Work permit in Spain

• The permit is for people aged 16 or over who will work in Spain as employees under a work contract. The same visa page covers seasonal work.
• Your employer starts the process, not you. The employer files for the initial residence and work authorisation at the immigration office of the province where the workplace is.
• The job has to pass the national employment test. Either the occupation is on the shortage-occupation catalogue for that region, which the public employment service updates every quarter, or the employer shows it cannot fill the vacancy from the local labour market.
• For an occupation not on the shortage list, the employer must post the vacancy with the public employment service, which handles it for eight days, then reports on the candidates. The service issues a certificate that there are too few job seekers within three days.
• The test is not applied in the cases listed in article 40 of Organic Law 4/2000 or in an international agreement. You also need any qualification the profession legally requires.
• Ottawa lists a separate visa for highly qualified professionals and for intra-company transfers, which is not this route. This page covers the general employee route.
• You cannot apply while inside a no-return period you agreed to on leaving Spain voluntarily, and you must not be a threat to public order, security or health; Spain checks its own criminal record and a police report.

Sources: Consular Section, Embassy of Spain in Ottawa (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Boletín Oficial del Estado (consolidated text). Checked 16 October 2026.

• The pages we read set no savings or income test for you as the worker. The tests are on the job and the employer.
• The employer must show it has the means to run its business and pay the gross salary in your contract. An employer who is a private person must also show means for their own household: 50% of the monthly minimum wage with no dependants, 100% with a two-person household, and 25% more for each extra person, after the salary is taken off.
• The contract must follow the law and the collective agreement for the same activity, category and place. A part-time job must pay at least the full-time minimum wage over the year, which is €17,094 a year in 2026 (€1,221 in 14 payments).
• The employer cannot prove its means with Spanish public subsidies, benefits or non-contributory aid, apart from a few care-system cases.

Sources: Consular Section, Boletín Oficial del Estado (consolidated text). Checked 16 October 2026.

• The employer files the tax ID, the official contract form, proof of means, a copy of your full passport, proof of any qualification the job legally requires, and, where relevant, the public employment service’s certificate that too few job seekers are available.
• For the visa you bring the national visa form, a recent photo, a valid passport with two blank pages, not issued more than ten years ago, and the authorisation signed by the employer. Passport validity differs: Washington asks that it covers your stay, Ottawa and Wellington one year, Canberra four months.
• You need a criminal record certificate covering the last five years from each country where you lived, apostilled or legalised and translated by a sworn translator if it is not in Spanish. Washington adds that a country other than the US or Spain counts when you spent over 180 days there.
• A medical certificate says you have no disease with serious public-health implications under the 2005 International Health Regulations. Washington wants it issued within three months and signed by a physician; Ottawa asks for your family doctor.
• You show you live legally in the consular district. Washington says a work contract is not mandatory with the visa application but may be added for clarification.

Sources: Boletín Oficial del Estado (consolidated text), Consular Section, Embassy of Spain in Ottawa (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Embassy of Spain in Australia (consular section), Embassy of Spain in Wellington (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Checked 16 October 2026.

• The order matters. The employer applies in Spain first. The office has three months to decide, and if it has not answered by then the request counts as refused. You apply for the visa only after the employer is told the authorisation is granted.
• You then have one month from the day after the employer is notified to apply for the visa. The consulate has one month from the day after you submit to decide, extendable if it asks for an interview or more documents, and you collect the visa within one month.
• Washington takes applications in person at the BLS Spain visa centre by appointment, a rule that applies from 1 September 2026. Ottawa takes only in-person applications after an appointment, and Wellington asks you to email before you start.
• Within three months of entering Spain legally you must be registered with Social Security, and the authorisation has no effect until you are. If it lasts more than six months you apply in person for the foreigner identity card (TIE) within one month of registering.
• Ottawa and Wellington give a visa valid for up to 180 days if the authorisation lasts six months or less, and 365 days if longer. Canberra says 90 days for a one-year contract, so ask your consulate which applies.
• A refusal is in writing. You can ask the consulate to reconsider within one month, or go to the High Court of Justice of Madrid within two months.

Sources: Boletín Oficial del Estado (consolidated text), Consular Section, Embassy of Spain in Ottawa (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Embassy of Spain in Australia (consular section), Embassy of Spain in Wellington (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Checked 16 October 2026.

