How Long Does the Digital Nomad Visa Take in Spain?

How Long Does the Digital Nomad Visa Take in Spain?

Learn the Digital Nomad Visa processing times, what can influence your timeline, and what we’ve been seeing in recent applications.

What Is the Digital Nomad Visa?

The Digital Nomad Visa (DNV) allows eligible non-EU citizens to live in Spain while working remotely for a company, business or clients abroad.

Officially known as the authorization for international teleworkers, it was created to attract international talent to Spain.

Depending on your circumstances, the DNV may also give you access to Spain’s special tax regime, commonly known as the Beckham Law, while legal residence can eventually put you on the path toward long-term residence or Spanish citizenship, provided you meet the relevant requirements.

How Long Does It Take to Get a Digital Nomad Visa in Spain?

It depends on where you apply, how prepared your documents are, and whether you're applying alone or with family.

There are two main routes:

• From abroad: through the Spanish Consulate or visa application centre (such as BLS) responsible for your place of legal residence.
• From within Spain: through the Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos (UGE) while legally in the country.

Applying From Abroad

If you apply from abroad, you submit your application through the Spanish Consulate or visa application centre responsible for your place of legal residence.
Under Law 14/2013, these applications have a statutory 10-working-day decision period. In practice, however, applicants should plan for a processing time of around three months, as consular processing often takes considerably longer than the statutory period.
This timeframe only covers the application after submission. Before applying, you’ll also need time to gather the required documents and arrange any necessary apostilles, legalisations and official Spanish translations.

Applying From Within Spain

If you're legally in Spain as a tourist, you can submit your application through the UGE for a residence authorization for international remote workers, valid for up to three years.

This route can therefore offer two important advantages: a faster legal processing time and, if granted for the maximum period, a much longer initial residence authorization than the one-year visa available through the consular route.

Under Law 14/2013, the statutory maximum decision period is 20 days from submission, which is one of the reasons we generally recommend this route when the applicant is eligible.

Again, those 20 days refer only to the decision period — not the preparation required before applying.

What Is Positive Administrative Silence?

If the UGE doesn't issue a decision within the statutory 20-day period, Law 14/2013 establishes positive administrative silence (silencio administrativo positivo).

In simple terms, the application is legally understood to have been approved when the authority fails to respond within the established period.

However, reaching the 20-day deadline and obtaining the documentation confirming that positive silence applies aren't necessarily the same thing.

And that's becoming particularly relevant in some family applications.

Are Family Digital Nomad Visa Applications Taking Longer in 2026?

We've recently seen cases at Bureaucracy Spain where families apply together, but the main applicant is approved while their spouse or children remain pending for much longer.

One recent case looked like this:

• June 17: Family applications submitted
• July 10: Main applicant approved
• July 17: Positive administrative silence invoked for the family applications
• September 2: Family members received their approvals through positive administrative silence

That's almost two months between the main applicant's approval and the dependants' approvals.

Does that mean there's a problem? Not necessarily.

A delayed dependent approval doesn't automatically mean refusal or an issue with the application.

Some of the longer delays we've observed also coincided with Spain's summer period. We're monitoring our cases to understand whether this was a seasonal slowdown or a longer-term processing trend. For now, there isn't enough evidence to call it a permanent change.

What Can Affect Your Digital Nomad Visa Timeline?

The official processing period is only part of the story.

Your timeline can also depend on how quickly you obtain your professional and financial evidence, criminal record certificates and other required documents.

Foreign public documents may need to be apostilled or otherwise legalised and officially translated into Spanish. If your country isn't covered by the Hague Apostille Convention, a different legalisation process may be required.

Families usually need additional time because marriage certificates, birth certificates and other supporting documents may also need to be legalised and translated.

And if the authority requests additional documentation after submission, your overall timeline can become longer.

When Should You Start Preparing?

At Bureaucracy Spain, we generally recommend starting around six months before your intended move, or eight to nine months ahead for families.

That doesn't mean your application will take that long to approve. Starting early gives you enough time to prepare everything correctly while making sure documents with limited validity periods are obtained at the right time.

Get Expert Guidance for Your Digital Nomad Visa

With different application routes, processing times and documentation requirements, choosing the right strategy can make a significant difference.

At Bureaucracy Spain, we’ve helped thousands of Digital Nomad Visa applicants over the years. Our experience goes beyond knowing which documents are required: we understand how the UGE and Spanish consulates handle these applications in practice, what they tend to look for, and how to prepare each case accordingly.

That first-hand experience helps us anticipate potential issues and guide you through the process based not only on the requirements, but on how applications are actually assessed.

Want to understand the best route for your move to Spain? Book a free consultation with our team and get expert guidance for your Digital Nomad Visa application.