The Spain Golden Visa Is Dead. Here's What Actually Gets You Residency Now.
Still planning your move around the Golden Visa? It no longer exists. See which path actually fits your income.
Search "Spain golden visa" today and you'll still get pages of results — guides, agencies, forum threads — describing a program that hasn't existed since April 2025. The repeal was tucked into a broader judicial-efficiency law — Ley Orgánica 1/2025, de 2 de enero — which eliminated Articles 63 to 67 of Ley 14/2013 (the law that had created the Golden Visa back in 2013), with the repeal taking legal effect on April 3, 2025. No new applications are accepted. If you already held the visa or had an application filed before that date, your rights are preserved — but if you're starting your research now, you're planning around a program that's gone.
This matters because the Golden Visa was, for over a decade, the default answer people gave each other for "how do Americans move to Spain." This is the search-inertia pain we see constantly: more than a year after the program ended, "Golden Visa" is still the first phrase most prospective clients type into Google, and realizing it's gone is often the first real shock of the whole process. It's no longer available, and the honest replacement isn't a single visa — it's a decision between a few real paths, each with different rules about work, income, and access to Spain's most valuable tax regime.
The four paths, side by side
Golden Visa | Digital Nomad Visa | Non-Lucrative Visa | Work / Business / Family Visa | |
Status | Dead since April 3, 2025 | Active | Active | Active |
2026 income threshold | N/A | ≈€2,849/month (+€1,068 spouse, +€356/child) | ≈€2,400/month, passive only | Varies by category |
Can you legally work? | Yes (it required no work) | Yes — remote, for non-Spanish clients/employer | No — explicitly prohibited | Yes, tied to the visa's purpose |
Beckham Law eligible? | N/A | Possible, for employees | No — permanently forecloses it for this residency | Possible, depending on structure |
Best fit for | (No longer available) | Remote employees & freelancers with foreign clients | Retirees, passive-income holders, sellers of a business | Spanish employees, company founders, family of an EU national |
Path one: the digital nomad visa
Built for remote workers, this is the closest thing to a modern equivalent for people who want to keep working while living in Spain. To qualify, you generally need to work remotely for a non-Spanish company, or — if self-employed — earn at least 80% of your revenue from clients outside Spain, with at least one client being a registered company. You'll also need at least three months' history with your current employer or clients, a degree or three years of relevant professional experience, and private health insurance. Critically, employees on this visa can be eligible for Beckham Law's flat 24% rate; the visa itself doesn't grant it, but it's often the path that gets you there.
Path two: the non-lucrative visa
This is the visa people default to when they don't have remote work income but do have savings, investments, or passive income — think retirees, or someone selling a business before moving. The catch is in the name: it's explicitly non-lucrative, meaning you cannot work, remotely or otherwise, while on it. The income threshold is lower than the digital nomad visa, but it comes with a real tradeoff: no Beckham Law eligibility. If you take this path and later start working or generating Spanish-source income, you're taxed under Spain's ordinary progressive scale, not the flat 24% rate.
We see this decision made backwards more often than any other: someone assumes the non-lucrative visa is "the easy one" because the income bar is lower, without realizing it forecloses the tax regime that would have saved them tens of thousands of dollars a year if they'd structured their income to qualify for the digital nomad visa instead.
Path three: work, business, or family visas
If you have a Spanish employer, are setting up or investing in a Spanish company, or have a spouse or child with EU nationality, separate visa categories apply — each with its own process and, in the case of a Spanish employer or a properly structured Spanish company role, its own potential Beckham Law eligibility.
