Will the financial requirements for Spain’s non-lucrative visa rise in 2027?

Spain’s non-lucrative visa (NLV) is one of the main visas non-EU nationals use to be able to come and live in here.

It’s often referred to as the retirement visa because you’re not allowed to work while here, but must prove you have sufficient financial means to live on such as a pension, passive income or savings.

The amount you have to prove you have in order to get the visa is a particular amount, not just simply showing you have money in your back account. The amount is based on what’s known as the IPREM (Income for Multiple Effects).

This is an index or threshold for government aid, for benefits like unemployment, disability grants, certain subsidies for housing or energy for example.

The IPREM in 2026 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.

This is unlike the threshold for the Digital Nomad Visa (DNV), which is linked to minimum wage, instead of the IPREM.

The IPREM hasn’t risen since 2023 because it is tied to the General State Budget, which has not been approved since then.

This is because the ruling socialists, the PSOE, haven’t received enough parliamentary support for it to pass.

As a result, the financial threshold you need for the NLV has stayed the same since 2023.

There are questions, however, as to whether it will rise next year in 2027.

READ ALSO: Spain starts work on 2027 budget after years of parliamentary deadlock

The Spanish Committee of Representatives of People with Disabilities has recently called on the Spanish government to raise the IPREM in the 2027 General State Budget to at least €900 per month, in order to “strengthen access to social benefits and aid for people and families with fewer resources”.

If this happens, it is of course good news for those with disabilities, so that their benefits can keep up with the rise in the cost of living here. However, it would also mean that the financial requirements for the NLV would rise exponentially.

If the IPREM increases by €300 per month to €900, it means that the amount you will need to prove you have for the NLV in 2027 will be €3,600 per month or €43,200 per year. That would be an increase of €14,400 per year, which is a huge jump and would effectively prevent many from applying for the visa next year.

Currently, you have to show less for the NLV than you do for the DNV (Digital Nomad Visa), but if the State Budget is approved and if this suggested IPREM increase was included, foreigners on the NLV would have to prove they have more for the NLV from next year.

READ ALSO: How long does it take to get a non-lucrative visa for Spain in 2026?

How likely is it however that Spain’s General State Budget for 2027 will be approved?

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez revealed back in June of this year that his government had already started working on the 2027 budget.

“The government is going to begin the steps to present and approve the new general state budget for the year 2027,” Sánchez said, adding that he hopes to send the proposal to parliament during the second half of the year.

The General State Budget is supposed to be submitted by September 30th of the preceding year, so there are just a couple of weeks left.

The spokesperson of the PSOE in Congress Patxi López admitted on September 8th they had not yet initiated contacts with their parliamentary allies to address the negotiation of the General State Budgets for 2027.

Spain’s Minister of Finance Arcadi España confirmed: “We will present it before the end of the year”.

Sánchez has also recently made an appeal to the parties supporting the government, urging them to demonstrate “a commitment to ordinary people” in order to approve the new budget.

He has promised that these will be the budgets with “the largest social investment in history”, so it’s likely that the IPREM could increase significantly, although so far there’s no indication yet as to how much it could go up by.

It looks like the PSOE will still have to work hard to gain the necessary support in Congress, and its track record during the current legislature has been rather poor.

If the budget is rejected again, it would mean that the IPREM would remain unchanged and the threshold for the NLV would stay the same as well.

Then there’s the question of whether or not Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist government will remain in power for much longer.

Despite ongoing corruption scandals involving his party and even family members of his, as well as other political crises, the premier has said he intends to serve out his full term and not call a snap election before August 2027, when the general election is scheduled for.

In any case though, Spain’s General State Budget would have to been approved during 2026 for it to come into force in 2027, so it depends on whether the PSOE are able to do this or not.

Furthermore, if the Socialists lose the general election and the conservative Partido Popular gain power next year, it will be up to them to try and approve their own state budget for 2028.

In that case, the threshold for the NLV would remain unchanged until at least 2028.

It’s worth noting as well that the PP are a party that don’t place quite as much importance on welfare benefits such as the IPREM as they do on tax cuts for businesses and incentives for affluent foreigners. For example, it was the PP that introduced the Beckham Law tax regime and the now-defunct golden visa scheme. Whether that means they would prevent a measure that negatively impacts NLV holders remains to be seen.

In conclusion, we simply don’t know yet what’s going to happen with the political situation and state budget, and therefore whether the NLV’s financial requirements will be indirectly impacted.