Highly Qualified Professional Visa Spain (HQP Visa)
Spain is a European country with a thriving economy and numerous professional opportunities. As such, many of its companies are eager to hire top international talent. In many of these cases, that will mean using the Highly Qualified Professional visa (Permiso de Trabajo como Profesional Altamente Cualificado) route.
However, this route has numerous requirements and can be complicated and time-consuming. At Total Law, our legal experts are adept at helping companies to hire overseas employees via this path. We can provide you with bespoke advice and guidance throughout the entire process. Contact us today on +44 (0) 333 305 9375 or message us online to learn more.
What is a Highly Qualified Professional Visa in Spain?
Spain’s Highly Qualified Professional visa (Permiso de Trabajo como Profesional Altamente Cualificado) route allows Spanish companies to hire highly-qualified employees from overseas. In particular, it provides a route to working in Spain for workers who are either university educated or have sufficient professional experience but do not have EU citizenship.
If your business is a large company, a strategic small and medium enterprise (SME), a company within a larger group of companies, or is developing projects which are strategically of interest to Spain’s economy, you are likely to be able to hire overseas workers via this route.
The visa will be valid for an initial 2 years and can be renewed upon expiry, provided that the eligibility criteria continue to be met.
If the employee lives legally and continuously in Spain for at least 5 years, they may be eligible to apply for permanent residency.
Page Contents
- What is a Highly Qualified Professional Visa in Spain?
- Requirements for Obtaining the Highly Qualified Worker Visa in Spain
- Educational Qualifications Needed for the Highly Qualified Professional Visa
- Required documents for Spain Highly Qualified Professional Visa
- Application Process for HQP Visa Spain
- Fees and Processing time for Highly Qualified Professional in Spain
- What Happens If the Company Associated with the HQP Permit is Changed?
- How Can Total Law Help?
- Frequently Asked Questions
Requirements for Obtaining the Highly Qualified Worker Visa in Spain
In order to be eligible to hire an employee via this route, both your company and the prospective employee will need to satisfy a range of eligibility criteria.
The criteria which your company must satisfy are as follows:
- Your company must fall into one of the following categories:
- Large business or corporate group
- A small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) which works within a strategic sector
- A company which is developing a business project of general interest
- In the case of a vacancy for a managerial or directorial role, the proposed salary must be at least €54,000
- In the case of a vacancy for an academic or scientific role, the proposed salary must be at least €40,000
In some cases, it may be possible to offer a reduced salary, for example if the applicant is under 30 years of age or if your company is a strategic SME.
To learn the exact financial requirements for your industry and for the job role in question, contact Total Law today on +44 (0) 333 305 9375.
In order to be eligible for this route, the employee in question will need to either be a university graduate or have sufficient professional experience, working at a managerial level.
Educational Qualifications Needed for the Highly Qualified Professional Visa
This visa route is specifically intended to allow highly-qualified workers without EU citizenship to live and work in Spain. In general, then, applicants who apply for this visa will need to have obtained a university education, either at undergraduate or postgraduate level, from a licenced university or business school.
In cases where the applicant has not obtained a university education, they will instead need sufficient professional experience working at a senior level within their industry, for example as a manager or director within their previous company.
If you are looking to hire an employee via this route, you will need to ensure that they fall into one of the above categories.
Required documents for Spain Highly Qualified Professional Visa
There are a number of documents which will need to be provided as part of an application for Spain’s Highly Qualified Professional visa. These are as follows:
- Evidence that your company falls into one of the following categories:
- Large business or corporate group
- A small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) which works within a strategic sector
- A company which is developing a business project of general interest
- Formal offer of employment/job contract
- Job description
- CV/resume of the prospective employee
- Valid passport of the prospective employee
- Clean criminal record check certificate of the prospective employee
- Spanish private health insurance for the prospective employee
Note that all documents need to be submitted in Spanish. If the documents need to be translated, it is essential to use an authorised translation service.
Application Process for HQP Visa Spain
There are a number of steps involved in obtaining a Highly Qualified Professional visa.
If you are a company or business looking to hire an overseas employee via this route, you will be responsible for initiating the process. First, you will need to make the prospective employee a formal offer of employment.
