In 2025, The Local reported that the previous year a record number of US citizens had gained residency in Spain – 15,638. As we await new data from Spain’s immigration authorities on whether this pattern has continued throughout 2025 and 2026, one of the people tasked with providing the residency authorisations to non-EU nationals has shed some light on the Americans getting visas to live and work in Spain. Luis Esteban, head of the Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos (most commonly called UGE),
took part in a Webinar in April called “Mobility between Spain and the United States without risks”, organised by the Valencian Chamber of Commerce. UGE is the specialised branch of the Spanish Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration that processes visas and residency permits, including fast-tracked routes for highly skilled professionals, intra-company transfers, visas for researchers, and of course the highly popular digital nomad visa DNV). UGE does not issue visas directly. Instead, it processes and grants residence authorisations under the country’s Entrepreneur Law
and the Startup Law. Once the UGE issues a favourable resolution, the applicant can apply for the actual visa. So how are working US nationals getting approval to live and work in Spain? And which is the most popular route? “There were around 8,000 digital nomad applications by Americans in 2025,” Luis Esteban said in the webinar. The UGE head provided figures for January to March 2026, which show a similar pace in terms of applications by American professionals. In this three-month period, 1,394 Americans
applied for one of Spain’s numerous work-related residency authorisations that UGE handles, and 1,227 of these were approved successfully. If we look just at the stats for the title holders – excluding the applicants’ family members – the data shows 732 applications by Americans and 626 approved. That means that the success rate among the primary applicants from the US was 85.5 percent. Digital Nomads (officially referred to as Teletrabajadores de cáracter internacional) continue to make up the bulk of applications with 475 from January
to March 2026, and 359 approved. Esteban explained that one of the perks for Americans currently is that the US Social Security Administration is no longer refusing to grant Certificates of Coverage for American digital nomads in Spain. “They now issue the certificate if the US employer drafts a letter stating that they are actively sending the employee to telework in Spain, rather than just authorising the move,” he clarified. READ ALSO: The financial requirements for Spain’s Digital Nomad Visa in 2026 Next up are
Americans applying for the Spanish residency path via the highly-skilled professional path (profesionales altamente cualificados). Esteban explained that there are two frameworks for these workers: the national Highly Qualified Professional (PAC) visa and the European Blue Card, noting that the European directive tends to be stricter. To qualify as a highly skilled worker, the applicant must be directly hired by a Spanish company and be registered in the Spanish Social Security system, and meet a high salary threshold (€30K to €50K depending on certain conditions).
There were 152 applications by Americans for these authorisations in the first three months of 2026, of which 147 were approved. READ ALSO: How the Spanish cost of living compares to the US American researchers (34), intra-company workers (25), audio-visual workers (33), investors (10) and entrepreneurs (8) made up the rest of applicants from the United States. But as Esteban put it, the digital nomad visa is “at the heart of the matter”. Since it was launched in 2023, it’s made it immeasurably easier for
US and other non-EU nationals to obtain the right to live and remote work in Spain. The DNV cannot be underestimated as perhaps the chief reason for the recent spike in Americans who have been able to move to Spain. READ ALSO: ‘Tax system is confusing’ – The doubts Americans have about life in Spain
Spain digital nomad visa, DNV, Americans, work visas, residency authorisations, UGE, Luis Esteban, Teletrabajadores de cáracter internacional, highly skilled professional, Blue Card, PAC visa, Certificates of Coverage, US Social Security Administration, Entrepreneur Law, Startup Law