Will foreigners in Spain with non-lucrative visas and those applying for one this year have to show a higher amount of savings and passive income to have the right to live here?
The non-lucrative visa (NLV) is one of the main visas non-EU nationals use to reside in Spain. It’s often referred to as the retirement visa, as you’re not allowed to work if you have it and have to prove you have sufficient financial means to take care of yourself through passive income or savings.
READ ALSO: Can you work outside of Spain on the non-lucrative visa?
How much money you have to prove you have for the NLV is based on the IPREM. This is an index or threshold for government aid, whether it be unemployment, disability grants, school grants, certain subsidies for the purchase or rental of housing, legal aid, or energy subsidies.
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The IPREM in 2025 is €600 per month, €7,200 per year.
NLV holders have to prove they have 400 percent of the annual IPREM for the first year, which amounts to €28,800.
For every family member included in the residency application, it’s an extra 100 percent of the IPREM, which is an extra €7,200 for the year.
This means that a couple will need to prove savings or passive income of €36,000.
READ ALSO: What financial proof can I show for Spain’s non-lucrative visa?
When it comes to renewing the NLV for two years rather than the initial one, you have to double those amounts.
That is the NLV’s financial threshold in 2025, so how about in 2026?
As things stand, the financial requirement for Spain’s non-lucrative visa is looking like it may well be the same in 2026 as it was in 2025.
That’s because the IPREM is only updated through Spain’s General State Budget Law, and for that to happen the Spanish government has to get it through Congress.
For the past two years, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has had his Presupuestos Generales (State Budget) budget rejected, and political commentators believe it could happen happen. Not that the Spanish premier has given up on this yet.
“Of course we are going to present our budget, and we are going to give it out all to get it approved,” the Socialist prime minister said during an interview with Cadena Ser radio.
Given the ruling Socialists’ weak parliamentary position and their poor track record of passing new laws despite remaining in power, there’s a high chance that the IPREM will stay the same the next year.
It’s not impossible, though. Pedro Sánchez has previously managed to slip legislation through Congress when the odds were stacked up against him, so we can’t categorically state that the IPREM will not increase and with it the financial requirements for the NLV.
READ ALSO: Spain’s PM risks having state budget rejected for third year in a row
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Politics aside, it’s worth noting that the IPREM hasn’t been updated that often since it was created in 2004, and has only increased by 30 percent since then.
There were slight increases to it in 2021 and 2022, but not since, hence why the financial requirement for the NLV isn’t increasing every year, as is the case with the financial threshold for the digital nomad visa, which is tied to the minimum wage (SMI), and this is going up far more often.
So to sum up, it seems pretty likely that non-lucrative visa applicants and those renewing their NLVs in 2026 will not see an increase in the visa’s financial threshold.
READ ALSO: The little-known reasons you can be denied Spain’s non-lucrative visa
