If you’re a non-EU national who wants to move to Spain, you’re probably trying to decide which visa to apply for. The Digital Nomad Visa and the Non-Lucrative Visa are two of the most common, but which one has lower financial requirements and less paperwork?
If you’re from a non-EU country and are considering making the move to Spain, two of the most common visa types you’ll be looking at are the Digital Nomad Visa (DNV) and the Non-Lucrative Visa (NLV), both are very different, but which one is easier to apply for?
Firstly, let’s look at the differences between the two. The DNV is specifically for remote workers working for companies abroad or for the self-employed.
The NLV on the other hand, doesn’t allow you to work at all, even remotely. It’s specifically for those that have lots of savings to support themselves or passive income from renting a property abroad, investments etc.
READ ALSO: Can Non-Lucrative Visa holders work in Spain after five years of residency?
Therefore, the one you get will depend on your financial situation and your work situation. The NLV is often used to retire to Spain for example as retirees won’t be working but usually receive passive income from their pensions.
Some people may be in the lucky position to be able to choose which one they get as they have enough to financially support themselves, but could also get a remote job or work for themselves.
READ ALSO: What are the differences between Spain’s non-lucrative and digital nomad visas?
In this case, they may want to know which is easier to get.
To find this out, it’s necessary to look at the requirements for each, as they both have quite a few.
One of the most important is the financial requirement, which is proof of other how much you earn or how much you have in savings and passive income. The DNV is currently more expensive at €2,849 per month in 2026, compared with €2,400 per month for the NLV.
The amount you need to earn for the DNV also keeps rising every year because it’s linked to the minimum wage, where as the amount for the NLV has stayed the same for several years because it’s linked to something called the IPREM instead.
READ ALSO: Why do Spain’s DNV financial requirements rise while NLV stays the same?
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For the NLV, the main documents you need are financial proof and bank details, proof you’re not working, private health insurance, a medical certificate and a police record check.
The DNV on the other hand, requires a lot more documentation and a lot more proof, so the process is definitely more complex and is generally thought of as being more difficult to get.
As well as financial proof, you need to prove you’ve worked for your company or client for three months or more, your company has been in existence for more than one year, show you have the correct qualifications and experience, a permission letter from your company saying you can work in Spain and a certificate of social security coverage.
You will also need a criminal record check and possibly private health insurance, depending on your situation.
If you’re self-employed as well as all the above, such as proof you’ve been working for your clients for at least 3 months, you will need to sign up to the autónomo system which is complicated in and of itself.
READ ALSO: The documents you need to get Spain’s digital nomad visa
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As you can see, the list is a lot longer for the DNV and the documents you need are more difficult to obtain too as they often rely on getting them from your company or authorities in your country, rather than being able to provide them yourself.
Another reason the DNV is more difficult to obtain typically is that because it’s still relatively new, so the goal posts keep shifting and the UGE, the body responsible for issuing these visas, keeps changing the rules and asking for more proof.
One of the big issues for applicants from the US has been social security coverage documents. First, they weren’t accepted, and now they are, providing company specifically states that they are sending you to work in Spain. For a while this meant that really only US self-employed people could apply and not those working remotely for a company, unless they convinced their company to register for social security in Spain and pay in on their behalf.
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Another issue with DNV applications have to do with those applying as company owners. Because the work is supposed to be 100 percent remote, the UGE don’t really consider that being a director and working from Spain is remote work.
This doesn’t mean that applying for the NLV is without its issues too though. Towards the end of last year, the NLV application also got slightly more difficult. Authorities started to require proof you’ve already stopped working, a brief statement of your intentions, proof of retirement (if you’re coming here to retire) and more bank evidence.
In the end, applying for both can be quite complicated and you often need professional help as it’s difficult to apply for either on your own. Generally though, the DNV is slightly more difficult because of the sheer amount of documentation you have to provide and because of the different nature of people’s jobs and working situations.
