If you are a US citizen, you can spend up to 90 days in any 180 in Spain without a visa. To live here any longer you need a long-stay national visa (type D), requested in person at the Spanish consulate that covers your US state, before you move. Which visa depends on one question: what will you actually do in Spain? Work for a Spanish employer, work remotely for an American one, study, live off savings or a pension, or build a business. Each answer points to a different visa, with different documents and different rules once you land.
The right Spanish visa, prepared from abroad
We study your case, choose the visa that fits your plan and prepare the consulate file.
From 300 € to 790 € + VAT depending on the visa, case study included.
Prices exclude VAT. Spanish VAT (21 %) applies to clients resident in the EU. If you live outside the EU, our advisory services are not subject to Spanish VAT; we confirm it in your quote.
The 90-day rule, and why it is not a residence plan
Visa-free entry under the Schengen rules covers visits: tourism, family, business meetings. It does not let you work, and it cannot simply be stretched into living here. As a general rule a short stay cannot be turned into residence from inside Spain. People who enter as tourists “to sort the paperwork out later” usually discover that their route has to start at a consulate in the US. Overstaying can lead to fines and entry bans that follow you across the Schengen area. The new EU entry and exit system records your days automatically. Our guide to EES and ETIAS explains what changes at the border.
Which visa fits which plan
| Your plan | The visa | What decides it |
|---|---|---|
| Keep your US job or clients and work remotely | Digital nomad visa | A work relationship of at least three months with a company outside Spain, a degree or three years’ experience, and income of twice the Spanish minimum wage |
| Retire or live off savings, investments or a pension | Non-lucrative visa | Means of four times IPREM for you, plus one IPREM for each family member, and no work of any kind |
| Take a job with a company in Spain | Work visa or EU Blue Card | The employer applies in Spain first; skilled roles can use the faster Blue Card route |
| Study for more than 90 days | Student visa | Admission to a full-time programme at an authorised centre, means and insurance |
| Launch an innovative company | Entrepreneur visa | A favourable report from ENISA on the business plan |
| Run an ordinary business or freelance locally | Self-employed visa | A viable business plan, licences and a viability report |
| Join a spouse or parent already living in Spain | Family reunification | The relative in Spain applies first, with means and housing |
Two points trip up Americans in particular. The first is remote work on a non-lucrative visa. Consulates generally treat it as excluded, so if you will keep working, the digital nomad visa is the one designed for you. The second is the investor visa, which no longer exists: Spain abolished it with effect from April 2025, so buying a home no longer gives you residence. What replaced it is covered on our golden visa page.
Which consulate, and how appointments work
You apply at the consulate with jurisdiction over the state where you legally reside, not the one nearest to you or the one with the earliest appointment. Spain has consulates general in New York, Washington, Boston, Miami, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Juan. Some of them route appointments and document intake through an outsourced provider, and each publishes its own checklist. Two consulates can ask for the same visa in slightly different formats, so always work from the checklist of the one that will receive your file.
The documents that take longest from the US
- FBI background check. The criminal record certificate Spain accepts from Americans is the FBI Identity History Summary. It must carry an apostille from the US Department of State, not a state-level one. It also has a limited validity window, so the order in which you request it matters.
- Apostilles. State-issued documents, such as birth and marriage certificates, are apostilled by the Secretary of State of the issuing state. Federal documents go through the US Department of State.
- Sworn translations. Documents in English usually need a sworn translation into Spanish by a traductor jurado appointed by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. An ordinary certified translation is not the same thing.
- Health insurance. For most residence visas the policy has to come from an insurer authorised to operate in Spain, with full cover. US policies with an international rider are often not accepted, because consulates usually expect a policy from an insurer authorised to operate in Spain. Our guide to health insurance for residency covers what consulates look for.
- Proof of means. Bank statements, pension letters or payslips that show stable income, not a single balance on a single day.
Taxes: the part people leave too late
The United States taxes its citizens on citizenship, wherever they live. Spain taxes residents on their worldwide income, usually from the year you spend more than 183 days here. The US–Spain tax treaty decides which country taxes what and how double taxation is relieved, but it does not remove the need to file in both. Remote workers may be able to opt into Spain’s special regime for inbound workers, which has its own deadlines. Plan this before you move with our income tax service for foreigners.
What happens when you land in Barcelona
- If your visa is for more than six months, apply for the TIE card within one month of entering Spain: form EX-17, fee 790-012 and a fingerprint appointment with the police. The month starts at the border, not when you find a flat.
- Register at your address with the empadronamiento, which many later procedures ask for.
- Open a local account: see opening a bank account.
- If you will work here, get your Social Security number.
Where to start
Most US applicants lose months by preparing the visa that sounds right rather than the one that matches their plan. Our Spanish visa from abroad service starts with a case study that compares every route against your situation, then builds the consulate file for the one we would actually file.
Income thresholds, IPREM and minimum wage figures, consulate requirements and document validity periods change every year and differ between consulates, so confirm the ones in force before you file.
