Spain Digital Nomad Visa Glossary: 40 Spanish Terms to Know Before You Apply (2026)

A Spain digital nomad visa glossary is the quickest way to understand a process that runs entirely in Spanish. The visa is regulated by Ley 14/2013, and applications filed from inside Spain are decided by a national office called the UGE within 20 working days.

Many of the words you will meet have no exact English equivalent. Misread one and you can book the wrong appointment, send a document without the stamp it needs, or treat a routine request as a refusal.

This glossary defines the 40 terms Hoply's clients ask about most in their consultations. They appear in the order you will meet them: identity, authorities, application status, documents, work and social security, then tax, family and health.

Keep the Spanish word. It is what appears on forms and official emails, and what you should type into a search engine.

Key Takeaways

• The NIE is a number and the TIE is a card. After a UGE approval you have 1 month to request the TIE, which costs €16.08.
• The UGE decides applications filed from inside Spain within 20 working days and grants up to 3 years. A Spanish consulate issues a visa of up to 1 year.
• A requerimiento is not a refusal. It is a request for documents, and you have 10 working days to answer it.
• Foreign public documents need an apostille or legalisation first, and a sworn translation (traducción jurada) afterwards.
• Criminal record certificates cover the last 2 years of residence and must generally be under 3 months old when you file.
• The Beckham Law is requested with Modelo 149 within 6 months of registering with Spanish Social Security.

Identity and Registration Terms: NIE, TIE and Empadronamiento

These are the first Spanish terms most applicants meet, and the two most often confused.

NIE (Foreigner Identity Number)

The NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero) is the personal identification number Spain assigns to foreigners. It is used for tax, banking and contracts, and it does not change: a NIE issued years ago is still yours. If you do not have one, it is assigned during the residence process.

TIE (Foreigner Identity Card)

The TIE (Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero) is the physical residence card that proves your legal status in Spain and shows your NIE. You request it once your authorisation is granted. After a UGE approval you have 1 month to do so, and the fee is €16.08.

Toma de Huellas (Fingerprint Appointment)

The toma de huellas is the National Police appointment where your fingerprints are taken to issue the TIE. You must attend in person, because it cannot be delegated even with a power of attorney. Our guide to the Madrid and Barcelona TIE route explains how appointments work there.

Empadronamiento (Municipal Address Registration)

Empadronamiento is the registration of your home address at the town hall (ayuntamiento), which adds you to the municipal register known as the padrón. Most police stations ask for the certificate before the TIE appointment. Rules vary by municipality, including on how long your rental contract must be.

Cita Previa (Pre-Booked Appointment)

A cita previa is the online booking that almost every in-person step in Spain requires, from the padrón to the fingerprint appointment. Slots are scarce in large cities, so build them into your plan with our appointment timeline guide.

Authorities That Decide Your Spain Digital Nomad Visa: UGE and Consulate

Who decides your application depends on where you file it. From inside Spain, the UGE decides. From abroad, a Spanish consulate does.

UGE (Large Companies and Strategic Groups Unit)

The UGE (Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos) is the national office that decides digital nomad visa applications filed from inside Spain. It works online, must resolve within 20 working days under Article 76.1 of Ley 14/2013, and grants a residence authorisation of up to 3 years. See our guide to applying from within Spain.

Consulado (Spanish Consulate)

The consulado is where you apply if you file from your country of origin or legal residence. It issues a visa of up to 1 year which, under Article 74 quater of Ley 14/2013, is itself your residence title while it is valid.

Oficina de Extranjería (Immigration Office)

The Oficina de Extranjería is the provincial office that handles general immigration permits. Digital nomad visa applications filed in Spain do not go here. They go to the UGE.

Hacienda (Spanish Tax Agency)

Hacienda, formally the Agencia Tributaria or AEAT, is Spain's tax agency, the equivalent of HMRC or the IRS. You deal with it for tax residency, the Beckham Law and, if you are self-employed, quarterly returns.

Seguridad Social (Social Security)

The Seguridad Social is the public system that collects contributions and provides healthcare and pension cover. Its treasury, the TGSS, is where you register as autónomo or where your employer registers you. It is a separate body from Hacienda.

Application Status Terms: Requerimiento, Inadmisión and Denegación

These terms describe what the administration has done with your file. Each one calls for a different response.

Estancia and Residencia (Stay and Residence)

Estancia is a short stay in Spain, such as a visit under the Schengen rule of 90 days in any 180. Residencia is legal residence. To file from inside Spain you must be in the country legally, which is why your type of entry matters.

Requerimiento (Request for Further Documents)

A requerimiento is a formal request from the administration for a missing or corrected document. It is not a refusal. You have 10 working days to answer under Ley 39/2015, and if you do not, the file is closed as withdrawn (desistido).

