Portugal raised the D8 floor to €3,680 a month. Spain followed. Here is what changed.

Portugal just raised the income floor on its D8 nomad visa to €3,680 a month ($3,974 USD), up from €3,480 last year. That 5.7% hike sounds routine until you do the math: a US remote worker earning $45,000 annually — solid income in most of the country — now falls $2,700 short of the annual threshold. Spain moved its bar too, and in both cases the increase is baked into law: floor tied to minimum wage, minimum wage goes up, you need to earn more. 1

Here is what actually changed this week, and what it costs you to be legal in each country.

Portugal's minimum wage rose from €870 to €920 on January 1, 2026, per a regulatory decree. Because the D8 threshold is locked at four times the national minimum, the monthly income floor moved automatically from €3,480 to €3,680. 1

For a solo applicant, the new floor converts to roughly $3,974/mo at current exchange rates, or about $47,700 a year. A couple applying together crosses €4,140/mo ($4,471), because dependents add 50% of the minimum wage per adult. One child pushes the family unit to €4,416/mo.

The visa itself does not create Portuguese tax residency. You become a tax resident if you spend more than 183 days in Portugal in any 12-month period, or if you keep a home there you intend as your habitual residence. Below that line, Portugal taxes only Portuguese-source income, which for D8 holders is typically zero. Cross it, and you owe Portuguese tax on worldwide income at progressive rates from 12.5% to 48%. 2

US/Canada catch: NHR is gone (closed to new applicants January 1, 2024). The replacement regime, IFICI, requires an EQF Level 6 degree plus three years of relevant experience in a qualifying sector. Most remote workers and generalist freelancers do not qualify. That means a D8 holder who crosses 183 days now faces standard Portuguese progressive rates, not a preferential flat tax. American citizens still file Form 1040 and report worldwide income regardless; for those who become PT tax residents, the Foreign Tax Credit usually wins over the FEIE because Portuguese rates routinely exceed US rates on the same income. 2

Spain's Digital Nomad Visa (officially the International Telework Visa, created under Law 28/2022) ties its income floor to 200% of the Spanish minimum wage (SMI). Royal Decree 126/2026, published in the Boletín Oficial del Estado on February 19 with retroactive effect from January 1, raised the SMI to €1,221 per month across 14 payments. 3 4

The result for nomads: the 2026 threshold for a single applicant is €2,849/mo ($3,077), up from roughly €2,646 in 2025 — a 7.7% increase. A spouse adds €1,069/mo; each additional family member adds €357/mo.

Spain's tax picture is actually more attractive than Portugal's for a US-based remote worker, with a catch. The Beckham Law (technically LIRNR, the non-resident income tax regime) is available to new tax residents who apply within six months of registering. It sets a flat 24% rate on Spanish-source income up to €600,000 for six years, and during that window you owe no Spanish tax on foreign income. The catch: once you opt in, you cannot later switch to the general resident regime while on the visa period. For a US employee earning $90,000/yr with a non-Spanish employer, this is a meaningful tax shield.

The application structure is two-track. Apply outside Spain at a Spanish consulate (initial 1-year visa) or apply inside Spain at the UGE (Unidad de Grandes Empresas) if you are already legally present. The in-country UGE route skips the consulate and issues a 3-year residence permit directly. Processing at UGE typically runs 20 working days. 4

Worth keeping on the comparison sheet: Colombia's digital nomad visa (Visa V – Nómadas Digitales) still sets its floor at three times the monthly minimum wage (SMMLV). For 2026, that works out to roughly COP 5,252,715 per month, or about $1,280 to $1,400 USD, depending on the peso rate when your file lands with the Cancillería. 5 6

One honest complication: the Cancillería evaluates income month by month, not as an average. One month below the floor sinks the application, even if the other eleven are fine. For freelancers with lumpy income, build in a buffer. Government fees total roughly $225 ($52-55 study fee, non-refundable, plus $170-180 issuance fee on approval). The visa runs up to two years, multiple-entry, but does not count toward Colombian permanent residency or citizenship. The 183-day rule triggers Colombian tax residency just as it does in Portugal and Spain; rates run 0% to 39% on worldwide income. 5

One note for US self-employed: Portugal has a totalization agreement with the US, in force since 1989. A Certificate of Coverage from Portugal's Instituto da Segurança Social can exempt you from the 15.3% US self-employment tax on covered income. Spain and Colombia do not have equivalent treaties with the US, so self-employed Americans on those visas owe both countries' social security on the same earnings. 2

The Portugal and Spain hikes both took effect January 1, so if you applied earlier in 2026 based on last year's numbers, check whether your income documentation still clears the new floor.

The two visas are now closer to each other in cost than they have been. Portugal's Beckham-equivalent (NHR) is gone; Spain's Beckham Law is still open and meaningfully better for US remote workers who do not earn Spanish-source income. If tax exposure is the deciding factor and your income is above $37K, Spain's combination of a lower floor and a more favorable short-term tax regime makes it the sharper choice right now.

Colombia remains the outlier for anyone earning under $40K annually and willing to live without the EU residency clock ticking.