• Washington lists a visa fee of $190 for US citizens from 1 January 2026, paid in cash or by money order. It lists $106 for all other nationalities not named, which would include New Zealanders, and tells Australians and Canadians to ask the consulate. Fees are reviewed quarterly.
• Ottawa’s fee table lists C$145.50 for the employee work visa and C$17.70 for the initial residence permit (form 790, code 052), payable in Canadian dollars only. Ottawa says fees are not refunded if the visa is refused.
• Canberra and Wellington state a visa fee is due but publish no amount; ask the office for the current figure.
• The Australian Federal Police national police check costs A$57, or A$114 with fingerprints. The RCMP federal fee for a Canadian check is C$25 per check, plus any local fingerprinting fee. The New Zealand Ministry of Justice does not charge for a copy of your own record.

Sources: Consular Section, Embassy of Spain in Ottawa (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Embassy of Spain in Australia (consular section), Embassy of Spain in Wellington (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Australian Federal Police, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, New Zealand Ministry of Justice. Checked 16 October 2026.

• The first permit lasts as long as the job, up to one year, and is limited to one region and one occupation. It also lets you do self-employed work during its term, as long as the main activity is the employed job.
• After three months of validity, and still in the first year, you can change employer within the same occupation. Other changes are allowed if the employer seriously breaches the contract or events outside its control stop the job from starting.
• You renew in the two months before the permit ends, or up to three months after, though a penalty procedure can follow. Filing in time keeps the old permit valid until it is decided.
• Renewal is possible if the job continues, or if you worked at least three months a year and have a new contract or lost the job through no fault of your own and stayed registered as a job seeker. Nine months of work in twelve also qualifies.
• A renewed permit lasts four years, covers any activity anywhere in Spain, as an employee or self-employed, and counts as approved if the office does not decide within three months.

Sources: Boletín Oficial del Estado (consolidated text). Checked 16 October 2026.

• Long-term residence needs five years of legal, continuous residence in Spain. Absences of up to six months in a row do not break continuity if they total no more than ten months in the five years (eighteen for work-related absences).
• The article we read counts legal residence in general. It does not say whether years under the initial permit count differently, so ask the immigration office how your own years would be counted.

Sources: Boletín Oficial del Estado (consolidated text). Checked 16 October 2026.

• You are a Spanish tax resident if you spend more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year, counting short absences unless you prove tax residence elsewhere, or if your main base of economic activities or interests is in Spain. Residence covers the whole calendar year.
• A work permit and tax residence are separate questions. A tax resident pays personal income tax (IRPF) on income from all sources, subject to treaties.
• Spain’s special regime for people moving to Spain names a new employment relationship with a Spanish employer, or a move ordered by the employer, as grounds. You must not have been a Spanish tax resident in the previous five tax years, and you opt in on form 149.
• Under the regime you are taxed as a non-resident for the year of the move and the five that follow, only on Spanish-source income. Employment income is withheld at 24% up to €600,000 a year and 47% above. No tax saving is assumed here.

Sources: Agencia Tributaria (Spanish Tax Agency). Checked 16 October 2026.

