Moving to Spain

The Spanish employer files for a joint residence and work authorisation. A national employment situation test (situacion nacional de empleo) applies unless the occupation appears on the quarterly Catalogo de Ocupaciones de Dificil Cobertura, is covered by an international agreement, or falls within an exempt category. Salary must satisfy the applicable collective agreement and at least the statutory minimum wage: the SMI for 2026 is EUR 1,221 a month across 14 payments (about EUR 17,094 a year) following Royal Decree 126/2026 of 17 February 2026. Under the new Reglamento de Extranjeria (RD 1155/2024, in force 20 May 2025) initial authorisations are reported as one year with four-year renewals; that structure and the SMI figure are secondary-sourced. Long-term (EU) residence after 5 years; ordinary naturalisation after 10 years, but only 2 years for nationals of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal, and for Sephardic Jews.

Handled by the Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estrategicos (UGE-CE), which must decide within 20 working days, with administrative silence counting as approval. Requires a qualifying employer, a higher-education qualification or at least three years of comparable senior experience, and a salary above the published threshold. The EU Commission's immigration portal gives Spain's EU Blue Card floor as 1.5x the average gross annual salary, officially EUR 38,844 for 2024, with a 0.8 reduction coefficient for shortage occupations and recent graduates. The 2026 UGE-CE figures are reported at EUR 41,356.36 for national HQP authorisations and standard Blue Card cases and EUR 33,085.09 for reduced-threshold Blue Card cases; reported role-specific floors are about EUR 54,142 for directors and managers and about EUR 40,077 for scientific and intellectual professionals. Only the 2024 official figure and the fees are verified; the 2026 figures are secondary-sourced. Permit valid 3 years, renewable for 2. Family members are included in the same application, skip the general reunification waiting periods, and may work. Official fees: EUR 73.26 initial application, EUR 78.67 renewal, plus card issuance costs.

Ley 14/2013 Art. 70.1: the activity must be innovative and/or of special economic interest for Spain and have a favourable report from ENISA, which the Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos (UGE-CE) requests itself; ENISA has ten working days to issue it. Art. 70.2 lists what is assessed: the applicant's professional profile and involvement in the project (each partner's share where there are several); the business plan, describing the project, the product or service and its financing, including the investment required and possible sources of funding; and the added value for the Spanish economy, innovation or investment opportunities. The law sets no minimum investment figure. The general requirements of Art. 62.3 also apply: not being in Spain irregularly; being aged 18 or over (mayor de 18 años); no criminal record in Spain or in the countries lived in during the last two years, plus a sworn statement that there is none for the last five years; public or private health insurance with an insurer authorised to operate in Spain; sufficient financial means for the applicant and their family for the period of residence; and paying the fee. Ley 14/2013 sets no euro figure for those means: its additional provision 20 refers the thresholds to the interprofessional minimum wage (salario mínimo interprofesional) and leaves the specific requirements to instructions issued by the competent bodies. Those instructions and the current wage were not archived and re-read here, so no euro figure is given. The legal requirements for starting the activity set by the rules of its own sector also apply (Art. 69.2). The application is made electronically to UGE-CE, by the applicant or a legal representative; from outside Spain the authorisation and visa are requested together (Art. 69.1). UGE-CE must decide within twenty days, and no decision in that time counts as approval (Art. 76.1). The authorisation is valid for three years, renewable for two, and permanent residence can be obtained after five years (Art. 69.1). A spouse or partner in an analogous relationship, minor children, adult children who depend financially on the holder and have not formed their own family unit, and dependent ascendants may apply together with the holder or later (Art. 62.4). Beyond that, ordinary naturalisation after ten years of legal residence, five for those who have obtained refugee status, and two for nationals by origin (nacionales de origen) of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal and for Sephardim (Código Civil Art. 22.1), or one year in the cases listed in Código Civil Art. 22.2.

