Last Updated on April 18, 2026 by Bruno Bianchi
Question
“The 28k plus 7k euros needed per year to support the Spanish Non Lucrative Visa. Can this be from passive income (pensions) or must it be banked savings? I have been told by an ‘expert’ that it needs to be notarised bank savings account. Thanks.”
Answers
These are the answers of Spainguru’s Facebook group members:
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Start the Moving to Spain Hub →“Can be passive or savings or a mixture of both. The ‘expert’ has it wrong ????”
“Most people show a combo of both honestly.”
“We showed a combination of both.”
“It’s not true. Without passive income, you’d have to be insanely rich to live off savings for 30 years!”
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“Fantastic news for us. We have enough with our 2 career pension, just didn’t want to have to reserve 70k in euros for 5 years as well. Hopefully, we can buy our dream house now”
“Can be a mix of both as stated, lots of people use pension income which is very useful for years 2/3 renewal as it counts ‘double’ so less savings need to be shown. Surprised an ‘expert’ doesn’t know this as it’s pretty basic knowledge for the NLV.”
“For the renewal at years 2/3 and 4/5, any passive income / pensions is aggregated for 2 years, e.g., if you have passive income at 20k euros, then at the 2/3 and 4/5 renewals this counts as 40k, hope this makes sense”
“Because they will be counting 2 years, right?”
“Change him fast!!”
“We decided straight away after leaving his office we wouldn’t use him.”
“It’s all very sexist as my wife is no way dependent upon me.”
“That’s been my general experience over 17 years. Anything joint to do with banking or owning a property, they always wanted to deal with the man of the house and I got ignored, despite being co-owner. Irksome little things too, like only his name being on correspondence.”
Conclusion
The discussion confirms that both passive income and savings are acceptable for meeting the financial requirements of the Spanish Non-Lucrative Visa
Misinformation from professionals can lead to confusion among applicants, highlighting the importance of doing thorough research or consulting multiple sources.
The use of passive income, including pensions, is particularly beneficial for visa renewals, as it counts double for future applications, easing the financial proof required.
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