Non-lucrative residence in Spain (residencia no lucrativa)

Official fee

€2,400 a month in means

Official name

Residencia temporal no lucrativa

Forms

—

Steps

10

Documents required

7

Source: Boletín Oficial del Estado — Ley 31/2022, de Presupuestos Generales del Estado para 2023 — IPREM (texto consolidado). Checked 27 August 2026.

Every immigration fee, with the official Spanish wording

Step by step

1. 1

   Understand what 'non-lucrative' actually forbids

   The permit authorises you to reside in Spain without carrying out any employment or professional activity. Not reduced activity, not occasional activity — none. If you intend to work remotely for an employer abroad, this is the wrong permit and applying for it on the basis that the work is not in Spain is how these applications come apart later.

2. 2

   Work out the money, which is a multiple of the IPREM

   You must hold sufficient means for the whole period of the authorisation, or show a regular source of income, of at least 400% of the IPREM per month for yourself and a further 100% of the IPREM per month for each dependent family member. The IPREM is €600 a month, so in practice that is €2,400 a month for you and €600 for each dependant — and because the first authorisation runs a year, the total to evidence is twelve times that.

3. 3

   Note that the IPREM has not moved since 2023

   The figure is set by the State Budget Act, and the last one to change it was Law 31/2022, for 2023. No budget since has altered it, so it has stayed at €600. That is worth knowing in both directions: the threshold has not risen with inflation, and it will move the moment a new budget passes — so check it rather than assume, if you are reading this long after the date above.

4. 4

   Prepare evidence that survives being examined

   Availability can be shown by any means admitted in law: property deeds, certified cheques, or credit cards accompanied by a bank certificate stating the credit available on them. For accounts held abroad, the file must state the full name and address of the bank, the complete account identification, the dates of opening or cancellation, the balance at 31 December of the year before the application, and the average balance over the last year. If your means come from shares in companies based in Spain, you must certify that you do not work in them and sign a declaration to that effect.

5. 5

   Apply at the Spanish consulate in your own country

   You apply for the residence visa at the Spanish consular office with jurisdiction over where you live. The visa application carries the application for the non-lucrative residence authorisation with it — they are not two separate procedures, and the authorisation cannot be applied for from inside Spain.

   Where: Spanish consular office covering your place of residence

6. 6

   Expect a criminal record check, and know it is not automatic

   The immigration office obtains the central criminal records report and a police report on you of its own motion, both issued within seven days. A record appearing in the police report is not by itself an automatic ground for refusal: the authority has to assess, case by case and on the specific circumstances, whether you represent a threat to public order, internal security, public health or the international relations of any EU member state.

7. 7

   One month for the decision, and silence means no

   The competent body decides within a maximum of one month from receiving the consular office's communication. If that month passes with no answer, the application is understood to have been refused. Nothing further is coming, so the deadline is the point at which to act rather than to keep waiting.

8. 8

   Then one month from arrival to get your card

   Within one month of entering Spain you must apply personally for the foreigner identity card. That is a separate appointment, at a police station rather than at the immigration office, and the month runs from your entry rather than from when you settle in.

   Where: National Police station or Immigration Office of your province

9. 9

   The renewal condition that changes everything: 183 days

   To renew, you must have resided in Spain really and effectively for more than 183 days during the calendar year. That is the same threshold Spanish tax law uses for residence, so keeping this permit and remaining outside the Spanish tax system are not compatible. Anyone planning to split the year between two countries should settle this before applying, not after.

10. 10

    Renew in the two months before it expires

    The application goes to the immigration office during the two months before your authorisation expires, and filing in that window extends the old authorisation until the decision. You can also file within the three months after expiry and it will still be extended — but that opens a penalty procedure under article 52.b) of Organic Law 4/2000, so it is a safety net rather than a second window.

Common questions