Moving to Madrid as an American: visa routes

A US passport gets you 90 days in Spain without a visa. Anything longer needs a residence route, and the right one depends on where your money comes from.

The short version

Living on savings, a pension or investments? The non-lucrative visa asks for EUR 28,800 a year (about USD 32,150) in 2026, plus EUR 7,200 (about USD 8,040) per dependent. You can't work in Spain on it [1].
Working remotely for a company or clients outside Spain? The digital nomad (international telework) visa is built for you. The income test is 200% of Spain's minimum wage [2][3].
The Golden Visa is gone. Spain stopped granting investor residence on April 3, 2025, under Organic Law 1/2025 [4].
Most first-time visas are filed at the Spanish consulate that covers the state where you live, not in Madrid. Some permits, including the telework one, can also be requested from inside Spain [3].
After you land, you have one month to apply for your foreigner ID card, the TIE [1].

USD conversions use the Federal Reserve H.10 rate of October 30, 2026: EUR 1 = USD 1.1163.

The main routes at a glance

Route	Who it's for	Can you work in Spain?	Where you usually apply
Non-lucrative visa	Retirees, people living on savings or passive income	No	Spanish consulate in the US
Digital nomad (telework) visa	Remote employees and freelancers with mostly non-Spanish clients	Yes, for those foreign clients (limited Spanish work)	Consulate, or the UGE unit if already in Spain legally
Work visa	People hired by a Spanish employer	Yes	Employer starts the permit in Spain, then you apply for the visa at the consulate
Student visa	Degree, master's and PhD students	Up to 30 hours a week, for higher education	Consulate
Family routes	Spouses and kids of residents or of Spanish/EU citizens	Usually yes	Depends on the family member's status
Golden Visa	Ended April 3, 2025	—	No new applications [4]

The non-lucrative visa: retire or take a sabbatical in Madrid

This is the classic route for Americans who don't need a Spanish paycheck. The Spanish consulate in Washington lists what it wants [1]:

Money: 400% of Spain's public income indicator (IPREM), which is EUR 28,800 a year in 2026, plus 100% (EUR 7,200) for each dependent. Bank statements for the last three months and your latest tax return back it up.
Health insurance: a Spanish-authorized private policy with full coverage, no copays and no deductibles, valid for at least a year. Travel insurance doesn't count.
FBI background check for adults, issued in the last six months, with a Hague apostille and a sworn Spanish translation. State or local police checks aren't accepted.
Medical certificate signed by a physician within 90 days of applying.
Fees for US citizens of USD 140 for the visa plus USD 13 for the residence permit, from January 1, 2026, paid to BLS, the consulate's outside service provider.

The legal decision time is three months, and the consulate says it can't be expedited. The visa is good for one year; after that, you renew the residence permit in Spain. Our full guide to Spain's non-lucrative visa for Americans covers renewals and the fine print, including the work ban, which trips up people who assume a little freelance gig on the side is fine.

The digital nomad visa: keep your US job

Spain's international telework visa, created by the 2022 startups law, lets you live here while working for employers or clients outside Spain. The Spanish consulate in Boston spells out the rules [2]:

Income: 200% of Spain's monthly minimum wage. The consulate's example used the 2025 minimum and came to EUR 2,368 a month. Spain set the 2026 minimum wage at EUR 1,221 a month in 14 payments (Royal Decree 126/2026, backdated to January 1, 2026) [3], so the same math gives about EUR 2,442 a month (about USD 2,730). A first family member adds 75% of the minimum wage, each extra one 25%. Check the current figure with your consulate before you apply.
Track record: employees need at least three months with the company and written permission to work from Spain. Freelancers need at least three months with their foreign clients, and the company must have been active for at least a year.
Qualifications: a university degree, or at least three years of professional experience.
Fee: USD 190 for US citizens.

The visa is good for one year. If you're already in Spain legally, for example as a tourist, you can ask the UGE (the Large Companies and Strategic Groups Unit) for a telework residence permit of up to three years without going home first [2]. Our digital nomad visa guide goes deeper, including taxes and the Beckham law, which many nomads can use.

Work, study and family

Work visas

If a Spanish company hires you, the employer usually starts the work permit in Spain, and you then pick up the visa at your consulate. Highly qualified professionals and intra-company transfers often go through the UGE instead of the general track. Expect your employer's HR or immigration lawyer to run this one.

Student visas

Spain rewrote its immigration regulations with Royal Decree 1155/2024, in force since May 20, 2025. Students in degree, master's and doctoral programs can now work up to 30 hours a week without a separate permit, as long as the job fits around their studies. Go over 30 hours and you can lose your student status [5]. Language schools and short courses don't get the same automatic right.

Family routes

Married to a Spanish or other EU citizen? You apply for a family member of an EU citizen card, which usually comes with the right to work.
Joining a non-EU resident? Your spouse or parent in Spain has to meet residence-time, income and housing tests before they can bring you over through family reunification.
Spanish ancestry? Some Americans qualify for Spanish citizenship by descent. That's a separate legal question, and a lawyer can check your family tree.

Why the Golden Visa is off the table

For years, buying Spanish property worth EUR 500,000 (about USD 558,000) or more got you a residence visa. Not anymore. The Spanish government confirmed that Organic Law 1/2025 took effect on April 3, 2025, and fully repealed the residence visas for investors, not just the real estate option [4]. The government framed it as a housing measure.

If you see a website or agent still selling a Spanish Golden Visa, that's a red flag. People who got theirs before the cutoff should ask a Spanish immigration lawyer about renewals, since the government announcement didn't spell out transition rules [4].

Consulate or in Spain: where you file

Most first visas are filed with the Spanish consulate that covers where you legally live in the US. Washington, for example, handles DC, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina [1]. Spain also has consulates in Boston, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco, among others. Each publishes its own checklist, and they don't always match. Use your consulate's list, not a friend's.

Filing from inside Spain is only possible for some permits, mainly the UGE ones (telework, highly qualified professionals, investors before 2025) [2]. For a non-lucrative visa, you generally have to apply from the US.

Your first month in Madrid

Enter Spain on your visa and keep your boarding pass.
Register your address at the city's padrón (empadronamiento). You'll need it for almost everything. See our guide to empadronamiento.
Book your TIE fingerprint appointment at a police station within one month of arrival [1]. Appointments in Madrid can be scarce, so start looking before you land. Our guide to the NIE and TIE explains both numbers.
Enroll in STEP with the State Department so the US Embassy in Madrid can reach you in an emergency.
Remember Uncle Sam. You'll still file a US tax return every year, and Spanish tax residence usually starts once you spend more than 183 days here.

Want to hear how other Americans got their visas, and which consulate was fastest? Ask in our community group for Americans in Spain.

Moving to Madrid as an American: which visa gets you there