Spain Digital Nomad Visa When Your Employer Has a Spanish Office: The Routes Still Open (2026)

If your employer has an office in Spain, the employee route of the Spain Digital Nomad Visa is closed to you. Article 74 bis.1 of Ley 14/2013 only lets employees telework for companies based outside Spain, and the UGE's published FAQ says that when the company has a branch in Spain, the worker is not a teleworker but an intra-company transferee.

That does not end your move. Two routes run through your employer, the intra-company transfer and the highly qualified professional permit. Others do not need your employer at all, but they only work if your working relationship genuinely changes.

Key Takeaways

• The employee route requires an employer with no establishment in Spain. The UGE treats staff of a company with a Spanish branch as intra-company transferees.
• The UGE publishes no separate criterion for subsidiaries or sister companies, and the law makes no exception for small or dormant entities.
• With your employer's support, the routes are the intra-company transfer (Article 73) and the highly qualified professional permit (Article 71).
• Without it, the freelancer and business owner routes stay open only if the relationship is real: three months of professional activity, or a company with one year of activity.

In This Guide

• Why an employer's Spanish office closes the Digital Nomad Visa employee route
• What counts as a Spanish office: branches, subsidiaries and group companies
• Alternative routes compared
• Routes that need your employer: intra-company transfer and highly qualified professional permit
• Digital Nomad Visa as a freelancer or business owner
• Changing employer or applying as a family member
• What each route means for the Beckham Law
• UK employers with a Spanish subsidiary
• Check your employer's structure before you apply

Why an Employer's Spanish Office Closes the Digital Nomad Visa Employee Route

Spain's Digital Nomad Visa, officially the residence authorisation for international teleworkers, is built around one idea: you live in Spain and work for someone who is not here.

Article 74 bis.1 of Ley 14/2013 says that a holder with an employment relationship may only work for companies based outside Spanish territory. Article 74 ter c) then asks you to prove at least three months of employment with a company "not located in Spain".

The UGE (Unidad de Grandes Empresas), the office that decides applications filed in Spain, addresses the case directly in its FAQ for international teleworkers. Asked what happens when the company has a branch in Spain, it answers that those workers are not considered teleworkers but intra-company transferees (ICT), governed by that permit and its own requirements.

The same FAQ closes the Social Security side: an employer that registers its teleworker in Spain must be a non-resident entity with no establishments in Spain.

The consular route follows the same logic. The information note of the Spanish consulate in Melbourne states that the telework visa is not processed for applicants who fall within the scope of intra-company transfer permits.

Our guide for remote employees covers the standard employee route in full.

What Counts as a Spanish Office: Branches, Subsidiaries and Group Companies

The official sources are precise about one structure and silent about the others.

A branch (sucursal) is the clear case, and the one the UGE's FAQ names. It has no legal personality of its own, so it is the same company that employs you, operating in Spain.

A subsidiary (filial) is a separate Spanish company owned by your employer or its parent. A sister company is a Spanish company owned by the same group, with no direct link to the entity on your contract.

Neither Ley 14/2013 nor the UGE's FAQ sets a specific criterion for subsidiaries or sister companies. What the law does say points one way: the intra-company transfer permit in Article 73 covers moves within a whole group of companies.

So treat any Spanish entity in your employer's group as closing the employee route until a lawyer has reviewed which entity employs you, which one pays you and how the Spanish company relates to both.

Size changes nothing. The law has no exception for small, dormant or administrative entities. Spanish companies and branches of foreign companies appear in the public Registro Mercantil, and the UGE's FAQ says it may request information about a company's size, activity and structure.

Leaving a Spanish entity out of an application is not a strategy. It risks a refusal after months of preparation, and at renewal you must still meet the conditions that gave rise to the permit (Article 74 quinquies.3).

If you are not sure what your employer's structure means, you can request a free case evaluation and Hoply's lawyers will review it before you commit to a route.

Alternative Routes Compared

All five are authorisations under Ley 14/2013, and Article 76.1 gives the UGE a maximum of 20 working days to resolve them.

Routes That Need Your Employer: Intra-Company Transfer and Highly Qualified Professional Permit

An intra-company transfer (traslado intraempresarial) is the residence permit for people who move to Spain within an employment, professional or training relationship with a company or group of companies. It is the route the UGE itself points to.

Article 73.2 asks for four things: real business activity, a higher education qualification or at least three years of equivalent professional experience, a prior and continuous relationship of three months with one or more companies of the group, and company documents that prove the transfer.

