Spain Digital Nomad Visa Income Requirement 2026: €2,850 or €2,442?

The 2026 minimum wage is €17,094 a year (Royal Decree 126/2026). Spain pays it in 14 instalments of €1,221, since most salaries include two extra payments in summer and at Christmas. That gives two possible monthly figures:

• The consulate in Washington uses the 14-payment figure and publishes €2,442 (about $2,900) for 2026.
• The consulate in London gives the rule as a percentage (200% of the monthly minimum wage) without a euro amount.
• The UGE, the office that decides applications made inside Spain, works with the 12-payment figure. In our 2026 applications we ask clients to show more than €2,850 a month.

The 12-payment figure makes sense: you earn 12 times a year, so the UGE compares a monthly income with a monthly share of the annual minimum wage.

What to do with this:

• Applying from inside Spain: plan for €2,850.
• Applying at a consulate: the consulate's own figure applies to the visa. But the visa lasts at most a year, and the residence permit you apply for afterwards is decided in Spain. Aim for €2,850 anyway.

Each family member raises the threshold: +75% of the SMI for the first one (usually a spouse or partner) and +25% for each one after that.

The UGE column is the one we use in our applications: +€1,069 for the first family member and +€357 for each one after that. The consulate column adds up the amounts published in Washington: +€916 for the first and +€306 for each additional member.

The income has to come from the remote work the visa is for:

• As an employee: a salary from a company outside Spain.
• As a freelancer or contractor: fees from clients that are companies. Payments from private individuals don't count. Spanish clients are allowed, but only up to 20% of your work.
• One employer or client has to reach the threshold on its own. In our applications, several smaller payers don't add up: three clients paying €1,000 each don't pass. One client is the normal case, and in almost all our freelance applications there is just one.
• The contract or business relationship must be at least three months old, and the employer or main client must have existed for at least a year.

Your pay is probably in pounds or dollars, while the threshold is in euros. A weak month for the pound or the dollar can push income that is just above the line below it. If you're close, leave a margin.

Savings can cover family members, not you. Your own threshold, €2,850 a month in 2026, has to come from your one employer or client. Above that, when the family amount is more than your contract pays, we have made up the shortfall in our applications with savings: the missing monthly amount multiplied by 36 months, the length of the first residence permit. You show this as a balance certificate from your bank.

An example for 2026: a family of four (you, a partner and two children) needs €4,630 a month. Your contract pays €3,495.

• Shortfall: €4,630 − €3,495 = €1,135 a month.
• Savings to show: €1,135 × 36 = €40,860.
• You file the contract for €3,495 and a bank certificate showing a balance of €40,860.

Two caveats:

• There may be a higher floor for families. In February 2026, practitioners reported the UGE's informal guidance that an applicant with family should show about €40,000 a year (roughly €3,300 a month) from the contract. This floor isn't written in any official document.
• Topping up for an unmarried partner (pareja de hecho) may not work the same way. Check it before you rely on it.

At the UGE, the core of the file is your contract or invoices, plus bank statements for the last three months showing the money arriving.

• The three months are looked at together. In our applications, what counts is the total for the period, not each month separately. If one month is low, the other two have to make up for it.
• The statement needs the bank's stamp. Statements downloaded from online banks, or any PDF without a stamp, lead to a document request for a stamped statement or a notarised copy. Statements with the bank's stamp, even an electronic one, go through without a request in our applications.
• The company's registration certificate must be less than three months old on the day you apply. An older one raises the question of whether the company still exists.
• Freelancers also show that their self-employed registration at home is at least three months old. That certificate needs an apostille and a sworn Spanish translation.

Consulates are less specific: London lists "work contract, bank statements, payslips etc.", and Washington accepts a contract or a company certificate "among others". Check your consulate's current list before you book.

The first permit from the UGE lasts three years. At renewal the UGE looks back at those years:

• Your income has to keep up with the SMI. The minimum wage usually rises every year, and so does the threshold. In 2026 we've seen renewals refused when income stayed flat. Raising your pay a couple of months before renewal doesn't help.
• Since June 2026 the renewal form asks for your Spanish tax returns for the two previous years. The UGE compares your annual income with each year's threshold and checks your social security contributions.
• If your pay went up, attach the contract amendment.

The full renewal process, with the thresholds for each past year, is in our renewal guide.

More on what happens after approval is in the full guide to the digital nomad visa.