Long Stay Visa Spain (National Visa)

A Spanish long stay visa, also known as a National visa or a D visa, is an immigration permission to foreign nationals who wish to stay in the country for more than 90 days for a specific purpose, such as to work, study or live with family members settled in Spain.

After arriving in Spain on your long stay visa, you must apply for a Foreigner Identity Card within 30 days. You can apply at the Foreign Nationals’ Office or the police station of the province where your long term residence permit was processed.

Page Contents

• What Is a Spain Long Stay Visa?
• Who Needs a Spain Long Stay D Visa?
• Types of Spain Long Stay National Visas
• Spain Employment and Self-Employment Visas
• Investor and Entrepreneur Visas in Spain
• Digital Nomad Visa
• Long Stay Visa to Study in Spain
• Long Stay Visas for Research and Internship
• Long Stay Visa for Joining Family in Spain
• Non Lucrative Visa Spain
• How to Apply for a Spanish Long Stay National Visa from the US?
• Documents Required for Spain Long Stay Visas
• Processing Time for Long Stay Visa Spain
• Spain Long Stay Visa Fees
• How Can Total Law Help?
• Frequently Asked Questions

EEA and Swiss nationals do not require any type of visas or permits to live, work or study in Spain.

Their eligible family members must apply for a residence permit in Spain. If the said family members are third-country nationals, they must apply for a visa for family members of a citizen of the Union.

All other third-country nationals (such as US citizens) will need to apply for a long stay visa to travel to Spain for more than 90 days.

Depending on your reason(s) for coming to Spain for more than 90 days, you will have to choose the most appropriate option from several Spanish long stay visas. These include:

• Student visa
• Family reunification visa
• Work visa
• Self-employed work visa
• Visa for highly qualified workers and for intra-company transfers
• Residence visa with working permit exemption
• Researcher visa
• Internship visa
• Investor visa
• Entrepreneur visa
• Non-Lucrative residence ​visa
• Digital Nomad visa

An Emplo​yee visa, a Self-employed work visa​, and visas for highly qualified workers and for intra-company transfers allow foreign nationals to live and work in Spain for more than 90 days. Please note that even if you wish to work in Spain for less than 90 days, you will have to apply for a National visa.

If you have received a job offer from a Spanish company, your employer will first apply for a work permit on your behalf. On the other hand, if you want to set up a business in Spain or work as a freelancer, you need to apply for a self-employment work visa.

Highly qualified professionals, including both foreign nationals in senior management positions and graduates/post-graduates of prestigious educational institutions, might apply to work as highly qualified workers in Spain.

Visa for intra-company transfers covers senior management personnel, specialists or trainees to perform pre-approved work activities in Spain when the transfer is made within the same company or group of companies.

A residence visa with work permit exemption allows eligible foreign nationals to live and work in Spain without the need of applying previously for a work permit. Researchers, scientists, teachers or technicians invited or contracted by Spanish authorities or a university, reputed managerial/teaching/research staff from cultural or educational institutions, civil servants, military officers under bilateral cooperation agreements, foreign media correspondents, artists, etc. might be eligible for this visa.

To attract foreign investors and entrepreneurs to the country, Spain has a Golden Visa Program in place. To qualify for an Investor visa, you must invest at least €2 million in Spanish public debt securities or €1 million in stocks or shares in Spanish companies/venture capital funds/bank deposits in Spanish financial institutions, or buy real estate in Spain for a minimum of €500,000 euros.

You might also set up a business in Spain leading to job creation, having a profound socio-economic impact, and contributing significantly to scientific or technological innovation. For an Entrepreneur visa, you must undertake an innovative, entrepreneurial activity in Spain which is of particular economic interest to the country.

This visa allows foreign nationals traveling in Spain to work for companies based outside the country. The visa holder is expected to work on a remote basis through computer, telematic, and telecommunication means.

To apply, you must either be self-employed or employed for an overseas company and be able to prove your legitimate sources of income.

International students, who have already received an acceptance letter from an accredited Spanish school or educational institution, will need to apply for a long stay visa for study purposes if their course duration is longer than three months.

A long stay study visa in Spain can be applied for any of the following purposes:

• Full-time studies for a diploma, certificate, or degree
• Exchange programs for secondary schools
• Doctoral studies
• Teaching assistantship
• Training
• Internships at private or public entities that do not qualify for Spain internship visa
• Au pair programs
• Conversation class assistants
• Volunteer work

A Researcher visa allows foreign nationals to carry out research activities in a university, business, or research organization in Spain. You must have an offer from such Spanish entities to be eligible to apply.

Foreign nationals with a university degree obtained in the past two years (or those pursuing a university degree level course) will have to apply for an Internship visa to participate in an internship programme in Spain.

Foreign nationals with resident status in Spain might bring their following family members to the country via the family reunification route:

• Spouse/partner
• Minor (or disabled) children, biological or adopted, represented legally by the applicant
• Parents of the applicant or their spouse/partner, if they are above 65 and in the care of the applicant

A Non-lucrative visa allows foreign nationals with sufficient financial means to stay in Spain without taking up any gainful employment.

You must be able to meet the minimum threshold of passive income and provide evidence thereof, to convince the concerned authorities that you do not intend to take up employment in Spain.

To apply for a long stay visa in Spain, you will have to start with arranging for all your necessary supporting documents and completing the visa application form. You will have to submit your application in person. For minors, a parent or guardian (or a duly accredited representative) can submit on their behalf.

The Embassy of Spain is in Washington, DC, with Spanish consulates located in Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico). Contact the Spanish consulate, as applicable depending on your place of residence in the US, to make a prior appointment for submitting your application.

You might have to attend a visa interview with a consular officer on the day of your appointment. Please carry all your required documents with you. If the consulate officer asks for additional documents, you will have to submit them within the deadline mentioned. They will also collect the visa processing fee from you.

It takes around 1-2 months to receive a decision on your Spain long stay visa when applying from the US. The waiting period, however, might be extended in certain circumstances.

For example, the countdown for receiving a visa decision starts only when your documents are received by the Spanish embassy/consulate. In case they ask you for additional documents, the calculation of your visa processing time will start from the date of the pending document(s) submission.

The long stay visa fees in Spain vary from €75 to around €674, depending on the visa type and your nationality. For example, a long stay study visa fee may be around €141 for US citizens, €83 for Canadians, and €80 for other nationalities.

Likewise, a Canadian national will have to pay around €674 for a self-employment visa while a US citizen will be charged €238. Please get in touch with your concerned Spanish embassy/consulate to understand what visa fees you will need to pay.