Why the UGE quietly rewrote the Digital Nomad Visa in 2025

The Unidad de Grandes Empresas (UGE) — the office that reviews most Digital Nomad Visa files — didn't publish a new law this year. It didn't need to. What changed was how existing criteria get interpreted at the desk, and that shift has been enough to sink applications that would have sailed through in 2023.

The three-year rule, applied literally

The DNV requires that your employing or client company has operated for at least one year before your application. What's newer is how strictly caseworkers now check the continuity of that year — gaps in invoicing, a change of legal entity, or a parent-company restructuring can all reset the clock in the UGE's eyes, even when nothing changed for you day-to-day.

Remote income now gets cross-checked against contracts

Where the office previously accepted a signed employment letter at face value, reviewers are increasingly asking for the underlying contract, recent payslips, and proof that the work itself — not just the payment — happens outside Spain's borders. Freelancers with multiple clients feel this most: the 20% Spanish-sourced income cap is now checked against actual invoices, not declared totals.

What this means for your filing

None of this makes the visa harder to get on the merits. It makes the paperwork less forgiving. The applications getting flagged aren't from people who don't qualify — they're from people whose file doesn't visibly prove what's true. Building the evidence trail before you apply, not after a request for more information arrives, is the difference between an eight-week approval and a six-month back-and-forth.