Employee work permit in Valencia: how a Spanish employer hires you

To work for a company in Valencia as a non-EU national, you need a residence and work authorisation for employees, known as residencia temporal y trabajo por cuenta ajena, and it is the employer, not you, who files it. The company submits it to the immigration office (Oficina de Extranjería) covering the province of the workplace, with a signed contract and proof that the post can go to a foreign worker. The office has three months to decide. Once it approves, you request the visa at your Spanish consulate within one month, travel, are registered with Social Security within three months of entry and then ask for your TIE. For senior or highly qualified roles there is a faster second route under Law 14/2013, decided in twenty days. This page explains both, using the text of Royal Decree 1155/2024 (the Immigration Regulation in force since May 2025) and Law 14/2013.

Which route fits your job offer?

Most employees come through the ordinary route, which works for almost any occupation provided the employer can show that the national labour market allows the hire. The highly qualified route under Law 14/2013 is designed for companies bringing in graduates or experienced professionals. It skips the labour market test, moves faster and gives a longer first permit, but the employer has to meet its own conditions as well.

If you are already in Spain with another status, such as a student stay or non-lucrative residence, the procedure is usually a modification of your current authorisation rather than a new application from abroad. That is a different file with its own rules, and our article on working with a non-lucrative visa in Valencia covers the non-lucrative case.

The ordinary route, step by step

1. The labour market test

Article 74 makes the national employment situation the first requirement. Article 75 gives employers two ways to meet it:

• The shortage list. Every quarter the State public employment service (SEPE) publishes a catálogo de ocupaciones de difícil cobertura for each autonomous community, Valencia’s included. If the job appears on it, the hire can go ahead.
• A job offer that nobody fills. For any other occupation, the company lodges a precise offer with the regional public employment service where the job is located. The service manages it for eight days. The employer then reports which candidates applied and why each was turned down, and within three days the service issues a certificate stating that there are not enough suitable job seekers.

Some groups are exempt from this test under article 40 of Organic Law 4/2000 or international agreements. The employer has to prove the exemption in the file.

2. What the employer must show

Under article 74, the company presents a contract signed by both parties, with a start date that depends on the permit taking effect, and pay and conditions in line with the collective agreement for that job and locality. Part-time contracts must still add up to at least the annual minimum wage for full-time work. The employer must have no outstanding tax or Social Security debts, and have enough economic, material or human resources for the project and the salary (article 76). The worker needs the training or qualification the profession legally requires, no criminal record in Spain and the fee paid.

3. The application file

Article 77 lists what goes with the official application form:

• the employer’s tax number and, for a company, the deed that gives the signatory power to represent it;
• the employment contract on the official model;
• evidence of the employer’s resources (for a company, its registrations; for a private individual, last year’s income tax return or consent for the office to check it);
• a copy of the worker’s full passport;
• proof of the worker’s training or professional qualification;
• where it applies, the public employment service certificate or the documents for an exemption.

If something is missing, the office gives ten days to fix it before closing the file.

4. The decision

The office collects reports from the Tax Agency, Social Security, the criminal records register and the police, each within seven days. It then has three months to decide. If that time passes without an answer, the application is treated as refused (article 77.6). The decision is entered in a shared system so that the Spanish consulate in the worker’s country can see it straight away.

5. Visa, arrival and TIE

1. Within one month of the employer being notified of the approval, the worker applies for the visa at the consulate (article 40.1.b).
2. After entering Spain, the worker must be registered with Social Security within three months. Until then the permit has no effect (article 77.8).
3. Within one month of that registration, the worker applies in person for the TIE card (article 77.9). In Valencia this means a police appointment for fingerprints.

Limits of the first permit, and changing jobs

The first authorisation lasts as long as the job, up to one year. It is usually limited to one autonomous region and one occupation (article 73.4). It also lets you do some freelance work on the side, as long as the employment stays your main activity.

Changing employer is possible after three months and during the first year, in the same occupation (article 79.1). Earlier changes are allowed when the employer seriously breaches the contract, or when circumstances outside the employer’s control prevent the job from starting. In those cases there are fixed deadlines for a new employer to notify the office.

Renewal: from one year to four

Under article 80, renewal is filed during the two months before the permit ends. Filing within the three months after it ends still keeps you covered until the decision, but a penalty procedure may be opened. If the office has not answered after three months, the renewal is treated as granted. A renewed permit lasts four years and allows any job, employed or self-employed, anywhere in Spain (article 81.1). Our residence renewal service page includes a calculator for these dates.

The highly qualified professional route

Article 71 of Law 14/2013 lets a company that needs a highly qualified professional, or the professional, file online with the Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos. There are two versions:

• EU Blue Card. For jobs that need higher education of at least three years, or five years of comparable professional experience. For IT managers and professionals, three years of experience within the last seven are enough.
• National permit for highly qualified professionals. For jobs that need at least a level 1 higher education qualification (MECES), or three years of comparable experience.

The deadline is twenty days from electronic filing. If there is no answer by then, the permit counts as granted (article 76.1). It is valid for three years, or for the length of the contract plus three months if that is shorter. Renewal can be requested in the sixty days before it ends and is granted for two years at a time (article 71.3). Article 76.3 adds that an application filed within ninety days after expiry still keeps the permit alive, although a penalty procedure may follow. People moving on this route often also look at the Beckham Law special tax regime, which is a separate decision with its own deadline.

State fees in 2026

• Form 790 código 062, work authorisation for an initial employee permit: 203.84 € when pay is under twice the minimum wage, 407.71 € when it is twice the minimum wage or more. The employer normally pays it. On renewal it is 81.54 €.
• Form 790 código 052, initial residence and work: 10.94 €. On renewal it is 16.40 €.
• Form 790 código 012, first TIE: 16.08 €.

These are the amounts shown on the official forms for the Comunitat Valenciana in October 2026, under Orden PJC/617/2025. They are updated by law, so check the figure the form generates before paying. Consular visa fees are separate and set by each consulate.

Frequently asked questions

Hiring someone from abroad, or being hired?

If you are a Valencia company preparing an offer, or a professional who has received one, write to us before anything is signed. A contract start date that does not depend on the permit, or pay below the collective agreement, is a common reason the file comes back. We check the contract and the route first, then confirm a fixed fee in writing. You can reach us on WhatsApp or on +34 673 374 567.

Sources

• Real Decreto 1155/2024, Reglamento de la Ley Orgánica 4/2000 (articles 40 and 72 to 81), BOE
• Ley 14/2013, de apoyo a los emprendedores y su internacionalización (articles 71 and 76), BOE
• Ley Orgánica 4/2000, sobre derechos y libertades de los extranjeros en España (article 40), BOE
• Official forms 790 for immigration fees, Ministry for Territorial Policy

← All Valencia guides