pension records, or investment account statements.¹

Digital Nomad Visa

If you work remotely for a company based outside Spain, the digital nomad visa (officially the telework visa) lets you keep your foreign employer or freelance clients while living in Spain. You can work for a Spanish company too, but no more than 20% of your total professional activity can come from Spanish clients.

To qualify, you need a university degree, a recognized postgraduate credential, or at least three years of professional experience in your field. The income requirement is 200% of Spain’s minimum interprofessional salary (SMI). After the SMI increase in early 2026, that sits at approximately €2,849 per month for a single applicant. A spouse adds about €1,069 per month and each child about €357. The visa fee for US citizens is $190 as of January 2026.²

This visa also opens the door to the Beckham Law, a special tax regime covered further down.

Student Visa

A student visa requires an acceptance letter from a Spanish institution accredited by the government, spelling out the program’s duration and weekly study hours. You’ll need to show enough money to cover living expenses for the full program. Student visa holders can work up to 30 hours per week as long as the job doesn’t overlap with class time and doesn’t become your primary means of support.

Work Visa

A work visa starts with your Spanish employer, not with you. The employer must first obtain an authorization for residence and employment (Autorización de Residencia y Trabajo) from the Spanish government. Only after that comes through do you apply for the visa at your consulate, and you have just one month from the notification to submit. That makes this a hard path to pursue on your own initiative, since it depends on an employer willing to work through Spanish labor bureaucracy.

Family Reunification Visa

If your spouse, children, or dependent parents already hold legal residency in Spain, they can bring you in through family reunification. The Spanish resident applies first for an initial authorization from the provincial government office covering their home. You then apply at your consulate with documents proving the relationship: a marriage certificate for spouses, birth certificates for children, evidence of financial dependency for parents. The visa fee for US citizens is $140.³

The Golden Visa Is Gone

Older guides may point you toward Spain’s Golden Visa for investors. That program no longer exists. Organic Law 1/2025 eliminated all investment-based residency routes, including real estate purchases of €500,000 or more, government bond investments, and company share purchases. The law took effect on April 3, 2025, and the transitional application window closed at the end of that month. Buying property in Spain is still allowed; it just doesn’t earn you a visa.⁴

Gathering Your Documents

Every long-stay visa shares a core set of documents, plus category-specific extras. This is the most time-consuming part of the process, and several items have expiration dates or long lead times, so you have to sequence them carefully.

Across nearly all long-stay categories you’ll need:

A valid passport with at least four months of remaining validity and blank pages for the visa.
The completed national visa application form from your consulate’s website.
Recent passport-sized photos (specs vary slightly by consulate).
Private health insurance from a company authorized to operate in Spain, with full coverage across Spanish territory, no co-payments and no deductibles. The policy must cover hospitalization and medical transport.⁵
A medical certificate from a doctor stating you do not suffer from drug addiction, mental illness, or any disease posing a public health risk under the International Health Regulations of 2005. The certificate must reference those regulations by name.⁶
A criminal background check: an FBI Identity History Summary, and possibly state-level checks depending on your consulate. These must be recent, typically issued within the past three to five months.

FBI Check and Apostille

Start the FBI check early. You submit fingerprints through an approved channeler or directly to the FBI, pay the fee, and wait for results. Once the report is in hand, it needs a federal apostille from the US Department of State’s Office of Authentications. The apostille fee is $20 per document. Mail-in processing runs about five weeks. Walk-in drop-off at the State Department takes roughly seven business days. Same-day emergency appointments exist only for genuine life-or-death situations.⁷

Sworn Translations

Any document not originally in Spanish, including your FBI report, birth certificate, marriage certificate, and medical certificate, must be translated by a sworn translator (traductor jurado) certified by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Certified sworn translations of legal documents typically run $20 to $25 per page, though rates vary. Get quotes before your other documents are finalized so translations don’t become the bottleneck.¹

Applying at Your Spanish Consulate

You must apply at the Spanish consulate whose jurisdiction covers your permanent US address. Spain divides the country into consular districts, and consulates will not accept applications from outside their territory. Check your consulate’s website for its district before doing anything else.⁸

All consulates require an appointment; walk-ins are not accepted. You can apply up to 180 days before your planned travel date, and must submit at least 15 days in advance. At the appointment you’ll hand in your documents, answer questions about your plans, and may give biometric data. Most decisions come within 15 calendar days, though complex cases can take up to 45. If approved, the consulate affixes the visa to your passport.

