A Spainguru community member kindly shared his Spanish Digital Nomad application post in the Spanish Digital Nomad Visa Facebook group of Spainguru. Join the group today to discover more tips and tricks and stay informed about the Spanish digital nomad visa!
Here it goes:
I recently got approved for the DNV and I thought I could share my experience in case it is helpful to someone. (I hired an agency -Lexidy- to do this, so I don’t know the technical details of it).
I also want to emphasize that I’m not a lawyer nor do I know anything related to Spanish law or taxation, besides what I researched for myself.
I’m originally from Guatemala, therefore I have no idea about the paperwork for Americans or English as I understand they need specific requisites.
Context
I work as an Analyst for an American company. I work as a contractor as I’m originally from Guatemala, however, I moved to Ireland from June 1st, 2022, to January 20th, 2023, as a student. Anyway, my visa finished on Jan 20th and the next day I went to Rome for about a week and then to Valencia.
Requirements
1) I needed to provide a criminal record check of both countries where I lived for more than 6 months, AKA Guatemala and Ireland, they both needed to be apostilled and in the case of the Irish one, translated (By an authorized translator in Spain)
2) I had to present a letter from my client/employer. I added the following things:
A. I was working remotely for them.
B. The date I was hired and how long I’ve been working with them.
C. I included the monthly salary in Euros and the currency in which I receive the money in my account, in this case, dollars.
D. A text indicating that I had complete authorization to work in Spain,
E. The type of relationship I had with my client (Employee or Contractor) in my case I’m a contractor.
F. An indication about how long the company allows me to remain in Spain (write indefinitely if they don’t care, but it must be
written. Before I would have something in the lines of “He has expressed authorization to work remotely” and the immigration
office didn’t accept that)
G. My position and a description of it (What I do in my job).
I had to ask for this letter to be signed a couple of times as they would add requirements plus you only have like 10 days after they review your application to present the updated version. So, if your client takes forever to sign something, then it’s better to have it ready beforehand.
Also, the lawyer that I was working with mentioned that the letter should be signed with a pen (old style) no digital signing, and if your company has a stamp, that’s ideal. Mine didn’t because almost everyone works remotely. (I’m not completely sure about the last statement, but I followed his instructions)
3) Proof that I have been working for more than 3 months with them, either by a certificate, contract, or invoices signed. Only a letter is not enough (At least in my case) I opted for translating the contract and sending my bank statement and invoices.
4) As my client is American, I had to get a Good Standing certificate/Certificate of Fact to show that the company has existed for more than 1 year. If your client is from another country, something proving that they’ve been an active company for at least 1 year. It also needs to be apostilled and translated by an authorized sworn translator. I’m of course not American, therefore as I was completely lost in that matter, I used an agency that got the document and then got it apostilled. Unfortunately, they were expensive, but they delivered what they promised and were efficient.
5) A copy of my entire Passport
6) Resume (I submitted mine in Spanish) if you could add a link to your LinkedIn that would be great. I saw people from Spain viewing my profile and I don’t have any Spanish contacts. (This last recommendation is personal, probably it doesn’t matter, but it could help to give you credibility, especially if you’ve been tagged in your client’s posts or featured in any articles).
7) As I needed to show a minimum experience of 3 years, I had to ask my previous employers to write a signed letter indicating the time we worked together and a way to contact them. (In other countries they offer an employment history document, mine didn’t offer it)
8) Private insurance and a certificate indicating that you had paid for the entire year.
9 ) In the case of a self-employed, a document that shows that you were registered as a Contractor/Autonomo/self-employed in your country of residence.
10) For some reason the plane ticket to the entrance to Spain (Maybe to prove that I didn’t enter as an Irish Resident or that I haven’t overstayed in the Schengen area.) I also had to provide my residence permit from Ireland (According to my lawyer to prove that I didn’t enter as an Irish resident)
11) A signed declaration/letter indicating that I would sign up as an Autonomo once approved (The agency -Lexidy- crafted the letter). Take into consideration that my country, unfortunately, doesn’t have any treaty with Spain when it comes to taxes so I must pay full taxes. (Unless there’s an update with the Beckham law) Some people say you could get a flat rate of 24%, but I’m still figuring this thing out. I just got approved.
Process
I’m not completely sure about how they submitted my application as mentioned before, I used an agency -Lexidy- that helped me to do it. Basically, I came to Spain, and I had almost all the documents ready. I sent the documents to the agency, and they would provide feedback or have them stored so they were ready by the time of presenting the documents
Then, I waited for about 15 days, and the immigration office later provided feedback asking for more detailed information. On the second round, the documentation got approved and my stress finally went away.
