Question about Canadian moving to Spain
How easy is it for a Canadian moving to Spain? What visa requirements are needed? I also own my own remote business – is this an issue?
Answers
These are the answers of some Facebook group members:
“We just talked to a lawyer last night. The non lucrative Spain visa is the easiest as long as you have €28000 in bank, a rented apartment and Spanish health insurance. Unfortunately with that visa you cannot work, including back in Canada. You also can’t be out of Spain more than 10 months in the first 5 years. The Spanish digital nomad visa will be available as of March so the details are not available yet”
“Student Visa probably easiest. Non Lucrative Visa easy, if you have 27,000 euros a year. The others get harder. On the non lucrative Spain visa (NLV) your income has to be passive ( pension or investments) if out of the country. It can’t be earned.”
“I believe the digital nomad visa has just come into effect shortly before Christmas. Have no link for you, but if you google it, you should be able to find pertinent info.”
“You need to go to the Spanish Consulate website that covers your province. All the info on the types of visas and their requirements is on the site. Going to the website is step 1. You also need to find out which consulate you have to apply to based on your province. For example we are in Nova Scotia and we have to apply through Montreal”
In conclusion, moving to Spain as a Canadian can have different levels of complexity depending on the type of visa that you choose to apply for. Based on the answers from Spainguru’s Facebook group members, it seems that the non-lucrative visa and student visa are the easiest options available, provided that you have €28000 in the bank or in passive income, a compliant Spanish private health insurance, and other requirements. keep in mind that with the NLV you cannot work in Spain (Although many people in practice work remotely for non-Spanish companies), and you also can’t be out of Spain more than 10 months in the first 5 years. With the Student visa, you can work up to 30 hours per week, thanks to the new regulation that was approved in August 2022.
There is also the new Spanish digital nomad visa that you can apply for at Spanish consulates starting from 31st March 2023. However, the details of this visa are not yet available (As of January 2023).
To make sure you have all the correct information, it’s best to check the Spanish Consulate website that covers your province and find out which consulate you have to apply to based on your province. Here’s a list of Spanish consulates in Canada.