Take a freelancer who files from Madrid and is asked for a clearer bank statement. The application is still open, and the deadline to reply is what matters. Our guide to the requerimiento on bank statements covers that case.

Silencio Administrativo Positivo (Positive Administrative Silence)

Silencio administrativo positivo means that if the UGE does not resolve within 20 working days, the application is approved by law. To use that approval you request a certificado de acto presunto under Article 24 of Ley 39/2015.

Do not plan around it. Some applicants report long waits or a late refusal, as our guide to positive administrative silence explains.

Resolución (Decision)

The resolución is the official written decision on your case, whether favourable or not. Appeal deadlines are counted from its notification.

Inadmisión a Trámite (Not Admitted for Processing)

Inadmisión a trámite is the rejection of an application on procedural grounds, before anyone assesses its merits. A typical case is an applicant who could not file from inside Spain, as in our guide to inadmisión over a Schengen visa from another country.

Denegación (Refusal)

A denegación is a refusal on the merits. The application was assessed and did not meet a requirement, such as income or documents.

Recurso (Appeal)

A recurso is the formal challenge to a decision. UGE decisions are challenged through a recurso de alzada within 1 month. Consular refusals allow a recurso de reposición within 1 month, or a court appeal (recurso contencioso-administrativo) within 2 months. Our guide to appealing a refusal explains each route.

Modificación (Change of Conditions)

A modificación is a change in the basis of your permit, such as moving from employee to freelancer. It is filed as a new initial application within 30 days of the change, as we explain in our guide to switching from employee to self-employed.

One switch is not available from inside Spain: moving from a non-lucrative visa to the digital nomad visa.

Document Terms: Apostille, Legalisation and Sworn Translation

Documents are the most frequent topic in Hoply's consultations: which stamp a document needs, who translates it, and in what order.

Apostilla (Hague Apostille)

The apostilla is a certificate added in the issuing country that makes a foreign public document valid in Spain. It works between countries that belong to the Hague Apostille Convention, which include the UK and the US.

Legalización Consular (Consular Legalisation)

Legalización consular is the longer, multi-step route that replaces the apostille for documents from countries outside the Hague Convention.

Traducción Jurada (Sworn Translation)

A traducción jurada is a translation into Spanish made by a sworn translator authorised by Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. An ordinary certified translation is not accepted. Every document that is not in Spanish needs one, and it comes after the apostille, because the apostille must be translated too.

Certificado de Antecedentes Penales (Criminal Record Certificate)

The certificado de antecedentes penales is the police certificate that shows you have no criminal record. Article 62.3 of Ley 14/2013 requires one from each country where you lived in the last 2 years. It must generally be under 3 months old when you file, apostilled and translated.

Declaración Responsable (Signed Self-Declaration)

A declaración responsable is a statement you sign under your own responsibility. The main one in this process declares that you have no criminal record in the last 5 years. A false statement can sink the application.

Poder Notarial (Power of Attorney)

A poder notarial is a notarised document that authorises someone, usually your lawyer, to act for you. If you sign it abroad, it may need an apostille.

Certificado Digital and Cl@ve (Digital Certificate and Government Login)

The certificado digital and Cl@ve are the electronic identities used to file online with the Spanish administration. When a lawyer represents you, they file with their own certificate, so you do not need to obtain one first.

Tasa and Modelo 790 (Government Fee and Payment Form)

A tasa is an official government fee, paid with a numbered form called Modelo 790. The UGE application uses form 790-038 and costs €73.26 per applicant. Consular fees vary by country and nationality. Our cost guide has the full breakdown.

Homologación (Recognition of a Foreign Degree)

Homologación is the official recognition of a foreign degree as equivalent to a Spanish one. It only matters for regulated professions, such as law or medicine, where you need either homologación or a notarised declaration that you will not practise that profession in Spain. See our guide to the degree and experience requirement.

For the full list by profile, use our document checklist. For work history documents, see our guide to apostilles for employment proof.

Apostilles and sworn translations are the part of the budget you cannot recover if a document turns out to be the wrong one. Before you pay for them, Hoply's lawyers can check which documents your profile needs in a free case evaluation.

Work and Social Security Terms: Autónomo, RETA and Certificate of Coverage

Whether you work as an employee or for yourself decides which documents you need and where you pay social security.

Trabajo por Cuenta Ajena (Employment)

Trabajo por cuenta ajena means working as an employee for a company that is not yours. On the digital nomad visa this is the remote employee route, and the company must be based outside Spain.

Trabajo por Cuenta Propia (Self-Employment)

Trabajo por cuenta propia means working for your own clients or through your own company. Company owners follow this route when they are the sole owner or hold effective control. The UGE sets no ownership percentage.

