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The essentials
People who consult us about the non-lucrative residence permit are usually retirees with a pension from their home country, people who live on passive income such as rental income, dividends or investment funds, or families with savings who want to spend a few years in Spain as legal residents without working here. The permit is regulated by Organic Law 4/2000 on the rights and freedoms of foreigners (art. 31.2) and by articles 61 to 64 of the Immigration Regulations approved by Royal Decree 1155/2024.
The delicate point is almost never the form. It is showing the consular office that your financial means are sufficient, stable and available throughout the whole year of the permit, and taking out health insurance that the authorities will accept. We review those two requirements before booking the consulate appointment, because they are the ones that stop the most visas.
If you will keep working remotely, even for an employer or clients in your home country, this permit is not for you: the route is the digital nomad visa. If the procedure is part of a wider plan (bringing your family later, changing permit or applying for Spanish citizenship in a few years), we look at it with our team of immigration lawyers. And when the first year ends, we also handle the residence permit renewal.
A quick guide: these are three routes with requirements and rights that do not mix, and choosing the wrong type of visa means starting again from scratch.
Want to live in Spain on your pension, rental income or savings, and not sure whether the non-lucrative visa fits you?
Figures from the Immigration Regulations in force, worth keeping at hand before you book flights.
400% of the IPREM
per month for the holder of the non-lucrative residence permit, plus 100% of the IPREM for each family member who depends on them
source: art. 62.1 RD 1155/2024
1 month
is how long the immigration office has to decide on the permit once it receives the file from the consulate; if it does not reply, the application is treated as refused
source: art. 63.4 RD 1155/2024
183 days
of real residence in Spain during the calendar year to be able to renew the non-lucrative permit
source: art. 64.2.f RD 1155/2024
30 hours
a week at most of work with the stay authorisation for studies
source: art. 57.2 RD 1155/2024
Almost all refusals can be foreseen with the file in front of us. This is the documentation and paperwork we review with you.
The Regulations require sufficient financial means (the income threshold) or a regular source of income for the whole period of the permit (art. 62). Any form of proof valid in law is accepted: bank certificates, property deeds, pensions. If your accounts are outside Spain, you must provide the bank, the identification of the accounts and the balances at 31 December and the means of the last year.
For the non-lucrative residence permit you need health insurance for the whole stay, which in practice is usually private health insurance. We check the cover, waiting periods and co-payments before you take it out: travel insurance or a policy with major exclusions usually ends in a request for further documents.
For the visa you must provide a criminal record certificate from the countries where you have lived in the last five years and a medical certificate showing that you do not suffer from diseases with serious public health implications under the International Health Regulations of 2005 (art. 38 RD 1155/2024). Both must arrive legalised or with the Hague apostille and, if necessary, with a translation into Spanish.
If your means come from shareholdings in businesses based in Spain, you must certify that you do not work in them and sign a statement of responsibility.
The process starts outside Spain, while you are planning your move: the non-lucrative visa is applied for at the consulate of your place of residence and includes the application for the residence permit. It is a national (type D) visa, not a Schengen short-stay visa.
1
We calculate the means according to the family members who come with you and review insurance, passport and certificates.
2
You submit the official visa application form, a passport valid for at least one year and the documents. The consulate assesses the applicant’s means and the insurance (art. 39.2 RD 1155/2024).
3
The immigration office (Oficina de Extranjería) of the province where you will live checks your criminal record and the police report and decides within one month.
4
Once the decision is favourable, the consulate issues the visa within a maximum of one month (art. 39.5 RD 1155/2024).
5
In the month after you enter Spain you apply in person for the foreigner identity card (Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero, TIE), the document that proves your residence permit in Spain and shows your foreigner identity number (NIE), at a National Police station, by appointment and with fingerprinting.
The sooner you tell us, the more room we have
For the renewal there is no consulate any more: you apply at the Immigration Office (Oficina de Extranjería) of your province, which depends on the Government Delegation, during the two months before the permit expires. If you apply on time, the previous permit is extended until a decision is made (art. 64.1 RD 1155/2024).
The Regulations allow you to provide a favourable report from the autonomous community, which in your case is issued by your regional government, especially if one of the renewal requirements is not met (art. 64.6). If it does not arrive within one month, the integration effort can be shown by other means.
For the non-lucrative residence permit we start from this (for studies or remote work, we add the admission letter or the contract):
If your income comes from a job you still do, even remotely for your home country, the non-lucrative residence permit is not the route: you would be working from Spain. For that case there is the digital nomad visa.
If you use Spain as a base and travel for long periods, you may not reach 183 days a year. Keep count from day one.
The law accepts the application up to three months after expiry, but with a possible penalty procedure (art. 64.1). It is better to submit it within the two months before.
1
2
3
400% of the IPREM per month for the main applicant and 100% more for each family member, calculated for the whole period of the permit (art. 62 RD 1155/2024). For a single person this equals four times the monthly IPREM for twelve months in the initial application and for twenty-four in a two-year renewal; as the IPREM is set each year by the budget law, we calculate the figure in euros with the value in force.
The initial permit lasts one year and each renewal two (art. 64.7 RD 1155/2024). With five years of continuous temporary residence you can apply for long-term residence (permanent residency), which does allow you to work (art. 32 LO 4/2000).
Yes. Your spouse or partner, your children under 18 and adult children with a disability who need support can come with you, as long as you show an additional 100% of the IPREM for each of them (arts. 61.3 and 62.1 RD 1155/2024).
Admission to a recognised centre and paid enrolment, means of 100% of the IPREM per month, health insurance with benefits similar to those of the Spanish National Health System and, if the stay exceeds six months, a criminal record certificate (arts. 35 and 53 RD 1155/2024). You must apply at least two months before the course starts.
To renew, you must have lived in Spain for more than 183 days in the calendar year (art. 64.2.f RD 1155/2024). If you travel for long periods, keep count from the first day and plan your trips around it.
No. The non-lucrative residence permit does not allow you to work in Spain, either as an employee or self-employed (art. 61.4 RD 1155/2024), and that includes remote work for an employer or clients abroad. If you will keep working, the route is the digital nomad visa, which has its own requirements.
Years of legal residence count towards Spanish citizenship by residence, as long as they are continuous. Citizenship has its own requirements, which we review with you when you plan that step.
We have six offices in Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Málaga, Córdoba and Palma de Mallorca) and we also work with clients online.
