A family of four — two adults and two children — received the digital nomad permit on a single application, and registered as autónomo two months later. The decision came on working day 27 against a legal deadline of 20, and that was not the only delay in the file.
- 27 working days
- to the UGE decision
- against a legal deadline of 20; not a single document was queried
- 4 people
- on one application
- two adults and two children
- €73.26
- application fee
- to the state, per applicant
- €87.61
- autónomo contribution
- per month, reduced rate for new self-employed
What they came with
They came to us in May, before the move. Remote work under a service contract with a company outside Spain; income evidenced by payments into the account.
The first decision was taken before any document was collected: which passport to apply on. Some family members held a second citizenship alongside their original one, and the choice was not a formality — the citizenship goes onto the residence card and later affects travel and opening bank accounts. They applied on the second passport, and different members of the family used different passports. That is permitted.
How the timeline ran
-
01
Assessment and strategy
May. Which passport each family member applies on, what the client contract must contain, what needs an apostille and a sworn translation.
-
02
Documents and legalisation
June. Apostilles, sworn translations, forms, fee receipts. The order was built around the slowest document.
-
03
Filing
Late June. The legal deadline is 20 working days from the filing date.
-
04
Waiting past the deadline
July. The deadline passed with no decision and no queries. We requested confirmation of positive silence.
-
05
Approval
Early August, working day 27. A three-year permit, one application for the whole family.
-
06
Fingerprints and cards
August–September. Police appointment, fingerprints, residence cards about a month later.
-
07
Autónomo registration
November. A digital nomad permit obtained as a freelancer requires autónomo status, otherwise the activity is not lawful in Spain.
What did not go to plan
Кейс прошёл не гладко. Ниже — то, что реально задержало или усложнило процесс, и что с этим делали.
The authority ran past its own deadline
Twenty working days elapsed with no decision. No queries arrived either, and letters went unanswered — there was nothing to push against.
We requested confirmation of positive silence. The decision came on working day 27. Seven extra days, on a file where not a single document was ever questioned.
A child’s visa expired while we waited
During the review the younger child’s Schengen visa ran out, leaving no travel document for the EU. Presence in Spain remained lawful, but the wait had to happen inside the country. Worth planning for if a visa expires during the review period.
The residence card was issued without the right-to-work note
Registering as autónomo, social security demanded a work authorisation and gave ten days to respond, failing which the application would be treated as withdrawn. The cause: the TIE card carried no «AUTORIZA A TRABAJAR» endorsement, although the permit grants that right.
We answered citing the provision and attached the residence decision. Within a week everything was registered with both the tax office and social security. This is not the first time the endorsement has been left off.
Social security failed to collect the first contribution
In the first month no collection happened at all — not even an attempt, though the money was in the account. The risk was not the debt itself: a delay attributable to the payer forfeits the reduced rate, and the contribution roughly triples.
We filed a request through the social security portal explaining that the delay was not the payer’s fault. Two months were collected together at the end of December and the reduced rate was preserved.
What the costs were made of
| Item | Amount | Paid to |
|---|---|---|
| Application fee | €73.26 | to the state, per applicant |
| TIE residence card fee | €16.08 | to the state, per person, on a separate receipt |
| Sworn translations | by volume | to a third party, the translator |
| Apostilles | by volume | to a third party, in the country that issued the document |
| Social security contribution | €87.61/month | to the state, from autónomo registration |
| Autónomo registration | by agreement | to us, as a separate service |
| Bookkeeping | by agreement | to us, monthly, after registration |
| Our work on the permit | by agreement | to us; fixed before the work starts |
State fees and third-party services cost the same whoever you work with. Translation and apostille costs depend on how many documents had to be legalised.
What we did
- Determined which passport each family member would apply on
- Checked the client contract against the authority’s requirements
- Listed the documents needing apostille and sworn translation and sequenced them by lead time
- Completed the forms and produced the fee receipts
- Filed a single application covering the whole family
- Requested confirmation of positive silence once the legal deadline had passed
- Prepared the reply to social security citing the provision and the residence decision
- Registered the autónomo with the tax office and social security
- Handle the autónomo bookkeeping: quarterly VAT and income tax returns, annual accounts
What the service did not cover
Booking the fingerprint appointment was not part of the service: under the contract our work ended with the visa decision. We explained the procedure, completed the forms and produced the receipts, but the client booked the appointment themselves — we supplied contacts for people who do this.
Autónomo registration and bookkeeping are covered by separate contracts. This is not a hidden extra: we provide both services ourselves, and both are discussed before the work begins.
We do not promise government timelines. In this file the authority ran seven working days past its own deadline and there was nothing to be done about it — only to request confirmation of positive silence at the right moment. The decision belongs to the state; our responsibility is that the documents give no formal grounds for objection. In this file there were none.
Questions we had to answer
If you hold two passports, which one do you apply on?
The one you enter the country on. The citizenship is recorded on the residence card and cannot be changed afterwards.
Different members of the same family may apply on different passports. It does not prevent a single application covering all of them.
What does the contract with the client have to look like?
The services must correspond to your degree or to documented professional experience: the authority compares one against the other. At the time of filing the contract must be at least three months old, and it should not expire shortly after — several years remaining is better.
Can you file while one document is still missing?
You can, but the authority will request it: the file is suspended and you are given a limited period to supply it. Missing that period means refusal. So the documents with the longest lead time are ordered first.
Sources
Нормы и официальные материалы, на которые мы опирались. Ссылки ведут на первоисточники — проверяйте.
- Ley 14/2013, de 27 de septiembre, de apoyo a los emprendedores y su internacionalización Art. 74 bis — residence for international remote work; art. 62.3 general requirements and art. 62.4 family members applying jointly or successively; art. 76.1 — twenty-day deadline, positive silence, and the filing itself extending your existing status
- Ley 39/2015, de 1 de octubre, del Procedimiento Administrativo Común Art. 68 — the period allowed to remedy an application, relied on by social security; art. 30.2 — periods expressed in days are counted in working days