Work backward from your intended move date. Between the FBI check, apostille processing, sworn translations, and consulate appointment availability, the document phase alone can run two to three months.

Your First Month in Spain

The visa gets you into the country. It is not your final residency document. Two administrative steps need to happen quickly after you land, and the clock starts the day you enter.

Empadronamiento

Head to the town hall (Ayuntamiento) where you’ll be living to complete the empadronamiento, which is your official address registration. Bring your passport and proof of address, such as a rental contract or utility bill. Registration is free and usually quick, and it’s a prerequisite for almost everything that follows: your residency card, public services, and school enrollment for children.

NIE and TIE Within 30 Days

You have 30 calendar days from entering Spain to apply for your Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero (TIE), the physical card that proves your residency status. Missing this deadline can bring fines or complications with your residency.⁹

The TIE application requires an appointment at a Foreigners’ Office (Oficina de Extranjería) or a designated police station. You’ll need your passport, visa, empadronamiento certificate, passport-sized photos, the completed EX-17 form, and proof that you’ve paid the government fee known as Tasa 790, code 012. That fee for an initial temporary residence TIE is €16.08.¹⁰

Your TIE card displays your NIE (Número de Identificación de Extranjero), a unique number that follows you permanently in Spain. You’ll use it to open a bank account, sign a lease, pay taxes, and deal with any government office. The NIE stays the same even as the TIE card gets renewed over the years.

Taxes Once You Live in Spain

Taxes trip up more US expats in Spain than any other issue, because you’re potentially filing in two countries. Americans owe the IRS regardless of where they live, and once you establish tax residency in Spain, you owe there too.

When Spain Considers You a Tax Resident

Spain treats you as a tax resident if you spend more than 183 days in a calendar year on Spanish territory, or if Spain is the center of your economic or vital interests. Tax residents pay Spain’s progressive income tax (IRPF) on their worldwide income, with rates that can reach 47% depending on your autonomous community. Non-residents are taxed only on Spanish-source income.

The Beckham Law

If you’re moving to Spain for work, whether through a digital nomad visa, a work contract, or a company transfer, you may qualify for the Beckham Law (Régimen Especial de Trabajadores Desplazados). This regime taxes your income at a flat 24% on earnings up to €600,000, with a 45% rate above that. The savings against standard progressive rates are substantial at higher incomes. The regime also exempts you from Spain’s wealth tax on assets located outside the country.

To qualify, you must not have been a Spanish tax resident during the five years before your move, and your relocation must be tied to employment or qualifying professional activity. You apply using Form 149 within six months of registering with Spanish Social Security, and the benefits last up to six years. Freelancers and self-employed people working for their own clients are generally not eligible, though remote employees of foreign companies on the digital nomad visa can qualify.

Your US Filings Continue

Moving to Spain does not end your US tax obligations. As a US citizen, you must keep filing an annual federal tax return reporting your worldwide income, no matter where you live or earn it. Two additional reports catch many expats off guard:

FBAR (FinCEN Form 114): if the combined value of your foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any point during the year, you must report them to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The deadline is April 15, with an automatic extension to October 15.¹¹
FATCA (Form 8938): if you live abroad and your foreign financial assets exceed $200,000 on the last day of the tax year (or $300,000 at any point during the year) for single filers, you must attach Form 8938 to your return. Joint filers face thresholds of $400,000 and $600,000.¹¹

Spanish tax residents holding foreign assets over €50,000 in any of three categories (bank accounts, securities, or real estate outside Spain) also owe an informational filing, the Modelo 720, between January 1 and March 31 each year. Beckham Law participants are exempt.

