What documents I need for Spain's digital nomad visa, and which ones need an apostille and a sworn translation

From your country: the visa at the consulate. You apply at the Spanish consulate for the district where you legally reside, in person or through an accredited representative, and you apply for the NIE at the same time. The visa is valid for one year at most and proves residence for that time without needing a foreigner identity card. The legal deadline to decide is 10 days from the day after filing, extendable if more documents or an interview are requested; the visa is collected within one month of notification. Each consulate books appointments its own way: London through the BLS centre, New York by email with each applicant's details, Los Angeles through its appointment system, Washington for residents of Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland and the District of Columbia.

From inside Spain: the residence authorisation at the UGE-CE. If you are legally in Spain, or you entered on the visa and want to stay, you apply for the international teleworker residence authorisation at the Large Companies and Strategic Groups Unit of the Ministry of Inclusion, with the MIT form and fee 790 038. The authorisation is valid for up to three years and is renewed for two-year periods. Visa holders who want to stay apply within the sixty calendar days before the visa expires.

The documents are almost the same on both routes. What changes is the form, the fee, the fact that the UGE-CE asks for a CV and not for a photo, and that the UGE-CE publishes its translation and legalisation rule in writing, while each consulate applies it with its own list.

• Certificates with an expiry first. The criminal record certificate cannot be older than six months in London and Washington; request it once the rest of the file is on track. The relationship with the company must be at least three months old and the company at least one year active on the application date; the UGE-CE's income proof covers the last three months.
• Then the apostille, on the original. The Hague apostille (or legalisation, in countries outside the Convention) is issued in the country that issued the document: in the United States, the federal one from the Department of State for the FBI check; in the UK, the Legalisation Office for the ACRO certificate and civil registry certificates.
• Last, the sworn translation, apostille included. The translation reproduces the whole document, apostille included, so it is made on the already apostilled document. For the UGE-CE it must be signed by a sworn translator appointed by Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs or, failing that, made or checked by a Spanish consular office (with later legalisation by the Ministry) or by the issuing country's consulate in Spain (apostilled or legalised).
• Private documents are not apostilled. Company letters and certificates, contracts, payslips, invoices, bank certificates and insurance policies: for the UGE-CE a translation by a sworn translator is enough; the consulates do not mention it.

• Washington: the FBI check "must be accompanied by a federal Hague apostille (issued by the Department of State) and a sworn translation into Spanish", issued in the last 6 months; family certificates with apostille and sworn translation. Fee $190 in 2024.
• New York: the criminal record certificate must carry the Hague apostille or, if the country is not in the Convention, be legalised "plus a translation into Spanish"; it accepts FBI certificates only. Birth and marriage certificates, apostilled and "with an official translation into Spanish". Appointments by email.
• London: asks for the ACRO certificate for UK criminal records and does not mention apostille or translation on the visa page; filing at the BLS centre.
• Los Angeles: publishes the document list without mentioning apostille or translation; appointments through its system and payment by money order. It covers southern California, Arizona, Colorado and Utah.
• UGE-CE: "public documents issued by a foreign authority must be filed duly legalised or apostilled" and, if not in Spanish, with a "translation made by a sworn translator-interpreter authorised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs". The rest of the documentation, translated by a sworn translator; the CV, with a plain translation.

That a consulate page does not mention translation does not mean it will not be asked for: the consulate may request additional documents during processing. If in doubt about a specific document, the Ministry's general reference is its page on legalisation and apostille (in Spanish).

• Translating before apostilling. The apostille is translated too; if you add it afterwards, the translation is incomplete.
• An expired criminal record certificate. Older than six months in London and Washington. Get the documents without an expiry first and leave the criminal record for last.
• A local or state police certificate instead of the FBI check. New York says so expressly: it accepts the FBI's only.
• A translation that is not sworn. The UGE-CE accepts only translations by a sworn translator appointed by the Foreign Ministry or the consular routes it describes; a plain translation is valid only for the CV.
• An application for the coverage certificate instead of the certificate itself. The UGE-CE does not accept "mere applications" for the certificate of applicable legislation.
• Insurance with co-payments, waiting periods or travel cover. The UGE-CE rejects them; the consulate requires an insurer authorised in Spain with cover equivalent to the public system.
• A passport issued more than ten years ago or with less than a year's validity. The consulates do not accept it.