Spain's Digital Nomad Visa for Iranian Professionals

At a glance

• Who qualifies: people working remotely, exclusively through digital means, for companies established outside Spain, as employees or as self-employed professionals.
• Income, 2026: €2,849 a month (€34,188 a year) for the main applicant, plus €1,068 a month for the first family member and €356 for each additional one.
• Core conditions: at least three months in the working relationship, an employer or client company active for at least a year, and a degree or at least three years of professional experience.
• Where you apply: the Spanish mission for your place of legal residence (in Iran, the Embassy in Tehran through BLS), or the UGE-CE if you apply from inside Spain.
• Duration: a one-year visa from a consulate; a three-year residence authorisation from the UGE-CE, renewable for two years.
• Iranian documents: no Apostille; sworn translation and legalisation through the Iranian ministries and the Spanish Embassy in Tehran.

The income figures are 200%, 75% and 25% of the 2026 minimum wage (€1,221 a month in fourteen payments, RD 126/2026), annualised over twelve months. They are confirmed on the filing date.

Does your work actually qualify?

The route is defined narrowly: a third-country national working remotely for companies located outside Spain, exclusively through computer, telematic and telecommunication means. Before anything else, check four points.

• The relationship is real and established. Employment or a professional contract that has existed for at least three months before you apply.
• The company is real and established. It must have been in real, continuous activity for at least one year.
• You are qualified. A degree from a reputable institution, or at least three years of professional experience in the field.
• Your Spanish work is limited. Self-employed applicants may work for companies in Spain, but that work must not exceed 20% of their total professional activity.

If your income is passive (rental, dividends, savings), this is not your route: see our non-lucrative guide for applicants in Iran and our comparison of the two routes.

Employee, contractor or freelancer: three different files

Iranian applicants tend to fall into three profiles, and each one is evidenced differently.

• Employed by a company outside Iran, for example in the UAE, Europe or Canada. The file rests on the employment contract, evidence of the remote arrangement, the company's registration documents and payslips.
• Employed by an Iranian company. Possible, but the company's documents are Iranian public or corporate records that need the Iranian legalisation chain, and the employer must also resolve the Social Security question explained below. Raise both with your employer before you start.
• Self-employed with foreign clients. The file rests on client contracts, invoices, the matching payments and the client companies' documents, with the 20% ceiling on Spanish clients in mind. Our autónomo registration service handles the Spanish side where registration in Spain is part of the plan.

In every profile the income must be traceable to the remote relationship: each salary payment or invoice should be matched to a credit in your account. Where payment reaches you indirectly, through an intermediary or a third country, the file has to show that link step by step. A case officer who cannot follow the money will not assume it.

Social Security: the point Iranian files underestimate

The official instruction on international teleworkers requires Social Security compliance, and it offers two ways to meet it:

• a certificate of applicable legislation, issued under a bilateral or international Social Security agreement, showing you remain covered by another country's system; or
• for employees, proof that the employer is registered with Spanish Social Security, with a declaration of compliance.

The first option depends on an agreement existing between Spain and the country whose system covers you. For employers in the UAE, the BLS checklist for the Spanish Embassy states that there is no such agreement and that the UAE company must register with Spanish Social Security. For an Iranian employer, we establish the position at the outset; where no certificate is available, registration with Spanish Social Security is the alternative, and that requires your employer's willingness and ability to do it. This is often the decisive conversation in an employee file, and it should happen before documents are ordered.

Where to apply: Tehran, your country of residence, or Spain

From Iran. The Embassy of Spain in Tehran states that telework visa applications are lodged at its BLS visa application centre in the Shiraz Building, Tehran. The embassy's visa services have operated under changing conditions since June 2025; BLS notices indicated intake was operating in July and August 2026, but we have not found an official notice confirming a full return to normal national-visa processing. We check the current position before any booking.

From another country. Every Spanish mission telework page we reviewed requires legal residence in the country where you apply. An Iranian in Dubai therefore applies in the UAE, an Iranian in Istanbul in Türkiye, and so on, as set out in the next section.

From inside Spain. The residence authorisation can be applied for in Spain at the UGE-CE, the unit for large companies and strategic groups. It is granted for three years, renewable for two, and the law sets a 20-day decision period with positive silence. Whether filing from Spain is open to you depends on your immigration position at the time; we assess it file by file rather than assume it. A consular visa, by contrast, is issued for one year, or less if the work period is shorter.

Iranians living in the UAE, Türkiye or Armenia

Many Iranian remote workers already live outside Iran. They apply where they hold legal residence, and they run two document chains: the Iranian chain for Iranian civil documents and, where relevant, the Iranian criminal record, plus the chain of their country of residence.

• UAE: applications are booked through BLS UAE; the UAE is not an Apostille country, so local documents are legalised by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then the Embassy of Spain in Abu Dhabi. See our digital nomad guide for UAE residents.
• Türkiye: Istanbul-district residents apply through BLS International with an ikamet as proof of residence; Turkish documents carry an Apostille.
• Armenia: covered for visas by the Consulate General of Spain in Moscow, with a BLS centre in Yerevan; Armenian documents carry an Apostille. Confirm the lodging arrangements for the telework visa with the mission; we check this for every file.

Documents and the Iranian legalisation chain

Iran is not a party to the Apostille Convention. The Embassy of Spain in Tehran only legalises documents translated into Spanish by a sworn translator on its list and previously legalised by the Iranian Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Its July 2026 notice gives a fee of €5 per document and a maximum of five documents per appointment, so a file with a degree, civil documents and a criminal record needs careful scheduling.

The criminal record requirement is lighter than for the non-lucrative route: several Spanish mission pages ask for certificates covering the last two years, plus a sworn declaration covering the previous five. Diplomas, where you rely on a degree rather than experience, also need legalisation and translation; we confirm the exact route for each one.

Health cover

The mission pages, including Tehran's, ask for public or private health insurance with an insurer authorised to operate in Spain. Our position is this: for a consular application, private health insurance is required for the visa; for an application from inside Spain to the UGE-CE, private insurance is not required, because Social Security registration gives you public cover.

Family and the tax question

Your spouse or partner, minor children, dependent adult children and dependent parents can apply jointly and simultaneously with you, or later. The income requirement rises by €1,068 a month for the first family member and €356 for each additional one, and each person's Iranian civil documents go through the same chain.

International teleworkers may also qualify for Spain's special regime for impatriates, the Beckham regime, if they were not Spanish tax residents in the previous five years. It taxes employment income at 24% up to €600,000, and the election must be filed on Form 149 within six months of the start date shown in your Spanish Social Security registration. We handle the eligibility check and Form 149 through our Beckham regime service; we do not provide personal tax planning.

How Parastoo Legal Group works on Iranian telework files

We are a Madrid-based immigration and global mobility firm with more than 400 approved residencies, a 95% approval rate and a Persian-speaking team. Consultations are by video call or phone, and the first one is free.

• Route and venue first: we confirm that your work qualifies, settle the Social Security position with you and your employer, and decide between Tehran, your country of residence and the UGE-CE.
• A case manager and a document plan that sequences Iranian legalisations, local legalisations and translations.
• A short cover memo for the case officer linking your contract, income and qualifications.
• Continuity: our digital nomad visa service includes filing, the fingerprint appointment and TIE, a Spanish bank account, family members' applications and the recurso de reposición if a refusal occurs. Sworn translations, legalisations and government fees are separate.