§ Immigration

Non-lucrative visa

also called NLV · non-lucrative residence visa

A residence visa, notably in Spain, for people who can support themselves without working locally.

Digital nomad visaRetirement visaGolden visaSecond Home visaNon-lucrative visa
Solid lines are terms people actually mix up with Non-lucrative visa. The rest sit in the same subject, residence by money, retirement or investment. Digital nomad visa · Retirement visa · Golden visa · Second Home visa

Right, in plain English

A non-lucrative visa, best known in Spain, lets you live in the country if you can support yourself from savings or passive income without working locally. The catch is right in the name: it is for people who are not earning there. It usually bars local work and often remote work too, which clashes with the way most nomads make a living.

You qualify for Spain's non-lucrative visa on your savings and settle in happily, then keep logging into your remote job as usual. That active work can sit against what the visa allows, so you find the route that got you in was never meant for someone still earning at a desk.

Why it matters

It permits living but usually not local or even remote work, so it can clash with active nomad income.

Residence by money, retirement or investment · 4 terms

These grant residence without working locally, in exchange for wealth, income or a purchase.
A golden visa is granted for a qualifying investment, and second-home programmes across Southeast Asia work the same way through a deposit or property: Malaysia's MM2H, its higher-income PVIP, Cambodia's CM2H, and the Cambodia E-class long-stay visa.
A non-lucrative visa is for people who can support themselves without working, and a retirement visa is the version for retirees showing a pension.

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