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KO Work Visa for Highly-Skilled Employees Spain
What is a Work Visa for Highly-Skilled Employees?
The Highly Qualified Visa or Highly Skilled Professional Visa is a work permit that enables citizens from outside the European Union to live and work in Spain legally, provided that they will start working in a managerial or qualified position.
Some examples for “highly qualified” or “highly skilled” people are:
- Managers and individuals who manage a relatively large group of people inside a company
- Individuals who work in really technical and specialized job positions
- Non-EU citizens who finished their superior studies in a prestigious business schools or universities
This visa grants these individuals a two-year residency authorization (plus renewals up to 5 years).
What is Highly Qualified Work Visa?
The Highly Qualified Visa or Highly Skilled Professional Visa is a work permit that enables citizens from outside the European Union to live and work in Spain legally, provided that they will start working in a managerial or qualified position.
The following profiles would be eligible for the visa:
- Managers and individuals who manage a relatively large group of people inside a company.
- Individuals who work in really technical and specialized job positions.
- Non-EU citizens who finished their superior studies in a prestigious business school or university.
Things to consider before applying for this visa:
Your studies:
If you would like to obtain a highly qualified visa, it is completely recommended to have completed a masters degree or a Ph.D.
Requirements for the company that will be hiring you:
The company is eligible to sponsor your visa if they meet one of the following requirements:
- The company should have more than 250 employees, it should generate more than 50M € in revenue per year, or that it should have net assets valued higher than 43M€
- The company is operating in a strategic sector in the country. A few examples of these companies are Renewable energies, communication, technologies, water treatment
The tasks that you will be doing for the company:
- The first situation is that in which you are going to execute a managerial position in the company operating in Spain. This is, if you are a large corporate employer.
- On the other hand, you do not hold a managerial position, but the concrete tasks you perform are regarded as highly skilled. In this case, the job description that you are going to send into the competent authority is really important.
The salary requirement:
- If you get a job offer as a manager/director, a minimum of 54.000€ per year is required.
- If you are a scientific or intellectual professional, that amount gets reduced to 40.000€ per year.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Yes, your employer can initiate the process on your behalf.
You will need to submit your resume or job description to the Large Business and Strategic Sectors Unit as they are the institution validating that you truly hold a highly skilled job position. This unit is part of the the General Direction of Migrations. If you meet their specific requirements, only then you will obtain what is called “authorization of residence for highly qualified professionals”. This can then be further submitted to the Immigration Office to get the Spanish residency.
Yes, a joint application is possible. In this case, spouse and children need to follow the same application process and submit the same documents.
In this case you should apply for the intra-corporate transfer visa, which essentially demands completely different documents than the highly-skilled work visa. Furthermore, the processing of this visa will happen faster as it has higher priority.
Looking to work and live in Spain?
If you are interested in moving to Spain to work for a longer amount of time, then Barcelona Hospitality Academy is the perfect solution for you. By enrolling in one of our programs you will be able to obtain a valuable diploma while working at the same time to, eventually, apply for the Spanish residency with our help. Additionally, we will assist you in securing a job upon completion of one of our courses and with that kickstart your new life in Spain.
*please contact us in order to obtain more information about your eligibility for the Spanish residency
Our Programs
- Barcelona / Online
- 1 year
- Work at the same time
- Barcelona / Online
- 6 months
- Work at the same time
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