Getting Your Employer's Approval for Spain's Digital Nomad Visa (and What to Do If They Refuse)
Written by Hoply
Reviewed by Natalia Menendez, licensed lawyer expert
Employer approval is a legal requirement for the employee route of Spain's Digital Nomad Visa. Article 74 ter c) of Law 14/2013 asks you to prove that your company allows you to work remotely, and the UGE, the unit that decides applications filed from inside Spain, asks for a signed company letter authorising the work from Spain.
What your employer has to do is narrower than most HR teams assume. The company provides a letter, social security evidence and a registry certificate. It does not sponsor you, sign your application or open a company in Spain.
If the answer is still no, the employee route closes, but other routes stay open.
Key Takeaways
- Your employer provides three things: an authorisation letter, social security evidence and proof of at least one year of company activity.
- The employer does not file or sign the application, and it must not have a company or office in Spain.
- Spanish social security contributions only arise when you cannot stay in your home country's system. In that case the employer's share is just over 30% of salary.
- A letter for a defined period, such as one year, is valid. Your permit lasts for the same period.
- If your employer refuses, the options are a genuine contractor relationship, a new employer, your own company or applying as a family member.
In This Guide
- What your employer has to do for Spain's Digital Nomad Visa
- Why employers hesitate to approve remote work from Spain
- Employer objections and what Spanish rules say
- How to ask your employer for approval
- A one-year trial letter and what it means for your permit
- What to do if your employer refuses
- When your employer has an office or group company in Spain
- UK and US employers
- Check your employer route with Hoply before you apply
What Your Employer Has to Do for Spain's Digital Nomad Visa
Spain's Digital Nomad Visa, officially the residence authorisation for international teleworkers, lets a non-EU national live in Spain while working for a company based outside Spain. On the employee route, three parts of the file depend on that company.
The first is the authorisation letter. The UGE's documentation list asks for a letter from the foreign company that authorises the work from Spain and states your job profile, your main functions, an express statement that the job can be done by remote means, your salary in euros and the other conditions of the arrangement.
The second is social security evidence, and there are two ways to provide it.
Where a social security agreement between Spain and your country applies, your home authority issues a certificate of coverage, the document confirming that you stay insured at home. It must expressly cover remote work from Spain.
Otherwise, the foreign company registers with Spanish Social Security as an employer with no workplaces in Spain and commits to enrol you once the permit is granted.
The UGE does not accept proof that a certificate has merely been requested, so this is the item to start first.
The third is proof that the company is real. Article 74 ter a) requires at least one year of real, continuous activity, shown with an official certificate from the company registry of its home country.
Everything else is yours, including the application, the €73.26 fee and proof of income of €2,849 gross per month, which is 200% of the minimum wage set by Royal Decree 126/2026.
Our guide for remote employees covers the full route, and the document checklist shows where each item sits in the file.
Why Employers Hesitate to Approve Remote Work From Spain
Most refusals start from unfamiliarity. HR receives a request it has not seen before and passes it to legal or finance, where "no" is the safest reply.
The concern is usually described as "tax risk", a phrase that covers four different questions: corporate tax, social security, payroll and employment law. A second concern is commitment, because signing something open-ended is different from agreeing to a year abroad.
Your job is to turn a vague worry into specific questions the company's advisers can answer.
Employer Objections and What Spanish Rules Say
| Employer objection | What actually applies | Source |
|---|---|---|
| "We would have to open a company in Spain" | No. The employee route only exists for companies based outside Spain, and a Spanish entity would close it. | Article 74 bis.1, Law 14/2013 |
| "We would have to pay Spanish social security" | Only if no certificate of coverage is available. If the company registers in Spain, it pays employer contributions of just over 30% of salary. | UGE documentation list; Order PJC/297/2026 |
| "One employee in Spain makes us liable for Spanish corporate tax" | Not automatically. A permanent establishment depends on specific facts, and the clearest risk is a director running the company from Spain. | Article 13.1.a, Non-Resident Income Tax Law |
| "We would have to run Spanish payroll" | It depends on whether the company is considered to operate in Spain. This is a question for the company's tax adviser. | Case-by-case analysis |
| "Spanish employment law would apply to you" | The law chosen in your contract still governs it, but it cannot remove the mandatory protections of the country where you habitually work. | Article 8, Rome I Regulation |
| "We cannot commit for three years" | They do not have to. A letter for a defined period is valid, and the permit follows it. | Article 74 quinquies.2, Law 14/2013 |
The social security row is the one with a real cost. Under Order PJC/297/2026, the employer's rate for common contingencies alone is 23.60%. Unemployment, training, the wage guarantee fund and the intergenerational equity mechanism take the total just over 30%, before the accident-at-work premium.
Contributions are calculated on a base capped at €5,101.20 per month. On a salary of €4,500 a month, that is about €1,380 a month in employer contributions.
Our guide to applying without a social security agreement explains what registration involves.
