The Employed Route: What Your Employer Has to Do
Key facts
- Your employer is part of the application, and the route cannot be completed without their cooperation.
- The relationship must have existed for at least the three months before you apply. That is in the regulation, so a brand-new job is a real obstacle.
- The company itself has to be evidenced, not just your job. Its existence and trading history are conditions in the regulation.
- On the employed path you may work only for companies established outside Spain. That is statutory and it is strict.
- Health cover is a separate question with two possible answers — public or private — and it depends on your Social Security position, not on your employment alone.
On the employed path to Spain's digital nomad visa, a significant part of the application is not yours to produce. Your employer has to confirm the relationship, certify how long it has run, put in writing that you may work remotely from Spain, and in practice produce evidence that the company itself is real and trading. None of that is something you can assemble on their behalf.
Which makes the first step of this route a conversation, not a form. The applications that fail on the employed path usually fail because that conversation happened too late, or never happened at all.
What comes from the statute, and what comes from the guidance
Worth separating, because they behave differently: a statutory condition is the rule, while documentary guidance is how the authority currently expects it to be evidenced, and guidance changes more readily.
Left column is the rule. Right column is what the rule currently looks like on paper.
Table 1
| The condition, in the regulation | How it is evidenced in practice |
|---|---|
| The company has carried out real and continued activity for at least one year (art. 74 ter(a)) | Company documentation — in practice a registry certificate showing when it was constituted and what it does |
| The relationship can be carried out remotely (art. 74 ter(b)) | A company letter including an express declaration that the work can be performed by telematic means |
| The relationship exists, and the company permits remote work from Spain (art. 74 ter(c)) | The employment or professional contract, plus a company letter setting out the post profile, main functions, salary in euros and the remaining conditions |
| You may work only for companies established outside Spain (art. 74 bis.1) | Nothing to file — it is a condition on how you work, and it continues after approval |
| The relationship has existed for at least the last three months before the application (art. 74 ter(c)) | The contract, and income evidence covering the three months before the application |
Source: Ley 14/2013, consolidated BOE text — art. 74 bis.1 (employment activity for companies established outside Spain only), art. 74 ter(a) (the company's real and continued activity for at least one year), art. 74 ter(b) (documentation that the relationship can be performed remotely) and art. 74 ter(c) (evidence of the employment relationship). The right-hand column describes how those conditions are evidenced under UGE documentary guidance rather than being enumerated in the regulation, and the three-month minimum relationship is guidance rather than statute — the table says so. Verified October 2026. No figure is published beyond those two stated periods, which are conditions rather than indexed values.
Read the right-hand column as current practice and the left as the rule. The conditions are statutory and stable; the documents that satisfy them are set by the processing unit and can be revised, so check the current list before assembling a file.
The conversation to have, and when
Before you apply, not after approval. The permission to work remotely from Spain is not a formality your employer signs at the end. It is evidence the application needs at the start.
What you are actually asking them for:
- Confirmation that you are employed and for how long
- Written agreement that you may do the job from Spain
- Company documentation they may have to request themselves
- A willingness to be contactable if the authority asks something
Why employers hesitate, and what usually resolves it. The common concerns are whether this creates a Spanish tax or employment obligation for the company, and who carries what risk. Those are real questions and they are not ones this page can answer for your employer — they depend on the company's own position and belong with its advisers. What helps is asking early enough that there is time for them to take advice, rather than presenting it as a deadline.
If your employer will not engage, the employed path is closed to you. That is worth knowing in week one rather than month three. Whether the professional route is an alternative depends on how you actually work, not on relabelling the same job — the digital nomad visa explained sets out the distinction, and misdescribing an employment relationship as a professional one is the failure mode the assessment is looking for.
Where health cover comes into it
Your employment does not by itself decide your health cover, and this is where the employed route is routinely misread.
The regulation accepts a public or a private health insurance policy, the private option requiring an insurer authorised to operate in Spain. Which is open to you depends on your Social Security position — and on the employed path that usually turns on whether your employer registers in the Spanish system, or whether you remain in another country's system and evidence it.
So the order is:
1. Establish the Social Security position. Social Security or private insurance on the DNV sets out the fork.
2. Check whether that position produces a healthcare position. It is not automatic. In particular, an A1 establishes which social security legislation applies to you — it is not proof of healthcare entitlement, which is a separate question and a separate document. The A1 and healthcare on the DNV covers that.
3. Only if private cover is the answer, compare policies — and the one thing the regulation is explicit about is that the insurer must be authorised to operate in Spain.
Doing step three first is the expensive mistake, and it is common on this route precisely because buying a policy feels like progress while the employer conversation does not.
Do you need private cover on the DNV?
It depends on your social-security position, not on the route alone. Settle that first.
Health insurance is provided through our specialist health-insurance service, Spanish Health Insurance. Spanish Health Insurance specialises in private health insurance for people moving to and living in Spain.
Frequently asked questions
Does my employer have to agree to this?
Yes, in substance. The route needs evidence that the relationship exists, that it can be performed remotely, and permission for you to do so from Spain. Without the company's cooperation the employed path does not work.
How long must I have worked there?
At least the three months before you apply — that period is in the regulation itself, not just in guidance. Separately, the company must have been genuinely active for at least a year.
Does the requirement apply if I already hold a teleworker visa or authorisation?
UGE states that the three-month relationship requirement is not demanded where the applicant already holds a prior initial authorisation or a teleworker visa, since it was evidenced at that point.
Can I work for a Spanish company too?
Not on the employed path. The regulation restricts it to companies established outside Spain. A limited allowance for work with a Spanish company exists on the professional side, and it does not transfer.
Do I need private health insurance as an employee?
Not necessarily. The regulation accepts public or private cover. Which applies depends on your Social Security position — establish that before buying anything.
My employer worries about Spanish obligations. Is that reasonable?
It is a fair question and it is theirs to take advice on, because it depends on the company's own position. Asking early gives them time to do that.
What if I change jobs mid-application?
The relationship evidenced in the application is the one the authorisation rests on, so a change during the process is a material one. Raise it rather than hoping it passes unnoticed.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change — for advice on your situation, speak to a qualified professional.
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