Spain's Digital Nomad Visa for UAE Residents

At a glance: the Digital Nomad Visa for UAE residents

• Legal basis: article 74 bis of Ley 14/2013, added by Ley 28/2022 (residence for international teleworkers).
• Who: non-EU nationals working remotely, exclusively through telematic means, for companies located outside Spain.
• Income (2026): €2,849 a month for the main applicant, plus €1,068 for the first family member and €356 for each additional member.
• Profile: a degree from a reputable institution or at least three years of professional experience; a working relationship of at least three months; a company in real, continuous activity for at least one year.
• Two routes: a visa through the Spanish mission for the UAE (one year), or a residence authorisation applied for in Spain at the UGE-CE (three years, renewable for two).
• Social Security: there is no UAE–Spain agreement, so the BLS UAE checklist requires the UAE company to register with Spanish Social Security.
• Documents: the UAE is not an Apostille country; UAE documents are legalised by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then by the Embassy of Spain in Abu Dhabi.

Thresholds are tied to official indicators and are confirmed on the filing date.

Who the Digital Nomad Visa is written for

You live in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, your income comes from outside Spain, and your work travels with your laptop. The Digital Nomad Visa (DNV), formally the residence for international teleworkers, was designed for that profile. Unlike the Non-Lucrative Visa, it recognises the income you actively earn, provided its source sits outside Spain.

Three profiles reach us from the Emirates:

• Employees of a UAE or other non-Spanish company whose employer accepts that they work remotely from Spain.
• Self-employed professionals such as consultants, designers, engineers and advisers, with clients outside Spain.
• Founders paid by a company they own, often a free zone entity.

All three can work, but each has its own weak point. For employees it is the employer's cooperation; for freelancers, the evidence of client relationships; for founders, showing that the arrangement is genuine. If you have savings or passive income and do not intend to work, the Non-Lucrative Visa from the UAE may be the better fit.

The 2026 income threshold, and why we plan on the higher figure

The DNV requires monthly income of 200% of the Spanish minimum wage (SMI) for the main applicant, 75% for the first family member and 25% for each additional member. Royal Decree 126/2026 set the 2026 SMI at €1,221 a month in fourteen payments, or €17,094 a year.

That figure can be turned into a monthly threshold in two ways. Applying 200% to the €1,221 monthly payment gives €2,442; dividing the annual SMI by twelve first gives €2,849. We have not seen an official statement of which method the UGE-CE and the consulates apply in 2026, so we plan every file on the higher, annualised figure:

• Main applicant: €2,849 a month (€34,188 a year).
• Main applicant and spouse: about €3,917 a month.
• Couple with one child: about €4,274 a month.

Two UAE-specific points. Income is usually paid in dirhams or dollars, so we build headroom above the threshold for exchange movements. And income should be visible where it lands: payslips, invoices and bank statements that agree with each other carry more weight than a letter stating a salary.

Employer abroad or clients abroad: what has to be shown

The official requirements are the same whichever profile you fit: a work or professional relationship of at least three months, with a company that has been in real and continuous activity for at least one year, and a degree or three years' professional experience. How you evidence them differs.

Employees. The file has to show a genuine employment relationship with a company outside Spain, and that the employer accepts you will work remotely from Spain. The employer has to be comfortable putting that in writing and, as explained below, dealing with Spanish Social Security.

Self-employed professionals. Contracts with your clients, their company details and evidence of payment carry the file. You may also work for companies located in Spain, but only up to 20% of your total professional activity. That allowance applies to self-employed applicants only; an employee cannot rely on it.

The founder question: when you own the company that pays you

Many Dubai-based applicants are both owner and employee of a free zone or mainland company. The rules do not exclude that, but it changes what the file must prove: that the company is a real business with real activity, that it has operated for at least a year, and that your remuneration reflects a genuine commercial arrangement rather than one created for the application.

In practice we look at the licence and its age, the company's activity and revenue, how you have been paid, and who signs on the company's behalf. Where you sign on both sides, the supporting evidence has to be correspondingly stronger. This is also where the Social Security question becomes concrete, because the company you own is the one that would need to register in Spain.

Social Security: the UAE-specific hurdle

Every DNV file must show compliance with Social Security. The official joint instruction allows two ways of doing so: a certificate of applicable legislation issued under a Social Security agreement between Spain and the country concerned, or, for employees, proof that the employer is registered with Spanish Social Security, together with a declaration of compliance.

The BLS UAE teleworker checklist is explicit about which applies here. Because there is no agreement between the UAE and Spain on Social Security coordination, the UAE company must register with the Spanish Social Security system. For many UAE employers this is an unfamiliar step, and in our experience it is where many Dubai files stall before they start. Have that conversation with your employer, or with yourself if you own the company, before collecting a single document.

