Spain’s Non-Lucrative Residence Visa is an option for people who would like to retire in the country as well as those non-EU citizens who would like to live in the country but work remotely from Spain.  It can also be an option for those who would like to spend a year in Spain without working before obtaining a work permit.  As the name implies it is about non-EU citizens who have the financial means to support themselves in the country without working and any accompanying family.
The visa allows you to say in Spain for one year after entering the Spanish territory.  You must spend a minimum of 183 days in the country to be able to renew.  This also means that you will become tax resident and taxable on your worldwide income (subject to double tax treaties).
The visa can be renewed every 2 years until you get permanent residency, which is available after 5 years in the country.
Although the visa does not allow you to carry out any type of economic or professional activity in Spain, it does not require you to invest in the country to obtain a visa.  You simply have to show that you have sufficient means to support yourself (and your family).   That does not mean that you cannot invest in Spain while there with this visa.  You are free to invest in any business and generate additional income.
Although you are not able to earn while staying under this visa, you can study and this includes a paid internship.  You can also work in another country and so can be a good option who want to spend time in Spain but continue working in another country.
The Non-Lucrative Visa entitles you to travel freely within the Schengen zone.

The following requirements must be met in order to be eligible for the visa:

• Demonstrating you have sufficient funds
  In the case of the non-lucrative visa, you must prove that you have 400% of the IPREM annually in your bank account. The Public Indicator of Multiple Effects Income which is the benchmark in Spain for the allocation of aid and subsidies. In 2020 this means that the main applicant for this visa must demonstrate he or she has at least 25.816,12€. This is, however, the minimum and a higher amount may be required. For each dependent travelling with you will require that you have an additional amount equal to the IPREM (6.454,03€ annually).
  You will be required to provide a bank certificate or bank statements from the last six months.  The funds may be in multiple accounts.
• Private health insurance
  Applicants must have a private health insurance policy with full coverage in Spain with no copayments provided by a Spanish insurance company for at least one year.

 
Application process
The application process is divided into two parts: the initial visa application and then obtaining the residence card once you enter Spain.

Application process

The application process is divided into two parts: the initial visa application and then obtaining the residence card once you enter Spain.
 
Visa application

The application must be made in your country of origin or there where you are legally resident. You are not able to apply in Spain having entered the country as a tourist.
The application should not be made more than 90 days before your intended travel date.  You will have to send all relevant documents to the Spanish Consulate:

• National visa form.
• Form Ex-01.
• Private Health insurance policy from a Spanish Company
• Bank certificate, demonstrating the possession of required funds per year.
• Photos, 3×4 cm with white background.
• Original Passport.
• A medical certificate, demonstrating that you do not suffer from any restricted diseases.
• Criminal record translated to Spanish.

Confirmation will be within one month and the visa will be stamped in your passport and you will then be free to travel to Spain.  The visa will also include your NIE Number.
 
Obtaining the TIE or foreigner’s identity card

Once you have your visa you must enter Spain freely within a maximum of 3 months.
Once in Spain, you will need to register on the Padron in your local municipality and TIE (foreigner’s identity card).
 

A NIE Number (Número de Identificación de Extranjero), is the equivalent of a Spanish persons Número de Identificación Fiscal (NIF). It is a Spanish tax identification number given by the authorities/police to foreigners.
Your Spanish NIE number will start with a letter, followed by seven numbers and another letter in the end (for example : Z7654324-B).
Each NIE Number is unique to one person and it is neither transferable nor does it expire (NIE Numbers issued in the past may have had a expiry date in some area’s).
If you are planning on working in Spain or staying for longer than 3 months you are required to have one.

-Open a Spanish Resident Bank Account
-Buy, sell or insure a property
-Arrange credit terms or a Mortgage
-Pay Taxes in Spain
-Be paid for employment
-Use short-term employment agencies
-To study/attend University
-Apply for a business permit to start a business
-Register with social security and arrange receipt of social security benefits
-Apply for a driver’s license/Transfer to a Spanish license
-Pay utility bills
-Inherit assets

A TIE - a Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero or Foreigner’s Identity card - is an identity card that acts as proof of your permission to reside in Spain. It contains your NIE, personal details, fingerprint and date the card (and your residency) expires. It will be your principal form of ID during your stay in Spain.

If you need a visa to stay in Spain, you need a TIE. Officially, you need to apply for your TIE within 30 days of your arrival in Spain - however, the waiting time for an appointment is usually more than this. As long as you book your appointment within these 30 days, it’s okay.

Often our clients have doubts about what the NIE number is and if obtaining it is enough to live and work in Spain.
Well, It is actually true that obtaining this number will allow us to perform certain procedures such as buying a property in Spain, but it will not be enough to reside or work in Spain.
Lets summarize then what is the NIE number:
-It is obtained in the offices of the National Police or in the Spanish consular offices located in the foreign territory.
-This number operates as an individual identifier that will never change.
-It does not grant any right regarding the possibility of residing or working in Spain.
– However, it allows certain legal acts such as the purchase of shares and social participations of a company or the purchase of real estate.
So, if you want to live or work in Spain, what do you need? Well that will depend on whether you are an EU citizen or a non-EU citizen.
-If you are an EU citizen:
If you want to live and work in Spain for more than 3 months you must obtain a EU Citizen Registry Certificate. This document is issued the same day it is requested and contains the NIE number. It is obtained in the offices of the National Police of the province where you will establish your residence. This card does not have an expiration date although the Permanent EU Certificate may be requested after 5 years of residence in Spanish territory.
-If you are a non-EU citizen:
Your options are different depending on whether you decide to come to Spain with a student visa, a non-profit residence visa, a work visa, etc. Whatever your choice is, you will be assigned a NIE number when you obtain your first visa. If your stay in Spain ends up being longer than 6 months you will also be obliged to obtain the TIE (Foreigner Identity Card) which is a plastic card that will contain a photograph of you and must be renewed each time a renewal of your authorization is obtained.

