Question
When your Spanish Non Lucrative Visa ends, do you know if you can leave the country and get a tourist visa reset right away (for 3 months) or do you have to leave Spain for 3 months before you can get a tourist visa?
Answers
These are the answers of Spainguru’s Facebook group members:
“The 3-month tourist visa would start immediately. You don’t have to leave Spain for this transition.”
“There’s no need to exit the country at all, not even for a couple of days, to switch to a Schengen visa.”
“I might be incorrect, but if you’re not renewing your Spanish Non Lucrative Visa, the 3-month tourist status should commence without needing to leave.”
“How could an entire family successfully renew temporary residency if only one member has complied with the requirements?”
“You don’t have to leave Spain. The 90-day period starts when your visa expires.”
“Assuming you are American, there isn’t a separate tourist visa per se; you just revert to the standard 90/180-day Schengen rule once your NLV expires.”
“No, because the Spanish Non Lucrative Visa has a specific expiration date, and you can start the 90/180-day count right after that.”
Conclusion
The consensus among the community members is that after the expiration of the Spanish Non Lucrative Visa (NLV), transitioning directly to a tourist status for an additional 90 days in Spain does not require leaving the country.
There is no need to exit and re-enter Spain to activate this tourist period; it automatically begins after the NLV’s expiry under the 90/180-day Schengen rule.
