If you are in Spain with your student visa, keep reading. In this article, you are about to learn how to stay in the country and start working, and for the long run!
There are several ways in which you can change your student visa into a work permit, and after reading this post the requirements for each of the 4 different alternatives will be clear.
4Yes, the student visa can be converted to a work permit.
And, in fact, that is why many non-EU citizens decide to enter Spain with a student visa: because finally obtaining a residence and work authorization is much easier following the student path first (instead of directly applying for it).
In fact, as we will explore in the next section, the Spanish immigration law offers 4 different options to move from a student visa to a work permit.
Hence, if one does not fit your particular case, the other one will.
The requirements for this transition are specific to the type of work permit you are moving to, and hence that is what we will explore next.
But first of all, it’s important for you to know the following.
How to change from student visa to work visa in Spain
As we mentioned before, the Spanish Immigration Law offers 4 different paths to change from a student visa to a work permit.
Basically, you will follow one or the other based on the number of years you have been studying in Spain, your level of qualifications, or how fast you need the process to be completed.
Let’s explore each option carefully.
Working while studying
Can I work in Spain with my student visa? We have already explored and answered this question in this other article, and the answer is yes.
Either through an internship agreement with your university (curricular or extracurricular), or through a regular job offer, you will be able to work a maximum of 30 hours per week.
New student cards automatically authorize you to work, and you will not need to do any extra paperwork (as was required before).
If your student visa has expired but you still want or need to continue working, keep reading.
Obtaining a regular work permit
After finishing your studies, you will be able to move to a regular work permit as an employee (“por cuenta ajena”), or as a self-employed worker (“por cuenta propia”).
In the first case, you must find a valid job offer, and in the second, prepare a business plan detailing the business idea you are about to develop (find out all the details here).
And, unlike in the past, when it was necessary to wait 3 years to make the modification, now you can change from a study visa to a work permit regardless of how long your course or training lasted, and you can change it immediately after finalising your studies.
In addition, the national unemployment status is not taken into account in this case; so all industries and job types are valid.
However, the main disadvantage is that the process can take more than 3 months and the application can be somewhat slow. But there is an alternative that remedies this point, which we explore below.
Nevertheless, if you have any question up to this point, do not hesitate to contact (we will answer all your doubts!):
From student visa to highly qualified work permit
After just one year in Spain with your student visa (or more, depending the length of your studies), you can move to a work permit as a highly qualified worker.
This special type of work visa under the Entrepreneur’s Law is designed for those who occupy a managerial or really technical position, and who earn a high-enough salary.
Hence, you will be able to get this type of work visa only if:
- You have completed a university degree, master’s or Ph.D
- The salary you have been offered meets the minimum salary threshold required for your professional category (the exact amount varies depending on whether the role is executive/managerial, technical or under the EU Blue Card scheme, and is updated periodically). To give you an idea, it ranges from approximately €39,000 per year to €53,000 per year, depending on your age, position, etc.
- The specific tasks you will perform are as a manager or really technical
In this case, the institution in charge of analyzing your application and granting a positive response is the UGE-CE.
Nevertheless, there is another option for those who have just been in Spain with a student visa for one year, but who can’t apply for a highly qualified permit.
Residence permit for students looking for a job
Provided that you have completed your studies successfully, you have private health insurance and can demonstrate possession of at least 7200€ anualy (thats 100% of the IPREM per year/ 600€ per month); you can move from a student visa to a special type of non-lucrative residency.
This type of residence authorization, called looking for a job visa (or búsqueda de empleo) introduced in 2018, does not allow you to work in the country.
However, it allows you to stay in Spain for up to 24 months (non-renewable) so that you can find a job or become self-employed (or set up your own business).
Once with this permit in Spain, by the time you find a job, you will be able to easily move to work permit. Please note that, in order to avoid being subject to the national employment situation when making this change, you must provide proof of at least one year’s residence in Spain.
It is very important for you to know that in order to apply for this residence permit, you must have held a student visa immediately prior to applying. In other words, you cannot let your student visa expire and then wait a year to apply for the residence permit to look for work. You must apply immediately after it expires.
You can learn more about how to go from looking for a job visa to a work permit here.
Internship residency
Finally, the other alternative many non-EU students go for is residency for internships.
This residency, which can also be applied from your country of origin (not necessarily after being a student in Spain), allows you to intern for any Spanish company provided that you finished your studies within no more than 2 years.
It just works for students who have completed level 6 or above studies (that is, university degrees, masters, or PhDs).
You can apply for it from Spain or at your country’s consulate. As long as you haven’t worked in a field related to your studies, you can always apply for this type of residency permit as long as you are within the two-year time limit.
These have been your 4 different options to find a job with a student visa. If you have any doubts, our immigration lawyers will solve them all! Get in touch with us today.
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