Sworn translation for Spain's digital nomad visa

Two routes in, and the one you pick changes your timeline

What everyone calls the digital nomad visa is, in the statute, residence for international remote work. It came in with Ley 28/2022 of 21 December, the Startups Act, and it's aimed at people who work remotely for companies or clients based outside Spain and want to live here legally.

There are two doors, and they don't lead to the same place:

• From your own country, at a Spanish consulate. You get a visa valid for up to one year, then sort out your residence card once you land.
• From inside Spain, at the UGE-CE, the Large Companies and Strategic Groups Unit. You apply straight for the residence authorisation, valid for up to three years, renewable for two, and the rules give the UGE twenty days to decide. No prior visa needed.

That fork decides when your translations have to be ready. Through a consulate, everything must be translated before your appointment, and the appointment sets the pace. Through the UGE you enter as a tourist and build the file here, with room to breathe. The paperwork is much the same either way; what changes is the date it has to be on the table.

If you're applying from the United States, note that Spain runs eight consulates general plus the embassy's consular section, and each covers specific states. Filing at the wrong one gets your application sent back, so confirm your jurisdiction on the MAEC website before you book anything.

This page isn't a legal guide to the procedure. For official requirements and deadlines, go to the UGE-CE portal or your consulate. What we solve here is the translation.

What you need to earn in 2026

The financial requirement is pegged to Spain's minimum wage, so it moves every year. Under Real Decreto 126/2026 the SMI is €1,221 a month across fourteen payments, which works out at €1,424.50 over twelve. On that base:

• Main applicant: 200% of the SMI → €2,849 a month.
• First family member joining you: another 75% → €1,068 a month.
• Each additional family member: another 25% → €356 a month.

A family of four lands at roughly €4,629 a month. These are gross figures, before tax, not what reaches your account. And you prove them on paper: payslips, invoices, a stamped bank certificate, your contract. Those papers need to be in Spanish too, so budget for them even though nobody mentions them up front.

Which documents need a sworn translation

Not every page of your file, but the ones that carry weight almost always:

• Criminal record certificate, apostilled. There's a detail here that saves money: the requirement is a clean record in every country you've lived in over the past five years, but you only file certificates from those you lived in during the last two. For the rest, a sworn declaration covers it. Plenty of people order certificates they never needed. Depending on where you've been that's the FBI Identity History Summary in the US, the ACRO police certificate in the UK, or the bulletin n° 3 in France. The apostille is translated together with the certificate, inside the same sworn translation.
• University degree, or evidence of at least three years' professional experience showing you're qualified for the remote work you actually do.
• Employment contract with your non-Spanish employer, or client contracts and letters if you're a freelancer, covering a working relationship of at least three months.
• Letter from the company expressly authorising you to work remotely from Spain, stating your role, duties and pay.
• Certificate of coverage from your home social security authority. Registering with Spanish social security is compulsory unless you can bring your coverage across with this certificate, which your authority issues where a bilateral agreement exists. For US applicants that's the SSA certificate.
• Health insurance with full cover in Spain, where the policy is in another language.
• Company registry certificate proving the business has been genuinely trading for at least a year.

Bringing family adds the marriage or civil partnership certificate and the children's birth certificates, apostilled as well.

The mistake that sends most files back: apostilling last

The order is counterintuitive and it matters. Apostille the document first, in the country that issued it, then translate the whole thing. The apostille is a page attached to the original and forms part of it. Translate first and that page is left out, so your file arrives incomplete.

Who issues it varies. In the United States, an FBI record is apostilled by the Department of State; state-issued documents go through the relevant Secretary of State. In the UK it's the FCDO Legalisation Office. In France, the cour d'appel for the place the document was issued.

The reverse is worth knowing too: a sworn translation does not replace the apostille. They do different jobs. The apostille certifies that the foreign document is genuine; the translation certifies that it says in Spanish what the original says.

What "sworn translation" actually means

It's a translation signed by a Traductor-Intérprete Jurado appointed by Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Those translations carry official status before Spanish courts and public bodies. The translator certifies with signature and seal, using the wording the Ministry itself lays down, and attaches a stamped, dated copy of the original.

Two points nobody explains, and both affect you:

Electronic signatures are accepted. The Ministry allows a sworn translation to be signed electronically using the systems in Ley 39/2015. That doesn't remove anything else: the certification, the seal and the copy of the original are still required. Ours carries both the seal and a qualified electronic signature.

Some consular checklists just say "translate into Spanish", without the word "sworn". Don't read that as permission to use any translation. The body deciding your case is the Spanish administration, and what carries official status before it is the sworn translation. Filing one avoids a second trip; filing a courtesy translation gambles your appointment to save very little.

How we do it

All online, no office visits. Upload a scan or a clear photo, choose the language pair — English↔Spanish or French↔Spanish, either direction — and see the price immediately, VAT included, with no later adjustment. The work is done by a translator appointed by the MAEC, who seals, signs and certifies that the translation faithfully matches the original.

Every translation we issue is printed on official Spanish stamped paper, numbered and bearing the coat of arms, and then scanned, so the PDF you receive already shows it. It is separately signed with a digital certificate. If you also need the physical original, we courier it to you.

We keep the original's terminology and layout. Names, dates, seals and the apostille are reproduced exactly, because one mistyped detail on a police certificate stalls the whole file.

Why us

Because this is all we do. We recognise an FBI Identity History Summary, an ACRO certificate or a French B3 on sight, and we know what the administration expects to see on each. When the appointment is close, there's 24-hour delivery and same-day express.

We don't give legal advice and we don't decide whether your application succeeds — that's for your lawyer or the UGE. What we guarantee is that the part that depends on us arrives flawless, on time and in the right format.

Gather your documents, check the apostille is on them, and send them over. You'll get your file back ready to file.