Meet Amanda: the same $150,000, two completely different outcomes
Amanda is a software consultant from Austin earning $150,000 a year, split between three US clients. She's deciding between the non-lucrative and digital nomad visas before relocating to Málaga. Here's how the same income plays out on each path:
If she picks the Digital Nomad Visa | If she picks the Non-Lucrative Visa | |
Can she keep serving her three US clients? | Yes — meets the 80%-foreign-revenue test | No — any work is prohibited |
Income requirement | Met comfortably at $150k | Met comfortably at $150k |
Beckham Law access | Possibly, depending on employee vs. self-employed structure | Permanently unavailable for this residency |
Ongoing income while in Spain | Continues normally | Must stop or restructure entirely — a real problem for someone whose income is client work |
If she later wants to work legally anyway | No change needed | Must requalify under a different visa — Beckham eligibility for this period is already lost |
(This example illustrates the structural difference between the two visa types; the correct choice for any specific situation depends on income type, employment structure, and family circumstances.)
The visa that "sounds easier" because of the lower income bar is, for someone like Amanda, the one that quietly shuts down her entire income source and permanently closes the door on the tax regime that could have saved her real money.
The paperwork pain nobody warns you about
Qualifying on paper — income, remote work, the 80%-foreign-revenue test — is only half of what actually gets a digital nomad visa approved. In practice, the file needs: an FBI (or state-level) criminal background check, apostilled and officially translated, covering every place you've lived in the last five years; private health insurance with no copays and coverage equivalent to Spain's public system, which most standard US domestic plans don't meet; and, once you land, your NIE (foreigner identification number) and empadronamiento (local town hall registration) — both of which most banks, phone contracts, and even the Beckham Law election itself require before they'll move forward. None of this scales down with a strong income. It trips up six-figure earners exactly as often as anyone else, almost always because the background check or the insurance policy doesn't meet the specific standard Spain requires, not because of anything to do with money.
Where this leaves you
The Golden Visa's disappearance didn't close the door to Spain — it just removed the one path that let you buy your way in without thinking about how you'd actually earn a living once you arrived. Every remaining path ties your visa choice directly to your income structure and your future tax treatment, which means the visa decision and the tax decision have to be made together, not one after the other.
If you're planning a move and aren't sure which path actually fits your income and your goals, book a Strategic Tax Fit session with our team — we'll map the visa and the tax regime together, before you file anything.
A note on how this was written: the visa figures above reflect Spain's current 2026 thresholds and eligibility rules. This is high-level educational content, researched and drafted with AI assistance (Claude, Anthropic) under our team's review, not personalized immigration or tax advice — every case has details that only surface once someone looks at your specific income and family situation.
Your visa choice and your tax regime have to be decided together, not one after the other. Speak with our specialists before you file anything.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Spain’s Golden Visa still available?
No. It was repealed by Ley Orgánica 1/2025, de 2 de enero, with the repeal taking legal effect on April 3, 2025. No new applications are accepted. Those who already held the visa, or had an application filed before that date, retain their existing rights.
What’s the closest current option to the Golden Visa for remote workers?
The Digital Nomad Visa. It’s built for people who work remotely for a non-Spanish company, or, if self-employed, earn at least 80% of their revenue from clients outside Spain. The 2026 income threshold is approximately €2,849/month.
What’s the best visa option if I don’t have remote work income but do have savings or passive income?
The Non-Lucrative Visa, generally used by retirees or people selling a business before relocating. Its 2026 income threshold is lower, approximately €2,400/month, but it comes with a significant tradeoff: you cannot legally work on it, in any capacity, while it’s active.
Does the Non-Lucrative Visa allow access to Beckham Law’s flat 24% tax rate?
No. Choosing the Non-Lucrative Visa permanently forecloses Beckham Law eligibility for that period of residency. If you later start working or generating Spanish-source income, you’re taxed under Spain’s ordinary progressive scale instead.
Can Digital Nomad Visa holders access Beckham Law?
Employees on the Digital Nomad Visa can potentially be eligible for Beckham Law’s flat 24% rate, depending on their employment structure. The visa itself doesn’t grant Beckham Law eligibility automatically, but it’s often the path that leads there.
What paperwork surprises people most when applying for the Digital Nomad Visa?
An FBI or state-level criminal background check, apostilled and officially translated, covering every place you’ve lived in the last five years, and private health insurance with no copays and coverage equivalent to Spain’s public system — a standard most typical US domestic plans don’t meet.
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