There are two versions. The EU ICT permit covers temporary transfers of managers, specialists and trainees from a company outside the European Union to an entity of the same group in Spain, for up to three years, or one year for trainees. The national permit covers the remaining cases and is valid for three years or for the length of the transfer.

The highly qualified professional permit in Article 71 fits a different scenario: the Spanish entity hires you for a highly qualified role. Either the company or the professional can file, and it is granted for up to three years.

Both routes depend on your employer agreeing to a transfer or a Spanish contract. Our article on why an Employer of Record does not solve the Digital Nomad Visa explains how to open that conversation.

Digital Nomad Visa as a Freelancer or Business Owner

The professional side of the Digital Nomad Visa remains available if the relationship is what the paperwork says it is.

As a freelancer, Article 74 ter d) requires a commercial relationship with companies not located in Spain for at least the last three months. The UGE's documentation list adds that proof of an employment relationship is not valid to prove a professional one, and vice versa.

So moving from payroll to a contractor agreement restarts the clock: you need three months of contracts, invoices and payments before you apply. Our guide to how far in advance to register as a freelancer covers the timing.

Two cautions apply. The UGE publishes no criterion on clients whose group has a Spanish entity, so have that structure reviewed first. And work for a company located in Spain is capped at 20% of your professional activity (Article 74 bis.1).

As a business owner, you apply through a company you own or control. It needs at least one year of real, continuous activity, and the UGE asks owners for proof of ownership, the latest corporate income tax return, evidence of investment and a social security report on the company's employees.

Take an invented example. Maya (a fictional name) is a programme manager on the payroll of a US software company with a subsidiary in Madrid. She also owns a single-member LLC that has had no clients for two years.

Her employee route is closed, and a dormant LLC cannot show a year of real activity. Her realistic options are a transfer or a Spanish contract through her employer, or a genuine professional relationship documented for three months.

See how the UGE decides between the employee and business owner route and our guide for business owners.

Changing Employer or Applying as a Family Member

A new job with an employer that has no establishment in Spain reopens the employee route, once you have three months with that employer and the company has at least one year of activity.

If your spouse or registered partner qualifies as the main applicant, you can apply as a family member. The UGE's FAQ confirms that family members may work in Spain without restrictions, though your Social Security and tax position needs its own review. Our guide to the Digital Nomad Visa for couples explains how to choose the main applicant.

On any Digital Nomad Visa route, the main applicant must show €2,849 gross per month, which is 200% of the minimum wage set by Real Decreto 126/2026.

What Each Route Means for the Beckham Law

The Beckham Law is Spain's special tax regime for people who move to Spain for work, set out in Article 93 of the Personal Income Tax Law (LIRPF). It taxes employment income at a flat 24% up to €600,000 a year.

Article 93.1.b) lists the circumstances that must cause the move. The first is an employment contract, which is where a Spanish contract or an employer-ordered transfer would normally be assessed. Among the conditions, you must not have been tax resident in Spain in the five previous tax periods.

The Digital Nomad Visa gateway is written for employees. On the freelancer or business owner route it no longer applies, and the remaining gateways have their own conditions.

Because the route can change your tax bill for years, you can book a tax consultation with Hoply's tax specialists before you decide. Our Beckham Law guide for digital nomads covers the regime in full.

UK Employers With a Spanish Subsidiary

Nothing in the rule depends on the employer's nationality or yours. A UK company with a Spanish branch or group entity raises exactly the same question as a US or Canadian one.

A certificate of coverage from HMRC does not solve it. The UGE's answer covers both registering the worker in Spain and importing social security cover from a treaty country: either way, the worker is treated as a transferee.

UK groups are usually easy to check. Accounts filed at Companies House normally list a company's subsidiaries, and your employment contract names the entity that employs you.

Our Digital Nomad Visa guide for UK citizens covers the rest of the process.

Check Your Employer's Structure Before You Apply

Confirm the structure before you gather documents. Ask HR or the legal team which entity employs you and whether the group has any company, branch or office in Spain, and compare the answer with your contract and payslips.

Then choose the route that fits. An employer willing to support a transfer leads to Article 73 or Article 71. A real change in how you work leads to the freelancer or business owner route. Our document checklist shows what each Digital Nomad Visa route requires.

At Hoply, our Spain-based immigration lawyers review your employer's structure, tell you which route is open and, for the Digital Nomad Visa, prepare and file your application with an approved-or-refunded guarantee. If your employer has any presence in Spain, request a free case evaluation before you invest time in a route that cannot be approved.