Today we will answer one of the main questions our clients ask us after a couple of months of living in Spain.
Most of them intend to stay in the country for the long term, and not just for one or two years. That requires renewing their card. But for renewal to be possible, it is essential that the foreigner does not leave Spain any longer than what the law allows.
But how long are we talking about? What is the maximum time outside Spain before losing the residency? In this article, we will answer this question according to the different possible cases.

Extinction of the residence card due to being outside Spain

As a foreigner who has started living in Spain, it is very likely that you will want to return to your home country after some time.
Whether it’s to visit your family for Christmas or to go on your holidays during summertime, many people decide to leave the Spanish territory for an extended period of time.
However, this can lead to certain problems.
The Spanish law establishes a maximum time outside Spain when you have a residence permit.
And the reason behind this is really simple.
Possession of a residence permit means that you are “resident” in the country. If you are outside the country for a long period of time, this condition would not be met.
That’s why if you exceed the time established by law, your residence card will be extinguished for being outside Spain for more than you have to.
The question now is: how long should be outside the country to lose your residence? Let’s see, as it depends on your particular case.

Maximum time outside Spain allowed to avoid losing your card

In order to answer this question, we must differentiate between the two types of cards under the time criterion: the temporary cards (the initial ones for 1 year, and the first 2 renewals); and the permanent ones.

With a temporary card

Article 162.2 of Royal Decree 557/2011 establishes the maximum period of absence allowed with those cards.
In order to know the maximum time you can be out of the country with a temporary residence, you must take into account two different conditions

• Firstly, you must not be outside Spain for more than 6 months within a period of one year.
• In the case of sporadic departures (in your first year in the country 1 month, in the second 3 months, etc.); the sum of these periods outside Spanish territory during the last 5 years may not exceed 1 year.

If you comply with these two requirements, you may keep your residence card and renew it (as long as you comply with all the other renewal requirements, which are different according to the type of residence).

With a long-term card

In the case of long-term, long-term EU or permanent EU cards, the deadlines are extended.
In this case, if you want to prevent your card from being extinguished, you cannot be outside Spain for more than 12 months continuously, neither more than 30 months (adding up all the departures of shorter time spans), during the past 5 years.

Maximum amount of time allowed for the Family member of an EU citizen card

We should make a special mention to what happens with the Community card because of its peculiarities.
In general terms, the card as a family member of an EU citizen, even though it is for five years, is still a temporary residence.
Therefore, in order not to lose that residence card and to be able to renew it, you can be away for a maximum of six consecutive months during one year.
Once these 5 years have passed and once you have renewed it, the subsequent permanent card under the Community regime (for 10 years) the immigration law allows absences in Spain for 2 consecutive years.

Since when and how is time computed?

This is certainly a very important point to bear in mind.
In the case of long-term cards or permanent Community cards, the period starts to count from the moment you leave the European Union; and it ends until you re-enter its borders. It is as simple as that.
For temporary cards, which allow a maximum of 6 months outside the country, the calculation is different but very easy.
You simply need to go exactly one year back in time (same day and same month of the previous year), and count if from then until the current day you have been abroad for more than 6 months. 

How to recover a card that has expired due to an excess of time abroad or absence

So far we have seen the requirements to avoid losing your papers due to excessive time outside Spain.
But what happens if you exceed that time? What can you do if you have been outside the country for a very long period of time?
As we have mentioned, in those cases the card is extinguished, so it would no longer be valid (although for a period of time it is still in force).
However, this may have a solution: requesting a recovery.
And as we will see now, the word MAY has special relevance.
However, for any of the following solutions, it will be absolutely essential that the card remains valid according to its time frame even if it has expired. In other words, if your card is valid until November and you intend to carry out this procedure in December, you will not be able to do so.
Thus, your residence recovery depends on the type of card:

Recover an extinguished long-run residency card

We’re talking about the 5 or 10-year cards.
In the case of having been away for more than 1 consecutive year, this long-run card can be recovered.
There is a specific procedure for foreigners who are in this situation.
Your card has been extinguished, but not your right to reside in Spain, so you can get it back.
In these cases, the foreigner must apply for a specific visa to recover his or her residence at the Spanish consulate in her country of origin (or wherever she is at the moment).
That application will be used by the consulate to contact the corresponding immigration office in Spain.
The foreigner’s office, jointly with the Spanish police, will verify whether the foreigner has no criminal or police records.
If this is not the case, the application for recovery is approved; therefore, the consulate issues a visa to enter Spain, and the foreigner re-registers his fingerprints again, hence recovering his card.
On the other hand, if you were not aware of this possibility and you have traveled to Spain without carrying out this procedure, you could request the recovery once you enter Spanish territory; although just in very specific cases.

Recover a temporary residency card

On the other hand, we find the temporary card case. Unfortunately, there are no good news here.
If you leave for a prolonged period of time and do not renew your temporary residency, your card will be lost definitively.
If you wish to re-enter Spain again, you’ll need to start from scratch the application process of a visa or residence permit.
The only temporary ones that can be recovered are the ones from people who made a voluntary return and who have a job offer in Spain.
So our recommendation is that you take into account the time periods discussed in this article and follow them in detail. 

Request assistance to know what's best according to your situation

Finally, as with most procedures, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. 
Depending on your particular case, we will need to study whether it is better to apply for the recovery at the consulate, to do it later in Spain, or to try to correct the penalty.
That is why we recommend that you contact our lawyers so that we can give you a solution according to your particular case.