The first wave of US citizens who moved to Spain under the digital nomad authorization did so in 2023, the year the Startups Law route opened in earnest. Those three-year permits granted from within Spain start expiring in 2026, which means renewal season has arrived for a large group of Americans in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Málaga. The renewal is not a formality, and it is not the same paperwork you filed the first time. This guide maps what a US citizen actually re-submits, and which of those documents go back through a sworn translator. For the initial application, see our full guide to the visa.
How the renewal scheme works
The authorization for international teleworkers sits inside Law 14/2013, as amended by the 2022 Startups Law. If you applied from inside Spain, the Large Companies Unit (UGE) granted an initial residence authorization of three years. Renewals are then granted for two years at a time, and after five continuous years of legal residence you become eligible to apply for long-term residence.
You can generally file the renewal in the weeks before your card expires; many applicants prepare it a couple of months out, precisely because the foreign documents take time to obtain and apostille. The exact window, the current fee and the precise document list are set by the UGE, so treat this article as orientation and confirm the live requirements on the official channel at exteriores.gob.es before you file.
Documents that come back around
The renewal tests continuity: that you are still teleworking, still solvent, still insured, and still living in Spain. In practice, US citizens re-submit some version of:
- An updated FBI Identity History Summary (the federal criminal background check), apostilled and translated. The UGE looks for a recent certificate, not the one from your first application.
- Proof of continued activity and means: an up-to-date employment contract or client contracts, invoices, and bank statements showing recurring income. Self-employed applicants are typically asked to show income consistent with the threshold tied to the Spanish minimum wage.
- Private health insurance with full coverage in Spain and no co-payments, still active.
- Proof of effective residence in Spain during the previous period: empadronamiento, rental contract, Spanish bank activity. Long absences work against you, so keep the paper trail.
The Spanish-issued pieces (your Modelo 100 tax return, Social Security history, empadronamiento) need no translation. The US-issued documents in English do — and that is where the sworn translation comes in.
Why a renewal usually means new translations, not recycled ones
Here is the point that surprises people. You already paid for a sworn translation of your FBI check three years ago, so it is tempting to reuse it. You usually can't, and the reason is simple: the certificate you file at renewal is a different document. A fresh FBI Identity History Summary carries a new issue date and a new reference; it is not the same paper, so its translation is not the same translation either. A new certificate is a new document, and a new document needs its own sworn translation.
The same logic covers any US contract, corporate certificate or income statement you refresh for the renewal. If the underlying paper changed, the translation follows it. What does not need re-translating is anything genuinely unchanged and still accepted in its original form — but a criminal record, by design, is never in that category. For how the FBI check compares with other countries' records and their validity windows, see our criminal record comparison.
Practical pitfalls US citizens hit
- Apostille after translating. The Hague Apostille from the US Department of State is part of the document and must appear in the sworn translation. Get the FBI check apostilled first, translate last.
- A stale FBI check. These certificates have a short useful life for immigration files. Order it close to your filing date so it does not expire mid-process.
- Bringing a US "certified translation". For the UGE to accept a Spanish translation, it must be produced by a translator appointed by Spain's MAEC. A translation certified in the United States does not meet that bar.
- Thin residence evidence. Renewal turns on having actually lived in Spain. Gaps in empadronamiento or long stretches abroad are the classic reason a file stalls.
The bottom line
Renewing the digital nomad authorization is manageable when you treat it as a fresh evidence file rather than a copy of the first one — and the foreign paperwork is the slow part. The renewal itself sits with the UGE; check the current requirements at exteriores.gob.es, and if you want the procedure explained end to end, our digital nomad visa page walks through it.
At Textualia we deliver Spanish sworn translations of the FBI Identity History Summary, US employment and client contracts, corporate certificates and income statements, produced by translators appointed by the MAEC. Because your file may resurface at each two-year renewal, we keep your previous work on record: when a document is genuinely reissued, we translate the new one; when an office simply wants a fresh date, we can reissue rather than start over.