The residence permit to look for a job visa has benefited hundreds and hundreds of students in Spain.
For it is undoubtedly the perfect opportunity to stay in Spain after finishing your studies and be able to find a job or make preparations to start your own business.
But the doubts come once this year of residency is over. What to do then? How can I change to another type of residency (since this one cannot be renewed)?
In this post we will analyze in detail how to change and modify the visa to look for a job to a work permit. We explore all its requirements, which residences you can modify to, and other crucial aspects to enjoy an easy process.
In the past, foreign students in Spain had few options to get a work permit after finishing their studies.
If they did not find an offer as highly qualified workers, they had to wait until they had been studying for 3 years before they could modify to a regular work permit.
This undoubtedly made the process more difficult, as most studies have much shorter durations.
However, the creation of the job search visa was the solution for many of them.
This non-profit residency (as it does not allow them to work) enabled them to stay 24 extra months in the Spanish territory to be able to easily move to a work permit afterwards.
How does it work?
Simply, by offering this valuable 2 years so that the foreigner can find a job offer, or go through all the steps required to set up her own company (or start working as a freelancer).
You can find all the requirements to apply for this residence authorization here.
What’s next is exactly how this transition process works.
To which residences can you modify with a job search visa?
One of the main upsides of the job search visa is that you can modify to different residence and work authorizations, both under the general immigration law and under the entrepreneur’s law.
More specifically, you will be able to modify to:
- Initial residence and work permit to work for a company
- Initial residence for self-employment
- Residence for a professional internship
- Work permit as a highly qualified worker
- Entrepreneur visa
However, we find an important point in relation to timings: so that the national employment status does not apply to you when modifying an employed work permit, you must prove that you have been in Spain for at least one year in a residence situation.
If you find the offer before that year is up, it is advisable to evaluate with a lawyer whether it is advisable to modify directly or wait, since the analysis of the national employment situation can complicate the resolution.
What happens if you modify to work permit before turning one year old in Spain?
If the residence you want to modify is that of an employee (that is, you are going to work for a company with an employment contract), there is one point that you must take into account: the national employment situation.
This national employment situation is the mechanism by which the Administration checks whether the position they offer you could be filled by someone who is already looking for employment in Spain (Spanish, community or foreigner already resident).
When applied, the company must justify that it has not found a suitable candidate among these groups before hiring you, which complicates and lengthens the process.
The good news is that you can be exempt from this procedure. To do this, you must prove that you have been residing in Spain for at least one year at the time of receiving the resolution. If your job offer arrives before the end of that year, you do not miss the opportunity:
- You can still modify it, but your application will go through the analysis of the national employment situation, which can lengthen the deadlines and, in some cases, condition the granting of the permit on the type of position and sector.
Therefore, if your job offer arrives in the first months of your residence for the job search, it is advisable to consider with a lawyer if you are interested in submitting the modification immediately or waiting until you are one year old to avoid this additional procedure.
When will you be able to make the modification?
Here we enter a key and fundamental point in the whole process.
The foreigner holder of the residence visa to look for a job has a total of 2 years in Spain to find a job offer or start his own business.
But when exactly can you make the transition from a job search visa to a work permit?
First of all, you must keep in mind that, unlike other renewals, this modification must be made WITHIN those 2 years that the residency lasts (and not 90 days after the expiration of the card).
However, within this years, the modification will occur when the foreigner finds the job offer.
If the offer is found in month 2, it will be in month 2 that the modification will be made.
And if she finds it in the last month of that year, in the last month.
In other words, it is not necessary to wait until the end of the 2 years for this card to last.
Main requirements
In general, the requirements to modify a work permit will be exactly the same as those that correspond and are specific to the residence and work authorization you are applying for.
That is to say, you will have to review the requirements of the highly qualified visa, the regular work permit, or the entrepreneur visa depending on what you are moving to; since there are no unified requirements.
However, we do find a key point, whatever the modification is.
On the one hand, the job you find must be suitable to your level of studies. That is, you cannot finish a degree in finance and start working in a bar.
And, on the other hand, that same job must be in line with the level of studies you have completed; so the technical requirements must be as high as your studies allow (and never less).
And what happens if I don't find a job offer?
What to do in those cases when the full 2 years of job search have passed, and you have not been able to find any job?
The fact is that this residency cannot be renewed, and this fact requires a different solution.
That is why the most common solution in these cases is to return to a stay for studies.
You will have to enroll in an educational institution and reapply for a student visa.
Do I have to wait until I have the card before I can start working?
No. Once you have submitted your modification application and received the favorable resolution, you can start working that same day directly!
With a positive resolution, the company will be able to register you with Social Security and assign you the corresponding number.
Thus, it is not necessary to wait to have the physical card (TIE), you can work directly with the resolution.
However, this does not mean that you should not get it. You must go to the immigration office with your resolution to register your fingerprints and finally get your card.
Do you need help or have doubts about the modification from job search visa to a work permit? Our immigration lawyers will provide you with personalized legal assistance, contact us now!
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