Right now I’m in the process of getting a rental in Valencia to be able to get “empadronado” I was overly cautious with contracts, as I didn’t want to get a contract for 1 year and lose my deposit in case the answer wasn’t what I was hoping for. So, I rented a temporary stay. (I’d appreciate any help on this matter, in case you know someone who rents and allows to be empadronado as it has been a challenge)
As final advice
Please, please, have everything ready beforehand, it is going to save you a lot of stress, personally, I did everything in a rush as my first plan was to move to Portugal, but it went out of the window very last minute due to the increasing the income requirements in January of this year. For that reason, I had no other option than to pivot quickly and I took the risk to come to Spain even if the details of the DNV permit weren’t completely certain by January since my visa in Ireland was getting due.
I know it may probably not be the most helpful post, but I hope it provides an idea about what you may need to apply for this visa and hopefully saves you some time.
As a reminder, I’m not a lawyer or expert by any means, so take all my words with a grain of salt if you can get advice from an expert, that would be ideal as I’m only telling my experience.
I wish you all the best in your application and the best of luck!
I’m uploading the template that I used in case they’re useful. However, take into consideration that they worked for me and my specific situation. So always use a version that your lawyer gives you since they know your specific situation. I removed company logos and info due to privacy.
EDIT: The Law agency that I used was Lexidy Law Boutique. (I didn’t want to publish it as I didn’t want to sound like I was selling, but since I’ve been asked that a lot)
Q&As
Thanks so much for sharing your detailed experience! I am about to submit my own app also using a lawyer. Can you say anything about what they asked you to revise after the first submission?
The letter from my employer. I shared the template I used (That they accepted) and proof of the 3-month minimum period. Before, we thought only the letter would do, but then we had to translate the contract, get the bank statements, and also the invoices. (Take into consideration that I opted to send those as I wanted to show as much proof as possible to not get denied)
Are you aware about final financial minimal income requirements?
It is my understanding 2300 euros monthly is the minimum. (I’m not sure though)
I wonder if Certificate of Fact or Good Standing is still needed if I’ve been with the current company for over 2 years therefore proving that they’ve existed for over a year?
Yes, it’s a separate document that you need to upload when submitting the application. Without it, you cannot proceed.
You mentioned the letter should be signed with a pen. Did you submit a hard copy (meaning you had it delivered from US to Valencia) or did your employer email you the hard copy of the contract?
Oh no, it was a scanned document with the signing, but my lawyer mentioned it needed to be signed by pen.
What agency did you you use to get the good standing certificate? And how long did it take?
I used one called Systemday.
Authorisation to work in Spain? Isn’t DNV the same? Also, do you still need to apply as Autonomo after DNV? Do you know if it can be done vice versa?
Yeah, however when I submitted my documentation for the first time. They requested to repeat the letter. Before I would have something written like “He has expressed authorization to work remotely” However, that didn’t work. So on the second round, I actually wrote. “He has complete authorization to work in Spain indefinitely. And that one got accepted” About the Autonomo thing, yeah, if you’re self-employed. I’ve no idea how it works if you’re employed.
How long did it take in total from submission date to receiving approval?
I applied on February 28th, I got a response on march 20th for more info and finally got approved by 31st of march
For #9 a document that shows you were registered as a contractor in your country of residence: did you have to get this document apostilled?
Yes, I did send it to be apostilled. My country has a document stating that you are registered as an autonomo/self-employed
However, I assume tax returns should work just fine.
Do all documents need to be translated into Spanish? Which documents need a sworn translation, notarization, and apostille?
Great question. The honest answer is “I’m not sure” (Sorry about that). I translated all my documents with the same translation agency.
We Guatemalans speak Spanish as our mother tongue, thus I had to only translate my client’s contract, the Irish police check, and the good standing certificate from the USA. I asked my client to sign the Spanish version of the authorization letter after sending the English version to them, so I saved the translation there. I also downloaded my bank statements in Spanish, (fortunately, the bank platform had that option). About the apostilled documents, I sent every government, and city document. I mean, the Police check of both countries, the good standing certificate, and proof of being an autonomo/self employed from my country of origin (Guatemala). I didn’t send my client’s contract to get apostilled though.
Author: Carlos Alberto Reyes Ramos
