The figure
Spain ties the line to the IPREM, a public index used for benefits and thresholds. In 2026 it is €600 a month. You need 400% of it for yourself and 100% for each family member who depends on you. It is counted over twelve payments a year. Some websites still multiply by fourteen, which inflates the figure; the Supreme Court settled that the twelve-payment basis applies (STS 416/2023, of 28 March 2023).
| Household | A year | A month | Consulates' dollar guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| You alone | €28,800 | €2,400 | about $32,000 |
| A couple | €36,000 | €3,000 | about $40,000 |
| A couple and one child | €43,200 | €3,600 | about $48,000 |
| A couple and two children | €50,400 | €4,200 | about $56,000 |
The dollar column is what U.S. consulates publish as a guide. The rule itself is in euros. The means calculator adds up your savings and income against the line for your household.
What counts
The visa assumes you will not work, so the money has to come from somewhere other than a job. Three kinds of source are accepted, alone or together.
- Regular passive income: Social Security, a pension or annuity, dividends, interest, rent from a property.
- Savings available for the year: money in checking, savings or money market accounts.
- Investments you can draw on: a brokerage account counts, though cash reads more cleanly than a portfolio that moves with the market.
A salary does not count, and neither does freelance income. If your money comes from work you will keep doing, you belong on the Digital Nomad Visa. If you are still working now but will stop before you apply, the file needs proof that the work has ended, and the money has to stand without it.
Retirement accounts sit in between. An IRA or 401(k) you cannot touch without a penalty is not money available for the year in the way a savings account is. If you rely on one, show the distributions you will take, or keep enough in cash to clear the line on its own.
A house you own is not means. It can support your plan, and rent from it counts as income, but its value does not.
How consulates read it
The paperwork has settled into a pattern across U.S. consulates in 2026.
- A letter from your bank with the date each account was opened, the average balance over the last twelve months and the balance on 31 December of last year. The average matters: a large deposit made last month reads differently from money that has been there all year.
- Statements for the last three months of every account you rely on, with your name, address and the full account number. Nothing blacked out.
- Your Social Security benefit letter or the statement from your pension or annuity, if you receive one.
- Brokerage statements if investments count toward the line.
- Your last federal tax return. Chicago and San Francisco have asked retirees for three years.
The bank letter, the benefit letter and the pension statement go with a sworn translation into Spanish, by a translator on the Spanish Foreign Ministry’s register. Statements and tax returns usually need only the key pages translated. The bank letter guide has the wording to take to your branch, and before you ask for the final version you can paste the draft into the free bank letter check. Each consulate keeps its own list, so check yours on its consulate page.
Euros, net and margin
Three habits keep a file clear of trouble.
Prepare in euros. The line is €28,800, not $32,000. When the dollar weakens between the day you print your bank letter and the day it is read, a file built to the dollar figure can fall short. I prepare every file with at least 15% above the euro line.
Think net. Houston says plainly that it reads income net of tax. Other consulates do not say it, and some read it the same way. A pension of $3,000 gross a month may clear the line comfortably or barely, depending on withholding.
Leave the money where it is. Moving large sums between accounts in the months before your appointment makes the average harder to read. If you need to consolidate, do it early and keep a record.
Family
Each family member adds €7,200 a year. A spouse or partner and each child count. If your spouse has their own pension or savings, they can show it, but the household total is what is measured. Filing everyone together means the money is shown once, in one file the consulate can read as a whole.
At renewal
The renewal, filed in Spain after the first year, lasts two years and asks for the means to cover both. For one person that is €57,600. Plan for that from the start, because the money you spend in your first year does not come back. The renewal guide has the figures for every household.
Where you stand
The free assessment asks what you live on and who comes with you, and tells you where you stand against the line for your household. I read every answer myself. The Non-Lucrative Visa guide covers the rest of the application.
€28,800 a year for the main applicant and €7,200 a year for each family member. A couple needs €36,000, a couple with one child €43,200. These are 400% and 100% of the IPREM, which is €600 a month in 2026 counted over twelve payments.
The line is set per year. You can show it as yearly passive income, as savings that cover the year, or as a mix. On a monthly basis it is €2,400 for one person.
They can, but they weigh less than cash. An IRA or 401(k) that you cannot draw without a penalty is not money available for the year in the way a savings account is. If you rely on one, show the distributions you will take, or keep enough in cash.
The rule is in euros. Consulates publish dollar figures, about $32,000 and $8,000, but a file read in euros on a weak-dollar day can fall short. Prepare with a margin of at least 15% over the euro line.
Yes. For the Non-Lucrative Visa the bank letter and the benefit or pension letters go with a sworn translation into Spanish. That is a difference from the Digital Nomad Visa filed in Spain.
Sources: Reglamento de Extranjería, RD 1155/2024 (BOE) · the consulates' own Non-Lucrative Visa pages. Last updated: 7 October 2026.