In Brief:

Sometimes someone in Tashkent, Samarkand or Fergana suddenly decides that yes – it is time. Some dream of getting a prestigious European education, others want to put their professional skills to use in a well-paid job, while some simply want to live somewhere where 300 days of sunshine a year and a relaxed pace of life are not advertising slogans but part of everyday reality. And almost everyone starts with the same question: “Where do I even begin?”

There is good news: the route is fairly clear. It is simply long and involves plenty of paperwork. There is some bad news too: the rules have changed noticeably over the past year or so, which means that some of the advice you may have read in a three-year-old blog post might no longer work. So let’s go through what is relevant right now.

Citizens of Uzbekistan need a visa – there is no way around it

Uzbekistan is not among the countries whose citizens can enter the Schengen Area visa-free, so the first and essential step for any trip to Spain – whether for a holiday or a permanent move – is obtaining a visa.

The difficulty is that Spain does not have a full embassy in Tashkent, only an honorary consulate. Visa applications are submitted through the BLS International visa centre in Tashkent, while the decision is made by the Spanish consulate responsible for Uzbekistan. Processing normally takes around five working days if the application is complete and nothing is missing, although in practice it can take longer, especially when you are applying for a long-stay visa rather than a tourist visa.

For citizens of Uzbekistan, the standard consular fee for a short-stay Schengen visa is €90 for adults and €45 for children aged 6 to 12 (children under 6 are exempt from the fee). Including the visa centre’s service charges, the total usually comes to €100–€150.

It is important to distinguish between two fundamentally different documents. A Category C Schengen visa allows you to stay in Spain – and elsewhere in the Schengen Area – for up to 90 days within a six-month period, so it is not suitable if you intend to relocate. A Category D national visa is a different matter entirely: it opens the door to a residence permit, and this is the type of visa you need if your goal is to move rather than spend a couple of weeks in Spain.

The Golden Visa is no longer available – and it is worth knowing this from the start

If you were researching ways to move to Spain a year or more ago, you probably came across the attractive prospect of a “Golden Visa”, which offered a route to residency through a property purchase of at least €500,000. Today, however, this programme is no longer available. Since 3 April 2025, Spain has stopped accepting new applications for investor visas, so in 2026 this route is simply unavailable to new applicants. Those who submitted their applications before that date continue under the previous rules, but for everyone else, unfortunately, that door is closed.

That certainly does not mean that buying property in Spain no longer makes sense. Foreign buyers can still purchase property freely – it simply no longer provides an automatic route to residency. Residence permits are now obtained through other routes, which is exactly what we will look at next.

Non-Lucrative Visa: a straightforward option for those with savings

The Non-Lucrative Visa, which does not grant the right to work, remains one of the most popular routes for people who do not intend to work in Spain and instead live on passive income, savings, rental income or a pension.

The requirements in 2026 are as follows: the main applicant must demonstrate income or savings of around €28,800 per year – equivalent to 400% of Spain’s IPREM indicator – plus an additional €7,200 per year for each family member moving with them. You cannot work in Spain under this visa, including remotely for a foreign employer, and consulates have recently been paying closer attention to this requirement. The permit can, however, be renewed under the 1 year + 2 years + 2 years system, and after five years of continuous residence it opens the way to permanent residency.

In addition to proof of sufficient financial means, you will need private health insurance without excesses or coverage limits, a criminal record certificate with an apostille and a sworn translation into Spanish, as well as a medical certificate confirming that you do not suffer from diseases that pose a threat to public health.

You can read more about this option in Alegria’s guide to Non-Lucrative Residence in Spain.

Digital Nomad Visa: for those who earn remotely

If you work for a foreign company or are self-employed as a freelancer and can document your professional activity, the popular Digital Nomad Visa is worth considering. In 2026, the income threshold for the main applicant is around €2,850 per month – equivalent to 200% of Spain’s minimum wage, or SMI. The additional requirement for the first family member is 75%, or approximately €1,068–€1,069 per month. For each additional family member, another 25% of the SMI – approximately €356–€357 per month – is added.