Ley 14/2013 Art. 74 bis.1: for a national of a non-EU country who works remotely, using only computer, telematic and telecommunication means, for companies based outside Spain. An employee may work only for companies based outside Spain; a self-employed professional may also work for a company located in Spain as long as that work is no more than 20% of their total professional activity. Art. 74 bis.2: applicants must be graduates or postgraduates of universities, vocational-training centres or business schools of recognised prestige, or have at least three years of professional experience. Art. 74 ter: the company or group of companies worked with must have had real and continuous activity for at least one year; the work must be shown to be doable remotely; an employee must show the employment relationship with the company not located in Spain for at least the last three months before applying, and that the company allows remote work; a self-employed professional must show a commercial relationship with one or more companies not located in Spain for at least the last three months, and the terms on which the work will be done remotely. The general requirements of Art. 62.3 also apply: not being in Spain irregularly; being aged 18 or over (mayor de 18 años); no criminal record in Spain or in the countries lived in during the last two years, plus a sworn statement that there is none for the last five years; public or private health insurance with an insurer authorised to operate in Spain; sufficient financial means for the applicant and their family for the period of residence; and paying the fee. Ley 14/2013 sets no euro figure for those means: its additional provision 20 refers the thresholds to the interprofessional minimum wage (salario mínimo interprofesional) and leaves the specific requirements to instructions issued by the competent bodies. Those instructions and the current wage were not archived and re-read here, so no euro figure is given. Applying from outside Spain gives a visa valid for up to one year (Art. 74 quater.1); in the 60 calendar days before it expires the holder can apply for the residence authorisation (Art. 74 quater.3). Someone already lawfully in Spain applies for the authorisation directly; it is valid for up to three years and renewable for two-year periods (Art. 74 quinquies). UGE-CE must decide authorisations within twenty days, and no decision in that time counts as approval (Art. 76.1). A spouse or partner in an analogous relationship, minor children, adult children who depend financially on the holder and have not formed their own family unit, and dependent ascendants may apply together with the holder or later (Art. 62.4). Long-term residence after five years of continuous legal residence (Reglamento de Extranjería, RD 1155/2024, Art. 176(a)); ordinary naturalisation after ten years of legal residence, five for those who have obtained refugee status, and two for nationals by origin (nacionales de origen) of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal and for Sephardim (Código Civil Art. 22.1), or one year in the cases listed in Código Civil Art. 22.2.

Reglamento de Extranjería (RD 1155/2024) Art. 61.1: for a foreigner, and their family members, authorised to live in Spain without carrying out any work or professional activity. Art. 61.2 requires: sufficient financial means for living costs and residence, including the family's, for the period of residence without working; health insurance (seguro de enfermedad); not being within the period of a commitment not to return to Spain made on a voluntary return; not being a threat to public order, public security or public health, checked through Spanish criminal records and a police report; and paying the fee. Art. 62.1 sets the minimum means, per month: 400% of the IPREM for the applicant and a further 100% of the IPREM for each dependent family member, available for the whole period of the authorisation, or a regular source of income. The regulation does not state the IPREM's euro value, which is set outside it and was not re-read from an archived official source here, so no euro figure is given: check the current IPREM. The residence visa also requires, for anyone of criminal-law age, no criminal record in the countries lived in during the last five years, and a medical certificate (Art. 38(e) and (i)). The visa is requested at the Spanish consulate, and that request is also the application for the authorisation (Art. 63.1). The first authorisation lasts one year (Art. 61.4); a renewal lasts two years (Art. 64.7) and requires, among other things, continued means and health insurance, schooling for children of compulsory-school age, and having actually lived in Spain for more than 183 days in the calendar year (Art. 64.2). Family members covered: a spouse, registered partner or proven stable partner; minor children who are unmarried or have not formed their own family unit; and adult children with a disability that requires support or who cannot provide for themselves because of their health (Art. 61.3). Long-term residence after five years of continuous legal residence (Art. 176(a)); ordinary naturalisation after ten years of legal residence, five for those who have obtained refugee status, and two for nationals by origin (nacionales de origen) of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal and for Sephardim (Código Civil Art. 22.1), or one year in the cases listed in Código Civil Art. 22.2. The investor residence route closed to new applicants from 3 April 2025 (see ES-GOLDENVISA-CLOSED).

Requires admission to a full-time programme at an authorised institution, proof of means referenced to the IPREM, health insurance and accommodation. Under RD 1155/2024, in force since 20 May 2025, the authorisation for official higher-education programmes is granted for the whole duration of the course rather than renewed annually, students may work up to 30 hours a week, and a dedicated post-study permit allows graduates to look for work or start a business. The exact means-test figure and the length of the post-study permit were not confirmed at an official source and are left null. Time held as a student counts toward the 10 years for ordinary naturalisation, but its treatment for EU long-term residence is restricted, so leads_to_pr_years is left null rather than guessed.

Family members of EU/EEA/Swiss citizens exercising free movement in Spain register under the regimen comunitario and receive a tarjeta de familiar de ciudadano de la Union, with far lighter conditions. Family members of non-EU residents use reagrupacion familiar: the sponsor must generally have held a residence authorisation for at least one year and have obtained a renewal, and must evidence sufficient means referenced to the IPREM plus adequate housing certified by the local authority. Exact income figures were not confirmed at an official source and are left null. Spouses of Spanish nationals can naturalise after 1 year of legal residence. IMPORTANT: the descent route under the Ley de Memoria Democratica closed to new applications on 22 October 2025 and is no longer available; do not present it as open.

Ley Orgánica 1/2025, de 2 de enero (BOE-A-2025-76), final provision 21.1, left articles 63-67 of Ley 14/2013 — the entrepreneurs and internationalisation-support law that created the golden visa — without content (sin contenido), with effect from 3 April 2025, when Ley Orgánica 1/2025 entered into force. Investors and their family members who applied before that date can still receive the visa or authorisation under the rules in force when they applied, and investor visas and authorisations valid on that date keep their validity for the period for which they were issued; their renewals are decided under the rules in force when the first authorisation was granted. There is no residence-by-investment route open to a new applicant. See ES-NLV for the passive-means route that remains available.