Then, you will need to submit an application for a Work permit to the Larger Business and Strategic Groups Unit (Unidad Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos), at which point you will also need to submit the job description and the personal and professional details of the prospective employee.
If the Work permit application is successful, the prospective employee will receive a letter of approval and a Foreign Identity Number. They will then be able to apply for a visa at their local Spanish consulate or embassy.
Assuming that the visa application is successful, your new employee will then be able to enter Spain and commence working for your company.
Fees and Processing time for Highly Qualified Professional in Spain
Decisions on Highly Qualified Professional visa applications should generally be made within 10 days. In order to minimise delays, it is important that all parties submit their part of the application promptly and accurately, and that any additional information which is requested is provided as soon as possible.
The application fee varies depending on the nationality of the visa applicant. Note that, in the case of American and Canadian applicants, the application fee tends to be higher.
There may also be other costs associated with the application, such as the cost of translation services, health insurance, and a criminal record check. Some applicants also choose to seek legal assistance with their application. If you wish to organise legal assistance on behalf of your prospective employee(s), or to learn the expected visa fee which the respective employee(s) will be required to pay, contact Total Law today on +44 (0) 333 305 9375.
What Happens If the Company Associated with the HQP Permit is Changed?
If there is a change to the company associated with the permit, or if the employee themselves leaves the company and wishes to join a new one, the Large Business and Strategic Groups Unit will need to be notified. In both cases, a new permit application will need to be submitted.
If successfully obtained, the new permit will be valid for 2 years. This is unless the new company to which the employee has moved is in the same corporate group as the old company, in which case the validity period of the new permit will match that of the original permit.
How Can Total Law Help?
Spain is a country with numerous thriving businesses, many of which hire talent from across the globe. Spain boasts a strong economy, close business ties with the rest of the EU, and strong business connections with many other countries around the world. For many Spanish businesses looking to remain competitive, hiring highly-qualified employees from overseas is a common practice.
However, understanding the route to hiring overseas talent can be complicated. At Total Law, our legal experts can help you to understand your options, including the different routes to hiring non-EU employees.
Contact us today online or on +44 (0) 333 305 9375 to learn more about the Highly Qualified Professional route, in addition to the other visa options for hiring workers from overseas.
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Related pages for your continued reading.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, if the prospective employee is already in Spain on a legally valid visa, it is possible to submit a HQP permit request on their behalf while they are already in the country. However, note that this is only possible if the prospective employee in question entered Spain legally and has since retained legal status.
Yes, this visa type does allow certain family members to join the original applicant. In general, the eligible family members are as follows:
- Spouse or unmarried partner (in the case of an unmarried partner, the applicant must be able to demonstrate that the relationship is sufficiency similar to marriage, e.g. shared finances, cohabitation, etc.)
- Minor or dependant children
- Dependant parents
In all cases, sufficient evidence will need to be provided of the familial relationship. This could include a marriage certificate, birth certificates, and other family records.
There are a number of reasons why an application for a Highly Qualified Professional visa might be rejected.
For example, insufficient documentation might be submitted, the applicant might be unable to demonstrate that they have sufficient financial means to support themselves, there might be doubt regarding their intention to leave the country once the visa expires, or they might fail to provide a clean criminal history certificate.
However, if the applicant believes that they have a valid claim to obtaining the visa, they have the right to appeal the decision. The appeal should be submitted within 1 month of receiving the decision.
At Total Law, we offer an Appeal package for cases such as this. We can advise your prospective employee on what went wrong during the first application and represent them during the appeal process. Contact Total Law today on +44 (0) 333 305 9375 to learn more.
The difficulty of applying for this visa largely depends on the applicant’s ability to satisfy the eligibility criteria. If the applicant is university educated or is working at a senior level within their profession, and they have an offer of employment from an eligible Spanish company, this visa is likely to be a good fit.
However, if the applicant plans to work in a self-employed capacity, the Entrepreneur visa or Self-Employed visa are likely to be better routes, depending on the nature of the business in question (whether it is innovative and unique or already exists within the Spanish market, respectively).
If the applicant plans to work remotely for a non-Spanish company or client, the Digital Nomad visa is likely to be a better fit.
In the event that none of these routes are applicable, Spain also offers a range of other Work visas. To learn more about the different options, contact Total Law today on +44 (0) 333 305 9375.
