Get your Spanish non-lucrative visa approved

The Spanish non-lucrative visa suits retirees, people living on pensions or savings, and others who can support themselves without working in Spain. For British nationals, it is a common route to residence in Spain after Brexit.

Delaguía y Luzón, a Spanish law firm advising international clients since 1960, handles these applications from document preparation to renewal. This post covers Spanish law and the Valencian angle, and readers should coordinate UK filings with their UK adviser.

Legal framework for the Spanish non-lucrative visa

The rules sit in Ley Orgánica 4/2000 on the rights and freedoms of foreigners in Spain and in its implementing regulation, Real Decreto 1155/2024, in force since 20 May 2025. The regulation repealed Real Decreto 557/2011.

Under article 61 of the regulation, the initial authorisation requires you to show:

• sufficient means to cover your living costs, and those of your family, for the period you want to stay, without working;
• health insurance;
• that you are not within a no-return commitment period after a voluntary return to your country;
• that you are not a threat to public order, public security or public health, which the immigration office checks through Spanish criminal records and a police report;
• payment of the processing fee.

The consulate also applies the general visa conditions in article 38. These include a passport valid for at least one year, no criminal record in the countries where you have lived in the last five years, and a medical certificate under the International Health Regulations 2005.

Who the Spanish non-lucrative visa is for

The visa suits people who can live in Spain on income or savings from outside the country. The authorisation does not allow work or professional activity in Spain, so employment by a Spanish company and self-employment in Spain are excluded. Our guide to becoming self-employed in Spain covers the routes that do allow it.

If your income comes from remote work, ask us whether this visa or the digital nomad visa fits your case, because consulates look at where your means come from. The green card, NIE and TIE guide explains the documents you receive once you are resident.

Financial requirements and the IPREM

Article 62 of Real Decreto 1155/2024 sets the minimum means, measured when you apply for the visa or the renewal:

• Main applicant: an amount equal to 400% of the IPREM each month.
• Each family member in your care: an additional 100% of the IPREM each month.

The IPREM is the public income indicator used as a benchmark for benefits. The SEPE page on annual amounts shows an IPREM of €600 a month and €7,200 a year for 2026, under the 2023 budget law.

Article 62(2) says the total you must hold is the monthly amount multiplied by the validity of the authorisation requested. The first authorisation lasts one year, so the calculation for 2026 is:

These figures follow from the IPREM of €600 a month and change if the IPREM changes. Article 62(3) lets you prove availability by any means admitted in law, including property titles, certified cheques or credit cards with a bank certificate. For accounts abroad, it requires the bank’s name and address, the account details, the opening date, the balance at 31 December of the previous year and the average balance of the last year.

The application process

You apply at the Spanish consulate for the place where you legally live, not from Spain on a tourist stay. The Spanish Consulate in London page lists the documents for applicants in its district:

1. the national visa application and the EX-01 residence form, both signed;
2. a recent passport photograph and a passport valid for at least one year with two blank pages;
3. proof of financial means and of health insurance;
4. criminal record certificates for the last five years, with an ACRO certificate for UK records;
5. a medical certificate issued within three months before the application;
6. proof of legal residence in the consular district and payment of the fee on form 790 code 052.

Foreign documents need an apostille or legalisation and a sworn translation into Spanish. The consulate’s legal period to decide is two months from the day after submission.

After approval

The visa incorporates the residence authorisation, under article 39 of the regulation, and the London consulate says it is valid for one year. Once in Spain, you have one month from entry to apply in person for the TIE under article 63.

Renewal

Under article 64 of the regulation, you apply to the immigration office in the two months before the authorisation expires, or within three months after it expires. To renew you must:

• hold a valid authorisation, or be within three months after its expiry;
• prove sufficient means under article 62;
• have kept health insurance during the authorisation and keep it;
• have children of school age enrolled in school;
• pay the fee;
• have lived in Spain for more than 183 days in the calendar year.

A renewed authorisation is valid for two years, and the office has three months to decide, after which the application is treated as granted. Read literally, article 62(2) calculates the means over the validity of the authorisation requested, so the total can be higher at renewal than for the first year. We confirm with you how the immigration office applies this before you file, and our post on the renewal of the non-lucrative residence permit covers the 183-day requirement in more detail.

After five years of continuous residence you can apply for long-term residence under article 32 of Ley Orgánica 4/2000.

The non-lucrative visa for British retirees

British nationals have been third-country nationals for immigration purposes since 1 January 2021, as our guide on British expats in Spain after Brexit explains. Retirees from the UK raise four recurring questions.

Pensions and savings as proof of means

Article 62(1) accepts either sufficient funds or a regular source of income, and article 62(3) accepts any evidence admitted in law. A UK State Pension, a private or occupational pension and savings in UK accounts can all be part of the evidence if they are documented as the article requires.

The regulation expresses the requirement as a monthly amount over the authorisation period. It does not say how a consulate should combine a pension that is below the monthly figure with savings, or how it should treat a pension pot that has not started paying. Contact us before you apply so that we can check how your income and savings should be presented to the consulate.

Healthcare: private insurance, S1 and the convenio especial

The visa requires health insurance (article 61), and the Spanish Consulate in London asks for public or private insurance with an insurer authorised in Spain that covers the risks insured by the public health system. The same page accepts a receipt of S1 registration on the Social Security website.

The UK government guidance on healthcare in Spain says people who receive a UK State Pension or an exportable benefit can be eligible for an S1 form, and that you cannot join the convenio especial if the UK pays for your healthcare through an S1. The UK decides S1 eligibility, so confirm it before you choose between an S1 and a private policy.

After one year of continuous residence, the convenio especial is available for €60 a month under 65 and €157 a month from 65. Our guide to the Spanish healthcare system compares the options.

The 183-day rule and Spanish tax residence

Two different 183-day tests apply. For immigration, you must live in Spain for more than 183 days in the calendar year to renew. For tax, article 9 of the IRPF Act makes you a Spanish tax resident if you stay more than 183 days in a calendar year or if the main base of your activities or economic interests is in Spain.

Spanish tax residents are taxed on worldwide income, so UK pensions, interest and dividends become reportable in Spain. The UK-Spain double taxation convention decides which State may tax each item, and our guide to UK-Spain double taxation explains the 183-day count and the residence certificate.

UK pensions and tax in Spain

Under article 17 of the convention, private pensions are taxable only in the State of residence, subject to article 18(2). In binding ruling V2460-21 the Spanish tax directorate treated a UK State Pension as a public pension under article 18(2), on the limited facts supplied, and concluded that for a British national resident in Spain it is taxable only in the UK and exempt in Spain with progression.

We have found no official ruling on the Spanish tax treatment of the UK 25% tax-free lump sum or of SIPP drawdown, so we do not state a rule for them. Contact us before you take any benefit. Our guide to UK pension contributions in Spain covers how UK and Spanish tax years combine, and the post on QROPS and pension transfers covers transfers.

Tax implications of becoming a Spanish tax resident

Once you are a Spanish tax resident you are subject to personal income tax on worldwide income, potentially to wealth tax, and to the obligation to declare foreign assets on Modelo 720 when a category exceeds €50,000. The non-lucrative visa normally leads to Spanish tax residence once you spend more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year.

Talk to our team about your non-lucrative visa

Contact Félix Delaguía to check your documents, your proof of means and your tax position before you apply, or to plan a renewal.

Email: felix.delaguia@delaguialuzon.com
Phone: +34 963 74 16 57

Our immigration law team in Valencia works with individuals, families and investors from the UK and elsewhere.