• Digital nomad visa in Spain
• Retirement visa in Spain
• Family visa in Spain

• Visas in Spain
• Spain

1. Employee visa, Consular Section, Embassy of Spain in Washington, D.C.. Checked 16 October 2026. Written for residents of D.C., Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina; shows fees from 1 January 2026 and BLS in-person submission from 1 September 2026. Exact fees: USD 190 for US citizens, USD 106 for other nationalities not named.
2. Status table: Apostille Convention of 5 October 1961, Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH). Checked 16 October 2026. In force for Spain from 25 September 1978, the United States from 15 October 1981, Canada from 11 January 2024, Australia from 16 March 1995 and New Zealand from 22 November 2001.
3. US citizens abroad: filing requirements, Internal Revenue Service. Checked 4 October 2026.
4. Foreign earned income exclusion limit, Internal Revenue Service. Checked 4 October 2026. Tax year 2026 figure (USD 132,900).
5. Physical presence test, Internal Revenue Service. Checked 4 October 2026.
6. Spain tax treaty documents, Internal Revenue Service. Checked 4 October 2026. Lists the 1990 treaty and the protocol amending it (2013); the treaty text itself was not reviewed.
7. Totalization agreement with Spain, US Social Security Administration. Checked 4 October 2026.
8. Employee work visa, Ottawa, Embassy of Spain in Ottawa (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Checked 16 October 2026. In Spanish. For Ottawa and Gatineau; elsewhere Toronto or Montreal. No fee amount on this page.
9. Consular fee table, Ottawa, Embassy of Spain in Ottawa (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Checked 16 October 2026. In Spanish; page dated 31 December 2025, list applies from 1 January 2026. Work as an employee visa CAD 145.50; initial residence permit (form 790, code 052) CAD 17.70. Canadian dollars only, by Canadian debit card, cash, money order or certified cheque.
10. Leaving Canada, Canada Revenue Agency. Checked 4 October 2026. Canadian residents leaving Canada.
11. Tax treaties in force, Department of Finance Canada. Checked 4 October 2026. Canada–Spain convention signed 23 November 1976; protocol signed 18 November 2014.
12. Canada–Spain social security convention, Government of Canada. Checked 4 October 2026. In force since 1 January 1988; protocol since 1 May 1997.
13. Certificate of coverage (Spain), Canada Revenue Agency. Checked 4 October 2026. Form CPT125, employed and self-employed people.
14. Work visa, Canberra, Embassy of Spain in Australia (consular section). Checked 16 October 2026. Covers the ACT and Queanbeyan; others use Sydney or Melbourne. No fee amount published. The page says the visa is valid for 90 days for a one-year contract, which differs from the Ottawa and Wellington pages.
15. National police checks, Australian Federal Police. Checked 16 October 2026. Fee 57 Australian dollars (114 with fingerprints); most checks posted within 48 hours, fingerprint checks 15 to 30 business days; the page does not mention apostilles.
16. Treaties in force, Australian Treasury. Checked 4 October 2026. Table last updated 24 March 2026; Spain listed as in force.
17. Australia–Spain tax treaty text, Boletín Oficial del Estado. Checked 4 October 2026. Signed 24 March 1992; in force 10 December 1992.
18. Australia–Spain social security agreement, Boletín Oficial del Estado. Checked 4 October 2026. Signed 31 January 2002; in force 1 January 2003.
19. Employee work visa, Wellington, Embassy of Spain in Wellington (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Checked 16 October 2026. In Spanish. For applicants resident in the Wellington district; no fee amount on the page.
20. Get your own criminal record, New Zealand Ministry of Justice. Checked 16 October 2026. Free; the Ministry aims to answer within 20 working days; the page says some countries want the record apostilled, which the Department of Internal Affairs does.
21. Authentication Unit: document requirements, New Zealand Government (govt.nz). Checked 16 October 2026. The unit apostilles New Zealand documents; the page lists no fee and does not name criminal record checks.
22. New Zealand–Spain tax treaty, Inland Revenue (New Zealand), Tax Policy. Checked 4 October 2026. In force; signed 28 July 2005, effective in Spain generally from 1 January 2007.
23. New Zealand tax residence, Inland Revenue (New Zealand). Checked 4 October 2026. New Zealand tax residents.
24. Social security agreements, Work and Income (Ministry of Social Development, New Zealand). Checked 4 October 2026. Spain not listed.
25. Real Decreto 1155/2024, Regulation of Organic Law 4/2000: articles 38 and 40 (visas), 72 to 81 (residence and work as an employee) and 176 (long-term residence-EU), Boletín Oficial del Estado (consolidated text). Checked 16 October 2026. In force from 20 May 2025; consolidated text read on 16 October 2026 (last updated 22 September 2026). In Spanish.
26. Visa for highly qualified workers and intra-company transfers, Ottawa, Embassy of Spain in Ottawa (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Checked 16 October 2026. In Spanish. A separate visa for highly qualified professionals and for intra-company transfers; legal decision period 10 days; no salary figure on the page.
27. Real Decreto 126/2026, minimum wage for 2026, Boletín Oficial del Estado. Checked 15 October 2026. EUR 1,221 a month (14 payments), EUR 17,094 a year, from 1 January 2026.
28. Criminal record checks: processing times and fees, Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Checked 16 October 2026. Federal fee 25 Canadian dollars per check, collected with any local fingerprinting fee; about 3 business days with no match, up to about 120 business days if manual processing is needed.
29. When an individual is resident in Spain, Agencia Tributaria (Spanish Tax Agency). Checked 15 October 2026. In Spanish; page updated 21 July 2026.
30. Special regime for people moving to Spain (régimen especial de impatriados), Agencia Tributaria (Spanish Tax Agency). Checked 16 October 2026. In Spanish. Grounds listed include a new employment relationship with a Spanish employer or a move ordered by the employer, company administration, entrepreneurial activity and highly qualified work. Five prior years of non-residence; option via form 149; 24% withholding on employment income up to EUR 600,000, 47% above.