For self-employed applicants, the way Social Security compliance is evidenced depends on how the activity is structured. We map this at the first consultation rather than assume it.

Consulate or UGE-CE: choosing where to apply

Applying from the UAE. The Embassy of Spain in Abu Dhabi is competent for the whole country. Its DNV page does not name a lodging point; the BLS UAE checklist asks applicants to book through the BLS UAE website and to provide a copy of a valid UAE residence visa, since the mission only accepts applications from people legally resident in the country. The visa is issued for one year, or for less if the work period is shorter.

Applying from Spain. The residence authorisation for international teleworkers is applied for electronically to the Large Companies and Strategic Groups Unit (UGE-CE). It is granted for three years and can be renewed for two. The law gives the UGE-CE 20 days from electronic filing to resolve, after which silence counts as approval.

The in-Spain route gives a longer first authorisation and avoids the consular queue, but it is only open if your immigration position in Spain at the time allows it; we confirm that case by case.

Health cover: our position on each route

Published guidance for the UAE is inconsistent on health cover, so we state our position precisely:

• Applying from inside Spain (UGE-CE): private health insurance is not required, because registration with Spanish Social Security gives you public cover.
• Applying at the consulate: private health insurance is required for the visa, from an insurer authorised to operate in Spain.

For context, the Abu Dhabi embassy's DNV page lists public or private insurance with an insurer authorised in Spain, while the BLS UAE checklist refers to public cover through Spanish Social Security. We check the current checklist at the time of filing and build the file to satisfy the mission's requirements in full.

UAE documents and your home-country chain

UAE documents follow consular legalisation: first the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then the Embassy of Spain in Abu Dhabi, by appointment. The UAE police clearance certificate is requested through the Dubai Police or Ministry of Interior websites, and the BLS teleworker checklist asks for it to be legalised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Spanish mission DNV pages elsewhere in the Gulf ask for criminal records covering the last two years plus a signed declaration (declaración responsable) covering the previous five; we confirm the Abu Dhabi requirement when we prepare the file.

If you rely on a degree or records issued in your country of nationality, a second chain applies:

• Iranian nationals: Iran is not an Apostille country. The Embassy of Spain in Tehran only legalises documents translated by its listed sworn translators and previously legalised by Iran's Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It reported an interruption to visa processing in June 2025 and full resumption has not been officially confirmed, so we check the current position for each file. Our DNV guide for Iranian professionals covers this in more depth.
• Lebanese nationals: the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, then the Embassy of Spain in Beirut.
• Turkish nationals: Türkiye is an Apostille country, so Turkish documents need an apostille only.
• Iraqi nationals: the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then the Embassy of Spain in Baghdad; documents issued in the Kurdistan Region need their route confirmed case by case.

A practical point for every nationality: three years' professional experience is an alternative to a degree. If your home-country degree sits behind a slow legalisation chain and your UAE career is well documented, the experience route may be the faster evidence.

If you are an Iranian freelancer living in the UAE, our guide for Iranian freelancers in Dubai covers the two document chains, proof of self-employed status and why we recommend applying from inside Spain.

Family members and the Beckham regime

Under article 62.4 of Ley 14/2013, your spouse or partner, minor children, dependent adult children who have not formed their own family unit, and dependent parents can apply jointly and at the same time as you, or later. There is no one-year wait, unlike family reunification under the general regime. Each member raises the income threshold (€1,068 a month for the first, €356 for each additional one) and needs their own documents, legalised through the right chain.

Moving from the UAE to Spain also changes your tax position. Spain's special regime for inbound workers, known as the Beckham regime, is open to international teleworkers holding this visa, provided they were not tax resident in Spain in the five tax years before the move and meet the other conditions. Qualifying employment income is taxed at 24% up to €600,000 and 47% above that, for the year of the move and the following five. The election is made on Form 149 within six months of the start date shown on your Spanish Social Security registration, so the Social Security step discussed above also starts the Beckham clock.

We carry out the Beckham eligibility check and file Form 149; we do not provide wider personal tax planning. Our Beckham regime guide sets out the conditions in full.

How Parastoo Legal Group handles Dubai DNV files

We are a Madrid-based immigration and global mobility firm with more than 400 approved residencies, a 93% approval rate and a team of 15 working in Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Spanish and English. The first consultation is free, by video call or phone.

With DNV files from the UAE, we start with the structure behind your income, not the document list: who pays you, how, since when, and whether the company can and will register with Spanish Social Security. Only when that is settled do we choose the route, consulate or UGE-CE, and order documents. Your case manager then runs the UAE and home-country chains in parallel, and the file goes in with a short cover memo summarising it for the case officer.

Our Digital Nomad Visa service covers preparation and filing, family members' applications, the TIE appointment, Spanish bank account opening and the administrative appeal (recurso de reposición) if an application is refused. Sworn translations, legalisations and government fees are separate.