How to live legally in the European Union on your remote income: conditions and who qualifies
How to live legally in the European Union on your remote income: conditions and who qualifies
The remote income you already have is a ready-made ground for legal residence in the European Union.
Not an investment, not a real estate purchase and not setting up a company: a contract with a foreign employer or clients, bank statements and a proven work history. The ground does not work for everyone: the law sets precise requirements for the amount of income, the age of the company and the qualifications, and a package assembled in a hurry ends in a refusal.
Why is remote income considered a ground for a residence permit in the European Union?
Because the law treats it as an independent means of support: the applicant lives in the country but earns outside it and does not take up a place on the local labor market. Hence the structure of the status: the permit is issued for work for a foreign employer or foreign clients, not for employment within the country.
The jurisdiction in which Alliance handles this ground is Spain. There it is established by Law 14/2013 as amended by Law 28/2022: a separate visa category and a separate residence permit category for international remote work.
What the status gives: legal residence with family, travel within Schengen, banking services on resident terms and the lifting of the payment restriction.
Under Article 5b(2) of Regulation 833/2014 as amended by Regulation 2025/2033, it applies to Russian citizens without a residence permit or a passport of an EU country — this is directly confirmed by the European Commission's clarifications of March 13, 2026. The limit is in the same paragraph: this permit does not allow working as an employee for a local employer.
Who meets the conditions, and who will be refused?
Those who qualify are those whose income, employer and qualifications meet the requirements simultaneously, not separately.
Conditions as of September 8, 2026:
• income from €2,849 a month for the applicant — 200% of the minimum interprofessional wage (SMI), set for 2026 by Royal Decree 126/2026;
• for the first family member — an additional €1,068, for each subsequent one — €356;
• the employer company or client has carried out real activity for at least 1 year;
• the relationship with the employer or client — at least 3 months;
• a university or specialized school diploma, or 3 years of professional experience;
• health insurance from a Spanish insurer with full coverage.
The limits within the same block: an employee works only for a company outside the country; for the self-employed, the share of income from local sources is no more than 20%; the income threshold rises for each family member and on renewal is calculated using the SMI as of the filing date, not the date of first issue; criminal convictions in the last 5 years close the route.
What is the structure made of and which documents confirm it?
Of current, proven income from abroad — this is exactly what is checked. Not a twenty-year capital history and not the origin of savings: a contract, money, contributions, work history.
The package: a valid contract — an employment or a service contract — expressly stating the remote format; bank statements for 3–6 months confirming the regularity of the amount; proof of tax and social contributions; documents on the company's real activity for at least 1 year; a diploma or proven experience; a policy from a Spanish insurer; a criminal record certificate.
The weak point of the package is not the amount but the consistency. The statements must match the contract, the contract must match the contributions, and the contributions must match the length of the relationship. A discrepancy between these four documents is the main reason for requests for additional information.
Two filing routes: via the consulate or from within the country — what is the difference?
The difference is in the term of the status. The consular route gives a visa for up to 1 year, later exchanged for a card; filing from within the country through UGE-CE gives a permit straight away for 3 years, renewable for 2 years.
UGE-CE is the Large Companies and Strategic Categories Unit of the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration. The law gives it 20 working days to decide, and silence within this period counts as approval. A request for additional information stops the clock: 10 working days are given for the reply.
The second route is available only to those who are in the country legally — for a Russian citizen this means a valid Schengen visa, and the practice of issuing it is checked as of the date.
The consular route is a procedure: an appointment, filing at the place of residence, a decision, entry, biometrics and issuing the card. Appointment waiting times depend on the consulate and cannot be promised.
What should you do if the contract was put together "for the visa", the company is less than a year old or an outdated threshold was used?
Rebuild the structure before filing. A refusal on this ground does not close the route forever, but it costs months and stays on file.
Three typical discrepancies. The contract was drawn up specifically for the filing, with no history of the relationship and no contributions — 3 months of real work history are required, and they can only be made up with time. The company is less than a year old — on this ground the package does not pass: the requirement of a year of real activity applies to the employer, not to the applicant. The income threshold was taken from open sources: a figure of €2,442 circulates online, calculated without converting the SMI to 14 payments; the current value is €2,849, and filing with the outdated figure means a refusal on formal grounds.
The order is the same: checking the conditions as of the date, a written opinion on whether the status is attainable, then rebuilding what is missing — work history, documents on the company's activity, insurance — and only then filing.
How does Alliance handle this route?
As a procedure with a named law and a named authority: Law 14/2013 as amended by Law 28/2022,
the decision is made by UGE-CE or the consulate. The company works under a contract that sets out the timelines, the amount and the working procedure; the contract is concluded with an individual.
Offices in Constanța and Mamaia-Sat, licenses publicly available on the website.
The entry point is a free compliance assessment. It determines not the choice of country, but whether the route applies to your situation: the income and its structure, the employer and work history, the family composition, the education documents, the planning horizon. The result is a route built out with the sequence, timelines and budget, or a reasoned refusal explaining why.
The order of work is strict: status first, then money, then the asset. Buying real estate in this structure does not settle the status question: ownership does not give a status, and the status is not tied to ownership.
Where to start if you already have the income?
By checking three figures: the amount of income, the length of the relationship with the employer, the age of the company. If all three are in order, the structure is assembled in a few weeks and filed via one of the two routes.
If even one does not match, it can be fixed before filing, but no longer after a refusal.
Alliance carries out a free compliance assessment with a written opinion.
The first section of the opinion covers whether the status is attainable: whether you meet the current requirements or not. And a straight answer: whether this structure suits you. The assessment is free, commits you to nothing and may end in a reasoned refusal explaining why.
The contract is a civil-law contract, not an employment one — does it count?
Yes. The law allows both employment and professional relationships. For the self-employed there is a separate limit: the share of income from local sources is no more than 20%.
The employer is less than a year old — what should you do?
On this ground the package does not pass: a year of the company's real activity is checked separately. If there are several sources of income, the structure is calculated on the one that meets the requirement; if there is no such source, a different ground for the status is sought — that is exactly what the assessment is for.
How much income is needed for a family?
€2,849 for the applicant, plus €1,068 for the first family member and €356 for each subsequent one.
On renewal the amount is recalculated using the SMI as of the filing date.