Autónomo (Self-Employed Worker)

Autónomo is Spain's legal status for self-employed people. Freelancers who obtain the digital nomad visa become autónomos in Spain. If you are still choosing a path, compare autónomo vs digital nomad visa.

Alta en el RETA (Registration in the Self-Employed Scheme)

Alta en el RETA is your registration in the Régimen Especial de Trabajadores Autónomos, the Social Security scheme for the self-employed. Do it once your authorisation is granted and before you start working in Spain. You do not need your TIE first, and waiting can put the permit at risk.

Cuota de Autónomo and Tarifa Plana (Monthly Contribution and Flat Rate)

The cuota de autónomo is the monthly Social Security contribution of a self-employed worker. The tarifa plana is the reduced rate for new registrations: about €88 per month for the first 12 months, subject to the eligibility conditions in the Seguridad Social guide for the self-employed.

Certificado de Legislación Aplicable (A1 or Certificate of Coverage)

The certificado de legislación aplicable is the document that lets an employee stay in their home social security system while working from Spain. Within the European framework it is the A1. Countries with a bilateral agreement issue a certificate of coverage.

It must expressly cover remote work from Spain, and a pending request is not accepted.

Convenio Bilateral de Seguridad Social (Social Security Agreement)

A convenio bilateral is a social security treaty between Spain and another country. Without one, the certificate above is not available, and you need one of the two routes that work without an agreement.

Tax, Family and Health Insurance Terms: Beckham Law and Pareja de Hecho

Plan these before you apply. The Beckham Law deadline starts when you register with Spanish Social Security, and family and insurance documents take time to prepare.

Residencia Fiscal (Tax Residency)

Residencia fiscal is the status that makes you liable to Spanish income tax. You are generally a tax resident if you spend more than 183 days of the calendar year in Spain or your main economic interests are here. Arriving mid-year does not automatically exempt you.

These 183 days are a different rule from the absence limits that affect renewals, which we cover in our article on the Supreme Court ruling on the 183-day rule.

Ley Beckham (Special Expat Tax Regime)

The Ley Beckham is the optional regime in Article 93 of the Personal Income Tax Law that taxes employment income at a flat 24% up to €600,000, for the year you arrive and the 5 that follow, as the Agencia Tributaria sets out.

It is requested with Modelo 149 within 6 months of registering with Social Security, and that window cannot be extended. It is designed mainly for employees, so most freelancers and company owners are excluded.

Read our Beckham Law guide first. If the regime matters to your decision, book a tax consultation with Hoply's tax advisers before your residence begins.

Establecimiento Permanente (Permanent Establishment)

An establecimiento permanente is a fixed place of business that can make a foreign company taxable in Spain. It is a risk for your employer, not for you, and it is one reason some employers hesitate over the remote work letter.

Pareja de Hecho (Registered Partnership)

A pareja de hecho is a legally registered unmarried couple. Spain has no single national registry: each autonomous community runs its own, with different conditions. Our guide for couples explains how to prove your relationship.

Familiares (Accompanying Family Members)

Familiares are the relatives who can apply with you or join you later: your spouse or partner, your children and dependent parents. Each needs their own documents, and the income threshold rises with each one.

Under Real Decreto 126/2026, the main applicant needs €2,849 per month, the first family member adds 75% of the minimum wage (SMI) and each further member 25%. See our income requirements guide and our guide to bringing your whole family.

Seguro Médico sin Copagos ni Carencias (Health Insurance With No Co-Payments or Waiting Periods)

Seguro médico sin copagos ni carencias is health insurance with no co-payments and no waiting periods, the standard the UGE applies. You need it when you will not join Spanish Social Security and no international agreement gives you healthcare cover.

The UGE does not accept:

• Travel insurance
• Policies based only on reimbursing medical costs
• Policies with co-payments
• Policies with waiting periods

UK Applicants: UK Documents That Match These Spanish Terms

Three UK documents map directly onto this glossary:

• Certificado de antecedentes penales: the ACRO Police Certificate, apostilled by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
• Certificado de legislación aplicable: the certificate your employer requests from HMRC to keep you in the UK system. It must expressly cover remote work from Spain.
• Hacienda: HMRC is the closest equivalent, although in Spain tax and social security are run by two separate bodies.

Our guide for UK citizens covers the full process. Directors of their own company should also read our guide for UK limited company directors.

Check Your Spain Digital Nomad Visa Eligibility Before You Collect Documents

Most early mistakes in a digital nomad visa application are vocabulary mistakes. The wrong translation, the wrong certificate or the wrong office costs weeks, and some documents expire while you fix them.

Hoply's immigration lawyers review, guide and file every case, so each term in this glossary is checked against your profile before anything is submitted. If you are not sure which ones apply to you, request a free case evaluation before you start collecting documents.