Unlike the Non-Lucrative Visa, this route allows – and indeed requires – you to work. The key point is that you should not primarily be working for a Spanish employer. More precisely, income from Spanish clients must not exceed 20%. Another attractive benefit is that holders of this visa can often qualify for the preferential tax regime commonly known as the “Beckham Law”, with a flat 24% tax rate instead of the standard progressive scale, which reaches 47%.

You can apply for this visa in advance from Uzbekistan through the consulate or while already legally staying in Spain on a tourist visa during your first three months in the country. The second route has recently been subject to stricter scrutiny, so if you already have a contract and a stable income, it often makes more sense to submit your documents from home rather than wait until you arrive.

Alegria has a separate guide to the Digital Nomad Residence Permit in Spain in 2026, as well as a dedicated Digital Nomad Visa service.

Student and work visas: the classic routes

A student visa remains one of the most reliable ways for young people to move to Spain. You need to enrol at a Spanish university or in a language course lasting at least 90 days, provide proof that the tuition fees have been paid and demonstrate sufficient financial means for the duration of your studies. One advantage of this route is that students are allowed to work up to 30 hours per week, while after graduation there is a separate one-year permit for looking for work.

A work visa, on the other hand, requires a specific employer in Spain who is willing to hire you and complete the procedure demonstrating that no suitable candidate for the position could be found within the EU. The process is not particularly quick and requires active involvement from the employer, so this route is primarily realistic for highly qualified or specialised professionals with in-demand skills whom Spanish companies are prepared to wait for and sponsor. As you can imagine, it is not the easiest or most common route.

The entrepreneur visa is also worth mentioning for those who want to establish an innovative business in Spain. There is no formal minimum investment requirement, but you will need a business plan approved by the Spanish government agency ICEX. Frankly, this is not the simplest option either unless you are prepared to invest considerable time in preparing detailed documentation demonstrating the significant contribution your project can make to the Spanish economy.

If you are considering moving through education, Alegria also offers assistance with applying for a student visa in Spain.

What happens after the visa is already in your passport

The visa obtained in Tashkent is only your ticket into the country. Once you arrive, Spanish bureaucracy begins, and the deadlines here are fairly strict.

Within one month of entering Spain, you need to obtain your TIE – the foreign resident identity card that includes your fingerprints and is, in practical terms, the physical card proving your residence status. You will also need an NIE, your foreigner identification number, without which it is difficult to open a bank account, sign a rental agreement or buy property in Spain. You should also arrange your empadronamiento, or registration with your local town hall, as soon as possible, because this document is required for numerous procedures, from accessing healthcare to enrolling a child in school.

It is often at this stage that people first discover that Spanish authorities may ask for documents legalised and translated in Uzbekistan to be resubmitted in another format or with an additional apostille. The advice here is simple: have your translations prepared by a sworn translator – a traductor jurado – and make extra copies from the start. It can save you more than one stressful trip to a government office.

How much does it all cost, and how long does it take?

If we use realistic estimates rather than the most optimistic figures from promotional websites, the entire process from submitting your documents in Tashkent to obtaining your TIE in Spain usually takes between three and six months. The visa itself may take two to four weeks, followed by the move to Spain, while obtaining the residence card and completing the necessary registrations can add another couple of months, especially when appointments in some regions of Spain are booked weeks in advance.

It is difficult to give a single figure for the cost because there are too many variables: the visa fee, apostilles, translations, health insurance and, if you use an immigration lawyer or consultant, their professional fees. As a general estimate, a family of two will usually spend between €1,500 and €3,000 on the entire document preparation process, excluding the cost of moving and the first few months of living in Spain.

To put it simply: moving from Uzbekistan to Spain in 2026 will probably demand more patience and attention to paperwork than it will money. For those prepared to make their way through this bureaucratic obstacle course once, things usually become considerably easier afterwards. And then comes the long-awaited reward – your Spanish residence permit in your pocket.

At Alegría, we regularly work with families moving to Spain from Central Asia, so we know this journey first-hand – from the initial visa application to finding a home where you will genuinely want to stay. If you are choosing between visa options, looking for property or simply trying to work out where to begin, get in touch with us. We will look at your individual situation and help you understand the next steps.

This information does not constitute legal or tax advice and is not a public offer.

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