How long have you been thinking of coming to live in Spain and work here or from here? To do this you must have a work permit. However, this requirement is not necessary for citizens of the European Union, Switzerland or the European Economic Area. We will talk about that a little later. Let's take it in steps.
Types of permits and most common situations
The work permit is an authorization that is granted to foreign citizens who want to start a job in Spain. In Spanish legislation there are different types of work permits to which all the new features of the visa for digital nomads provided for in the new Startups Law will soon be added.
Currently, each interested person may request the work permit that best suits them according to their situation, as long as they meet the requirements associated with the visa.
There are three common scenarios in which a foreign person can fall under when applying for a work visa in Spain:
1. Being an entrepreneur starting a professional activity
2. Being a contracted worker in Spain (Spanish contract) and intends to stay in the country.
3. Being a worker temporarily displaced to Spanish territory.
Both the requirements and the procedure for obtaining the work visa will be different depending on the applicant's characteristics, such as, among others, their nationality, employment status (whether they are a salaried worker or self-employed) and their qualifications (whether the Spanish standard considers you a highly qualified professional or not).
EU or non-EU worker
To choose the right visa, the first thing the applicant must take into account is whether they are a community or non-community worker.
European community citizen
If you or your relatives are a community worker (national of a member country of the EU, Switzerland or a country of the European Economic Area) you can work in Spain without having to apply for a work permit since they are protected by the right of free movement.
The only thing you would have to do is register as a community resident in Spain and obtain the European Union Registration Certificate. In other words, the community worker (or a community family member) does not have to apply for a visa to work in Spain, they will only need the identification number (NIE) and demonstrate that they have sufficient economic funds to be able to stay in the country. You will also need to have health insurance that offers full coverage.
Non European community citizen
If you are a non-EU worker, the first thing you should take into account to know which visa to apply for is if you are coming to Spain to work independently (businessman, investor, entrepreneur, self-employed, etc.) or if you are coming as an employee (that is, with employment contract).
Work permits for self-employed non-EU citizens
Work visas for entrepreneurs: In Spain there are three work visas for foreign businesspersons and entrepreneurs who want to come to Spain to develop their professional activity.
A) Residence Permit for Entrepreneurs
Conceived for foreign citizens who are going to develop an innovative economic activity or one with added value for the Spanish economy. This work permit gives the possibility of obtaining legal residence prior to the establishment of the professional activity.
B) Residence Permit for Investors in Spain
This visa also authorizes the holder to be self-employed.
To obtain it, the applicant must make an economic investment in Spain:
• 500,000 euros if it is real estate
• 1,000,000 euros in case of investing in a bank deposit or an investment asset in shares in companies or investment funds
• 2,000,000 euros if it is in Spanish public debt
C) Residence and Self-Employment Permit in Spain
Intended for foreigners who are going to establish a business or work in a company in which they own more than 24% of the shares.
Work permits for non-community employees hired in Spain or at origin
The applicant must take into account when assessing which visa is best for him to request if his employment contract will be Spanish or comes from his place of origin. If the person retains the contract from their country of origin (that is, outside of Spain), there are options such as intra-company or transnational transfer of services.
In the event that the worker is hired by a company from Spain, there are many options for work permits, but the most frequent are:
A) Residence Permit for Highly Qualified Professionals
This work visa is focused on managerial jobs or contracts for highly qualified personnel. Workers must have a higher qualification or have equivalent professional experience, in both cases directly related to the job offered.
These contracts must offer a certain minimum salary range: greater than 40,000 euros for qualified technicians; more than 54,500 euros in the case of hiring executives; and above 30,000 euros in the case of contracts for workers under 30 years of age or who are in business projects categorized as being of interest to Spain.
B) Employee work permit
It is not the most advantageous or quickest work permit to obtain (it can be requested for any job as long as there are no unemployed Spaniards who cannot fill that position) but it is an option to take into account when the profile of the two previous work permits.
This permit has some exceptions to the obligation to prioritize any Spanish citizen for the position, for example, if what you want is to hire trusted personnel or the applicants are nationals of Chile or Peru.
C) Residence permit for interns
This work permit is aimed at both:
• The incorporation of workers who have obtained their higher education qualifications in the two years prior to the employment contract.
• The incorporation of internship students
It is valid for a maximum of 2 years, although at the end of the first year it can be changed to the work permit modality as an employee. The residence permit for interns is usually the most common way to attract young talent from abroad. However, the Startups Law will bring many novelties in this regard that will be known in detail when its final regulatory content is approved, scheduled for this summer 2022.
Work permit for professionals temporarily resident in Spain
It is the best option in the case of professionals who maintain their employment relationship and salary with the company in their country of origin, and are temporarily transferred to Spain to provide a service or work activity. The procedure to be carried out in this scenario is the Work Authorization for Business Transfer.
The worker must have at least 3 months of seniority in the company and a higher qualification or, failing that, a minimum of three years of demonstrable professional experience in the job to be filled in Spain.
Contact us
If you need to process your work and residence visa or have an expert advise you on the most suitable one for you, contact us below. And if you need medical insurance, our team can also offer you competitive health insurance with all the guarantees for your visa application:
