What the employer letter must prove
Spain’s Digital Nomad Visa law (Ley 28/2022) requires the applicant to demonstrate that their work is performed remotely and for entities that are not based in Spain. The employer letter must confirm three things, and any letter that omits one of them risks rejection:
- The employment relationship is ongoing and genuine: your role, your start date, and your current status
- The work is authorized to be performed remotely: the arrangement allows full remote work from any location, including Spain
- Your role is not tied to any Spanish establishment: the law requires the work to be performed for an entity based outside Spain, but that doesn’t mean the employer’s whole corporate group has to be Spain-free. A company with, say, a Spanish sales office isn’t automatically disqualified. What matters is that your specific role, duties, and compensation aren’t attributed to that Spanish entity. If your employer has any Spanish presence, the letter should say so explicitly and clarify it
For PEO employees (Justworks, TriNet, Rippling, Gusto, etc.): the letter must come from your co-employer (the PEO), not just your client company. Both letters are sometimes requested. See the Justworks guide for specifics.
A worked example of point 3: say you work for a 400-person U.S. software company that also has a 6-person sales office in Madrid serving European customers. You’re an engineer on the U.S. product team; you’ve never worked with the Madrid office and your salary is paid from the U.S. entity. In this case, the letter simply states that fact plainly: your role, reporting line, and compensation are attributed entirely to the U.S. operation, with no connection to the Spanish office. That’s normally enough. Where it gets harder is if you report to someone in Madrid, or your compensation is processed through the Spanish entity, in that case the file needs to be built differently, and it’s worth a conversation before you request the letter.
Two dates matter beyond the letter’s wording: the UGE generally expects the company to have been genuinely operating for at least 1 year, and your employment or contractor relationship with it to be at least 3 months old at the time of filing. Both templates below are written to state these dates clearly.
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Template 1: Salaried employee (W‑2)
Use your browser’s Print function: select “Save as PDF” as the destination to download the file.
RE: Confirmation of Remote Employment — Spain Digital Nomad Visa Application
To whom it may concern:
This letter is issued to confirm the remote employment status of [Employee Full Name], a resident of [City, State, Country], for the purpose of supporting their application for Spain’s Digital Nomad Visa under Ley 28/2022 (Ley de Startups).
[Employee Full Name] has been employed by [Company Name] since [Start Date] in the role of [Job Title / Position], whose main functions are [main duties, in one line]. Their current employment status is full-time, permanent.
We hereby confirm that:
- The nature of [Employee Name]'s position allows all duties and responsibilities to be performed fully remotely, without the requirement to be physically present at any company location. This remote work authorization is ongoing and not subject to a specific end date.
- [Employee Name] is authorized to perform their work duties from Spain, and we are aware of and support their application for legal residency in Spain for this purpose.
- [Company Name] is incorporated in the United States of America [or: specify country]. [Employee Name]'s role, duties, and compensation are attributed entirely to [Company Name]'s operations outside Spain [if applicable: and are not associated with any Spanish subsidiary, branch, or establishment the company may otherwise maintain].
- [Employee Name]'s annual gross salary is €[X] (US$[X] at the exchange rate of [date]), paid [monthly / biweekly] via [bank transfer / payroll system]. This salary has been stable for the past [X] months and is expected to continue at or above this level.
This letter is issued in good faith to support [Employee Name]'s visa application and is accurate to the best of our knowledge. We confirm that the information provided is truthful and complete.
Please contact our HR department at [HR email / phone] if you require any additional information or verification.
Sincerely,
___________________________
[Authorized Signatory Full Name]
[Title: e.g., Vice President, Human Resources / Director of People Operations]
[Company Name]
[Email]
[Direct Phone]
[Date]
Notes for W‑2 employees
- The letter should be on official company letterhead: logo, address, and contact information visible at the top
- Have it signed by someone with authority: HR Director, VP People, General Counsel, or a C-suite executive. A direct manager’s signature alone is sometimes questioned
- Include your salary in the letter. It should match your pay stubs. The Ministry asks for it in euros, so if you are paid in USD state the EUR figure with the conversion date
- Issue it bilingual, English and Spanish on one signed document, and there is nothing to translate; otherwise add a sworn Spanish translation. No apostille, no notarisation
- If your employer has subsidiaries or parent companies with Spanish operations, have a Spanish immigration attorney review the nexus question before submitting
Template 2: Freelancer / Independent contractor
Freelancers and 1099 contractors do not have an employer to write a letter, instead, you provide a client statement confirming the ongoing working relationship and the remote, foreign-source nature of the work. You need this from at least your primary client; multiple client letters strengthen the case. If you invoice through a single-member LLC, the same template works, the client confirms the commercial relationship with your LLC rather than with you personally. See my guide for single-member LLC owners for the entity-specific documents that go alongside it.