On corporate tax, our article on the employer letter and permanent establishment risk sets out the tests a company's adviser will apply.
The employment law row is a genuine point for the company's employment counsel, and it is better raised by you than discovered later.
If you are not sure which of these applies to your employer, Hoply's immigration lawyers can review your case in a free evaluation and tell you what to ask for before you speak to HR.
How to Ask Your Employer for Approval
Ask before you do anything you cannot undo. Giving notice on a lease, selling a home or enrolling children in a Spanish school should come after a written yes, not before.
Start with a short written request rather than a passing conversation. Say that the move is your initiative, that your role, duties and salary stay the same, and that you are asking for two things: a letter and a social security certificate.
Then find out which risk worries them, and answer it with facts, because facts are what the legal tests use. Relevant ones are that the company has no entity, office or staff in Spain, that you have no authority to sign contracts on its behalf, and that it will not pay for or control your home.
Only state what is true. Neither you nor an immigration letter can guarantee a tax outcome, and that conclusion belongs to the company's own adviser.
Take Priya, an invented example. She is a UX lead on the payroll of a software company in Toronto, and HR turns down her request because "we would have to set up a Spanish company".
That is not what the visa requires. Canada has a social security agreement with Spain, so the first step is for her employer to request a certificate of coverage from the Canada Revenue Agency. Whether it is issued is the agency's decision, but no Spanish company is involved either way.
Priya goes back with that information and a proposal for a one-year letter, a much smaller question than the one HR refused.
A One-Year Trial Letter and What It Means for Your Permit
A trial period is often the compromise that gets a yes, and it has a direct effect on your permit.
Under Article 74 quinquies.2 of Law 14/2013, the residence authorisation requested from inside Spain lasts up to three years, unless it is requested for a shorter work period. A visa issued by a consulate lasts up to one year under Article 74 quater.1, or less if the work period is shorter.
So a letter authorising one year of remote work supports a one-year authorisation. To stay longer, you will need a new letter and a renewal.
Agree the period openly, and never alter a signed letter. If the dates need to change, ask your employer for a new one.
What to Do if Your Employer Refuses
A first refusal is not always final. If the objection is tax, a written opinion from the company's adviser may change it. If it is the length of the commitment, a defined period may be enough.
If the refusal is final, the employee route is closed. These are the options that remain.
| Option | What it needs | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Contractor for the same company (freelancer route) | A genuine services contract and three months of invoices and payments | Time as an employee does not count towards the three months |
| A new employer with no entity in Spain | Three months in the new job and a company with one year of activity | The new employer must also sign a letter |
| Your own company (business owner route) | Effective control and one year of real company activity | A dormant company does not qualify |
| Family member of a partner who qualifies | Marriage or a registered partnership | Your partner is the main applicant |
Becoming a contractor is a real change, not a relabelled employment contract. Article 74 ter d) of Law 14/2013 requires a commercial relationship of at least three months, and the UGE's documentation list states that proof of an employment relationship is not valid to prove a professional one. Our guide to how far in advance to register as a freelancer covers the timing.
It also changes your tax position. The Beckham Law gateway most Digital Nomad Visa holders use is written for employees, so before you give up your employment contract you can book a tax consultation with Hoply's tax specialists. Our Beckham Law guide for digital nomads explains the regime.
If you own or control a company, see how the UGE decides between the employee and business owner route. If your partner qualifies, see our guide to the Digital Nomad Visa for couples.
One option to rule out is an Employer of Record. It changes who your legal employer is, and we explain why in our article on Employers of Record and the Digital Nomad Visa.
When Your Employer Has an Office or Group Company in Spain
If the company already has a branch or a group entity in Spain, the employee route is closed, whatever your employer is willing to sign.
Other permits exist for that situation, such as the intra-company transfer (Article 73 of Law 14/2013) and the highly qualified professional permit (Article 71). Both depend on the employer. Our article on employers with a Spanish office covers them.
UK and US Employers
Nothing in the rules depends on the employer's nationality. The letter, the registry certificate and the one-year requirement are the same for every company.
What changes is the social security document. A UK employer relies on a certificate issued by HMRC, generally limited to 24 months. A US employer requests a certificate of coverage from the Social Security Administration, which can cover up to five years.
Our guides for UK citizens and US citizens cover each case.
Check Your Employer Route With Hoply Before You Apply
Employer approval for Spain's Digital Nomad Visa is easier to obtain when the request is precise: one letter, one social security document and one registry certificate, for a period you have agreed.
Hoply's Spain-based immigration lawyers review, guide and file every Digital Nomad Visa application, with an approved-or-refunded guarantee. If your employer is hesitating or has already said no, request a free case evaluation and we will review your case and tell you what to ask for, or which route fits if the answer does not change.
Frequently Asked Questions
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or tax advice. Regulations can change and every case is different. Always consult a qualified immigration lawyer and tax adviser. At Hoply we have specialists who can review your specific situation.