Digital nomad visa: employer & company requirements

The income threshold gets most of the attention, but the requirements that trip up more digital nomad visa files sit on the employer and company side: how long the foreign company has been trading, how long you have worked for it, and the letter that authorises you to work remotely from Spain. This guide sets out what employees must evidence about their company, and what freelancers provide instead. It is general information, not legal advice — the exact periods and thresholds are revised, so confirm them for your application year.

"On this visa the spotlight falls as much on your employer as on you: the company must show it has genuinely been trading, that your relationship with it is real, and that it authorises you to work remotely. Get that letter and those company records right from the start and the rest of the file follows smoothly."

Employee or freelancer: the evidence splits here

The digital nomad visa serves two profiles, and nowhere does the paperwork diverge more sharply than on the employer side. An employee works remotely for a single foreign company and has to prove things about that company — its age, its registration, and its written permission for you to work from Spain. A freelancer has no employer to vouch for them, so the equivalent evidence comes from client contracts that demonstrate an ongoing professional relationship. Getting your profile classified correctly at the outset determines which stack of documents you assemble, and mixing the two is one of the most common reasons a file is returned for clarification.

How long the company must have operated

For the employee route, the foreign company is expected to have been genuinely operating for a minimum period before you apply. This is commonly cited as at least one year of continuous activity, though you should confirm the figure that applies for your application year rather than rely on a period that may have been revised. The point of the rule is substance: the authorities want to see that you are being employed by a real, established business, not a shell created to support a visa application. A young start-up is not automatically excluded, but the more recently the company was formed, the more carefully its trading history needs to be evidenced.

The company's age is shown through its certificate of registration and activity — a document from the relevant commercial or company registry in the company's home country confirming when it was incorporated and that it remains active. For a US employer this typically means a certificate of good standing or an equivalent from the state of incorporation; for a UK company, a Companies House extract; and so on for each jurisdiction. The document should be recent, because consulates look for current standing, not a snapshot from years ago.

The minimum employment relationship

Separately from the age of the company, you must show an existing employment relationship of a minimum length before you apply. This is commonly cited as at least three months of continuous employment with the same company at the point of application, though — as with every figure here — you should confirm the requirement for your year. The logic mirrors the company-age rule: the authorities want an established, ongoing relationship, not an arrangement created the week before filing.

You evidence the relationship with your employment contract and, ideally, corroborating documents that show it running over time: payslips covering the preceding months, and bank statements showing salary arriving on a regular cadence. A contract dated three months back but with no payment history behind it is weaker than a contract supported by a consistent record of salary payments. Consistency over the qualifying period is far more persuasive than a single document.

The remote-work authorisation letter

For employees, the single most important employer document is the letter authorising remote work from Spain. Issued by the company and signed by an authorised representative, it should do two things clearly. First, it should confirm that the company authorises you to perform your role remotely from Spain — express permission, not merely tolerance. Second, it should confirm that the role can be carried out remotely, i.e. that the nature of your work does not require physical presence at the employer's premises. Where relevant, the letter also records the terms of the arrangement: your position, the start date of employment, and that the relationship will continue while you are in Spain.

Because this letter is doing legal work, its wording matters. A vague "we're happy for X to work from home" note is not the same as a clear authorisation that the company permits remote work from Spain and that the position is remote-capable. We routinely help clients get this letter drafted so it says what the file needs it to say, rather than sending it back for a second attempt after a consulate query.

The company's certificate of registration and activity

Alongside the authorisation letter, employees provide the company's certificate of registration and activity. This is the document that evidences the company's age and confirms it is a real, active entity — the two things the company-operating-period rule is testing. It comes from the commercial or company registry in the employer's country and should be current. Where the company is not registered in a conventional commercial registry, an equivalent official proof of legal existence and activity is used. Because these certificates are issued abroad, they generally need to be apostilled and officially translated before they can be filed in Spain.

Freelancers: client contracts as the equivalent evidence

Freelancers have no employer, so there is no employer letter and no company certificate to provide. The equivalent evidence comes from client contracts showing an ongoing relationship. Where an employee proves an established employment relationship, a freelancer proves an established client relationship — a contract, or contracts, with clients predominantly outside Spain that have been running for a period and are set to continue. The contract terms should be consistent with remote work and, ideally, should show a continuing engagement rather than a one-off project that ends the moment the visa is granted.

In practice a freelancer's file leans on the following in place of the employer documents: the client contract(s) establishing the relationship and its duration; invoices showing the relationship actually generating income over the preceding period; and, where the contract does not already say so, evidence that the work is performed remotely. The same principle from the employee route carries over: an ongoing, evidenced relationship beats a snapshot. A single fresh contract with no history behind it is the freelancer equivalent of a same-week employment start.

Employee vs freelancer evidence at a glance

The table is a map, not a shortcut. The right combination depends on how you actually work — some people are cleanly one profile, while others (an employee with a side freelance client, or a freelancer with one anchor client that looks employment-like) sit in between. Classifying you correctly is the first thing we settle, because it determines the entire evidence stack.

Apostille and translation of foreign documents

Documents issued outside Spain — the company certificate, and often the employer letter — generally need to be apostilled (under the Hague Convention, where applicable) and accompanied by an official translation into Spanish. This is the same discipline that applies to the criminal-record certificate every applicant provides, and it is worth flagging early for a simple reason: legalising documents abroad and arranging sworn translations takes time, and it is one of the most common sources of delay in an otherwise strong file. Start the company certificate's apostille as soon as you know you are applying.

Common mistakes on the employer side

• An authorisation letter that says "work from home" but never expressly permits remote work from Spain, or never confirms the role is remote-capable.
• Applying before the employment relationship has run its minimum period — the contract is fresh with no payment history behind it.
• Assuming a long-established company excuses a same-week employment start, or vice versa — both clocks must have run.
• A company certificate that is stale, or that proves incorporation but not current activity.
• Leaving the apostille and translation of the company certificate too late.
• For freelancers, relying on a single new contract with no invoice history to show an ongoing relationship.

A note on US and other foreign employers

US, UK and other non-EU employers are the norm on this visa, and none of these requirements is a barrier for them — but the documents look different by jurisdiction. A US employer proves activity with a state good-standing certificate; a UK employer with a Companies House record; others with their local registry equivalent. The authorisation letter, by contrast, is broadly the same everywhere: it is the company confirming, in writing, that it permits your remote work from Spain and that your role can be done remotely. Where an employer is unfamiliar with what a Spanish consulate expects, we provide the wording so the letter lands right the first time.

How we prepare the employer file

We start by classifying you cleanly as employee or freelancer, then build the matching evidence: for employees, the authorisation letter (drafted to say what the file needs), the company certificate, and the employment history that proves the minimum relationship; for freelancers, the client contracts and invoices that evidence an ongoing relationship. We flag the apostille and translation steps at the start so they are not on the critical path at the end, and we cross-check the whole package against the income requirement so the employer evidence and the financial evidence tell one consistent story. Where the Beckham election is relevant, we sequence it alongside — see our Beckham guide and the main digital nomad visa guide.