Avoiding Double Taxation

The US-Spain tax treaty allocates taxing rights between the two countries. In practice, most Americans in Spain avoid paying twice on the same income through the Foreign Tax Credit (IRS Form 1116), which lets you offset your US tax liability by the Spanish tax you’ve already paid on that income. Since Spanish rates are generally higher, the credit often wipes out your US bill on Spanish-taxed income. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (Form 2555) is another option if you qualify based on physical presence abroad.¹²

One quirk to know: the treaty includes a “reserve clause” that lets the US tax its citizens as if the treaty didn’t exist. When the US exercises that right, the burden of eliminating double taxation shifts to the US side. A cross-border tax advisor familiar with both systems earns their fee in your first year or two.

Healthcare

Your visa application requires private health insurance, so you’re covered from day one. Spain also has a well-regarded public system, and getting into it is worth understanding.

If you’re employed in Spain or registered as self-employed (autónomo), your Social Security contributions automatically entitle you to public healthcare. If you’re not working, such as on a non-lucrative visa, you can buy into the public system through the Convenio Especial. The monthly cost is €60 under 65 and €157 if you’re 65 or older.¹³

Most expats keep private insurance for the first year or two regardless, since it’s required for visa renewals and gives faster specialist access. Once you have long-term residency or are paying into Social Security, the public system becomes your primary safety net.

Renewals, Absence Limits, and What Comes Next

Your initial TIE card is typically valid for one year, with renewals generally granted in two-year blocks after that. Start the renewal process within 60 days before your card expires; a 90-day grace period after expiration is typically allowed. To renew you’ll need to show you still meet the original visa’s conditions: sufficient income, valid health insurance, and continued residence in Spain.

How Long You Can Be Out of the Country

Spain takes physical presence seriously. In any given year, you cannot be outside Spain for more than six consecutive months without jeopardizing your residency. Over the five-year period leading to long-term residency, your total absences must not exceed one year combined. Exceeding these limits can get your renewal denied.

The 183-day threshold also matters for taxes. Spend more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year and you’re a tax resident, owing on your worldwide income. For non-lucrative visa holders, staying enough to keep residency and hitting the tax residency threshold are basically the same thing.

Long-Term Residency After Five Years

After five continuous years of legal residency, you can apply for long-term residency (residencia de larga duración). This status lets you live and work in Spain indefinitely, without meeting the original visa’s financial or employment conditions. The physical card still needs renewal every five years, but the underlying right to reside is permanent as long as you don’t leave EU territory for 12 consecutive months.¹⁴

Citizenship After Ten Years

US citizens can apply for Spanish citizenship by naturalization after ten continuous years of legal residency. Shorter timelines apply to nationals of Latin American countries, the Philippines, and a few other nations with historical ties to Spain, but Americans face the full decade.¹⁵

You’ll often see warnings that Spain requires you to renounce your US citizenship to naturalize. The reality is more nuanced. Spanish law does require a formal declaration renouncing your previous nationality during the naturalization ceremony. However, US law does not recognize that Spanish declaration as a valid loss of US citizenship unless you specifically intended to give it up, and the US State Department applies a strong presumption that you did not. In practice, most Americans who naturalize as Spanish citizens keep both nationalities. Spain treats you as Spanish, the US treats you as American, and both passports remain valid.¹⁶

1
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation. Non-Working (Non-Lucrative) Residence Visa
2
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation. Telework (Digital Nomad) Visa
3
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation. General Scheme for the Family Reunification Visa
4
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation. Investor Visa
5
Immigration Spain. Spanish Health Insurance for Residency and Foreigners
6
Consulate General of Spain in Los Angeles. Medical Certificate of Good Health
7
U.S. Department of State. Requesting Authentication Services
8
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation. Consular Jurisdiction – Consular Services
9
InnoLegals. How Long Do You Have to Apply for Your TIE Once You Arrive in Spain
10
National Police Spain. Foreigner Tax
11
IRS. Summary of FATCA Reporting for US Taxpayers
12
Agencia Tributaria. The United States
13
Ministerio de Sanidad. Special Agreement on Healthcare Provision
14
Gobierno de España. Permanent Residence (More Than Five Years)
15
Gobierno de España. Acquiring Nationality
16
U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Spain and Andorra. Renunciations