RE: Confirmation of Independent Contractor Relationship — Spain Digital Nomad Visa Application
To whom it may concern:
This letter is provided to confirm our working relationship with [Contractor Full Name], an independent contractor and resident of [City, State, Country], in connection with their application for Spain’s Digital Nomad Visa under Ley 28/2022 (Ley de Startups).
[Contractor Name] has provided [describe services, e.g., software development / design / consulting / marketing] services to [Company Name] on a contract basis since [Start Date]. Our working relationship is ongoing and active.
We hereby confirm that:
- All work performed by [Contractor Name] for [Company Name] is performed remotely. We do not require their physical presence at any company location to fulfill the contractual obligations, and we have no objection to them performing their work from Spain.
- [Company Name] is incorporated in the United States of America [or: specify country]. The services provided by [Contractor Name] are contracted with and paid for entirely by [Company Name]'s operations outside Spain [if applicable: and are not associated with any Spanish subsidiary, branch, or establishment the company may otherwise maintain]. All payments are made from U.S. [or: relevant country] banking accounts to [Contractor Name]'s U.S. [or relevant country] account.
- During the past [3–12] months, [Contractor Name] has invoiced and received payment from [Company Name] averaging approximately [€X / $X] per month. We anticipate this level of engagement to continue for the foreseeable future.
- The nature of our working relationship is that of independent contractor. [Contractor Name] is not an employee of [Company Name] and maintains full control over their schedule, tools, and methods of work.
This letter is provided in good faith to support [Contractor Name]'s visa application and is accurate to the best of our knowledge.
For verification or additional documentation, please contact [Name] at [email / phone].
Sincerely,
___________________________
[Authorized Signatory Full Name]
[Title, e.g., Founder / CEO / Procurement Manager]
[Company Name]
[Email]
[Direct Phone]
[Date]
Notes for freelancers and contractors
- Get a letter from each active client if possible: multiple letters demonstrate income stability and reduce the risk that one client relationship looks insufficient on its own
- Supplement with: signed copies of your contracts, invoices for the three months before filing, and the stamped bank certificate showing the payments
- If a client is reluctant to write a letter, a signed copy of your Master Services Agreement (MSA) or Statement of Work (SOW), combined with your invoices and bank records, can sometimes substitute. Confirm with the consulate or your attorney first
- Your prior year U.S. tax return (Schedule C) is strong income evidence; bring it as a supplement
- If you have multiple clients and no single one represents more than 50% of your income, show the combined income and explain it in your cover letter
Common rejection reasons — and how to avoid them
The letter says “remote work possible” instead of “fully remote”
Reviewers want to see explicit language that remote work from Spain is authorized. Vague language about flexibility is insufficient.
No mention of Spain specifically
The letter should state explicitly that the employee is authorized to work from Spain, not just “remotely from any location.”
No confirmation that your role isn’t tied to any Spanish entity
This clause is essential when the employer has any Spanish presence: a subsidiary, branch, or sales office elsewhere in the group. It doesn’t need to have zero footprint in Spain, but the letter should say explicitly that your role, duties, and pay are attributed to the foreign operation, not the Spanish one.
Salary not stated, or stated in USD with no EUR conversion
The UGE compares your income to the SMI threshold in euros. Include the salary in the letter with the EUR equivalent.
Signed by a peer or direct manager, not HR/legal
The signatory should have authority to bind the company on employment matters. HR Director, General Counsel, or C-suite is safest.
Not on official letterhead
Print on company letterhead with the company logo, legal name, and address clearly visible. A plain email converted to PDF is not adequate.
Frequently asked questions
Can my employer refuse to sign?
Yes. There’s no U.S. legal obligation for an employer to sign a foreign remote-work letter. If HR declines on policy grounds, it’s worth checking whether a transition to a 1099 relationship is workable. See my guide on what to do if HR refuses to sign.
Can HR rewrite the wording?
Yes, as long as the letter still covers the substance: the role and duties, remote feasibility, the company’s operating history, current compensation, and explicit authorization to work from Spain. Legal or corporate-comms teams often want their own phrasing. That’s fine as long as those elements survive the edit.
Does the letter expire?
There’s no fixed statutory expiry, but in practice the UGE expects supporting documents to be current, generally executed within about three months of filing. Don’t have the letter signed months before you’re ready to submit.
Can it be signed digitally?
Yes. A DocuSign or Adobe Sign signature on company letterhead is accepted, provided the signatory’s name, title, and contact details are clearly shown.
Does it have to come from HR specifically?
No. Corporate Counsel, a VP, a Managing Director, or a C-suite executive can sign it just as validly. What matters is that the signatory has authority to speak for the company on employment or contractual matters.
What if my salary changes after the letter is signed?
What matters going forward is that your actual gross income keeps clearing the statutory threshold, €2,849 gross per month for a single applicant in 2026. A raise isn’t a problem; a drop below the threshold needs to be addressed before you rely on the file.