📄 VISADO

EU Blue Card

Residence and work permit for highly qualified professionals from outside the EU. Requires an employment contract of at least six months meeting the salary threshold set by Order PJC/44/2026, and a higher education qualification or equivalent professional experience.

Minimum income Salary threshold: 1.4× the INE gross average annual earnings = €39,269.92/year at the entry into force of Order PJC/44/2026 (January 2026). It updates automatically with each new INE Salary Structure Survey — check the current value on the UGE-CE portal. The 0.8 reducing coefficient (≈€31,416) does not apply to every case — art. 2 of the Order limits it to two specific situations. One, occupations in groups 1 and 2 of the 2011 National Classification of Occupations that are also on the shortage occupations list. Two, people who obtained the art. 71.2.a qualification at most THREE YEARS before filing the application.

Minimum salary €39,269.92/year gross — 1.4× the INE average annual earnings under Order PJC/44/2026. Art. 71bis.1.c of Law 14/2013 only sets the band (between 1.0 and 1.6 times the average gross annual salary); the actual figure comes from that Order and updates with each Salary Structure Survey

Initial duration 3 years, or the contract duration plus three months if the contract runs for less than three years, never exceeding three (art. 71.3). Renewal is applied for during the SIXTY DAYS before the permit expires and runs for TWO YEARS if the conditions are maintained; after five years you may qualify for long-term residence.

Decision time 20 days, with POSITIVE silence if no decision is issued (art. 76.1)

Work allowed? ✓ Yes

Family allowed? ✓ Yes

Fee 2026 Form 790, code 052 (check the current amount on the e-office when you apply)

💡 EU mobility comes in TWO distinct regimes (art. 71bis.4). Short — if you hold an EU Blue Card from another Member State you may carry out a professional activity in Spain for ninety days in any 180-day period with no additional authorisation. Long — after twelve months residing in another Member State with an EU Blue Card (or six if you have resided in more than one) you have the right to enter, reside and work in Spain, but it is NOT automatic: you must APPLY for an EU Blue Card in Spain.

Step by step

The application is processed by the Large Companies and Strategic Sectors Unit (UGE-CE), online and with national validity; the company or the professional files it. The visa is then collected at the consulate.

Obtain a qualified job offer

Secure a contract or firm job offer of at least six months with a Spanish employer, for a highly qualified position and meeting the gross annual salary threshold set by Order PJC/44/2026.

Employer submits the authorisation application

The application does NOT go to the Government Delegation. Art. 76.1 of Law 14/2013 states that processing is carried out by the Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos (UGE-CE, the large companies and strategic groups unit), electronically, and that the decision rests with the Dirección General de Migraciones. You attach the contract, justification for the position and company documentation.

Decision

The maximum decision period is TWENTY DAYS from electronic submission, and if it is not decided within that period the authorisation is deemed GRANTED by administrative silence — positive, not negative (art. 76.1, Law 14/2013). Decisions must be reasoned and can be appealed through a recurso de alzada (arts. 121 and 122, Law 39/2015). Filing the application also extends any residence or stay you already hold until the procedure is decided.

Apply for the visa at the consulate

With a favourable decision, the professional applies for the visa at the Spanish consulate in their home country.

Entry into Spain, Social Security registration and TIE

The visa is decided and notified within 10 working days (art. 75.5), is valid for one year or for the duration of the authorisation if shorter, and on its own ALREADY AUTHORISES residence in Spain without having to obtain the TIE (art. 75.4). The TIE is only needed if the authorisation granted runs for MORE THAN SIX MONTHS (art. 76.2); in that case, Form 790, code 012. The employer registers the worker with Social Security — and for the first six months the passport is enough even without a NIE (art. 76.5).

Mistakes that get applications refused

⚠️ Giving up because the gross salary falls below the general threshold

Consecuencia: Walking away for nothing. Falling short of the general threshold is not an automatic refusal — art. 71 bis.1.c) of Law 14/2013 provides a REDUCED threshold, "80 % of the threshold set out in the preceding paragraph, provided it is not lower than 1.0 times the average gross salary", in two cases.

Solución: Check whether you fall into either of the two reduced-threshold cases — professions with a particular need for third-country workers within groups 1 and 2 of the International Standard Classification of Occupations, or having obtained the qualification at most THREE YEARS before filing. If neither applies, negotiate the salary with the employer; and in any case the contract figure is gross annual, not net.

⚠️ Assuming the degree must be officially recognised in every case

Consecuencia: Refusal or delay

Solución: Official recognition is only required for the exercise of REGULATED PROFESSIONS (art. 71bis.1.a). Outside those professions, art. 71.2.a asks for a qualification equivalent to Level 2 of the Spanish higher education framework, or comparable professional experience — not the recognition procedure. If your profession is regulated, start early: the process with the Ministry of Education can take 6–12 months.

⚠️ Contract for a position that does not require high qualifications

Consecuencia: Refusal for failing to meet the professional qualification requirement

Solución: The position must require a higher education qualification. Administrative, sales, or low-skilled roles are not eligible.

Legal basis

Law 14/2013 art. 71 bis; Directive (EU) 2021/1883; RD 1155/2024 (Immigration Regulation).

Checked against the consolidated text on 2026-09-01.

Official sources

🔗 Ley Orgánica 4/2000 de derechos y libertades de los extranjeros → 🔗 Directiva UE 2021/1883 (Blue Card) → 🔗 Reglamento de Extranjería - RD 1155/2024 → 🔗 Ministerio de Inclusión, SS y Migraciones → 🔗 Homologación de títulos - Ministerio de Educación → 🔗 UGE-CE — Profesionales altamente cualificados →

Última actualización: 2026-07-08

📁 Documentos necesarios

📄 Valid passport Opcional

Must remain valid throughout the entire requested period. Original and copy required.

📄 Highly qualified employment contract Opcional

A valid employment contract or a firm job offer for highly qualified employment for a period of AT LEAST SIX MONTHS, guaranteeing continued activity throughout the validity of the EU Blue Card (art. 71bis.1.b, Law 14/2013) — one year is not required. The terms must comply with current legislation and the applicable collective agreement, and the gross annual salary cannot fall below the threshold set by Order PJC/44/2026 (art. 71bis.1.c).

📄 Higher education qualification Opcional

There are TWO routes, and the page previously showed only one (art. 71.2.a). Qualification — higher education of at least three years, equivalent to at least Level 2 of the Spanish Higher Education Qualifications Framework (level 6 of the EQF). Or EXPERIENCE — a minimum of five years of knowledge, skills and competences backed by professional experience comparable to that qualification and relevant to the occupation in the contract; for ICT professionals and managers, THREE YEARS is enough, within the seven years before the application. Official recognition is NOT required as a general rule — art. 71bis.1.a only requires it for the exercise of regulated professions.

📄 Criminal record certificate Opcional

Art. 62.3.c of Law 14/2013 asks for two different things, and they are not the same. A criminal record certificate from Spain and from the countries where you have resided over the last TWO years, and only for offences that exist under Spanish law. And, in addition, a DECLARACIÓN RESPONSABLE (sworn statement) of the absence of any criminal record over the last FIVE years — a statement, not a certificate. Apostilled and translated.

📄 Medical certificate Opcional

Certifies that the applicant does not suffer from any disease with serious public health implications.

📄 Health insurance or Social Security registration Opcional

If the employer registers the worker with the Spanish Social Security system, no additional private health insurance is required. During the first six months your PASSPORT is enough to register even if you do not yet have a NIE (art. 76.5).

📄 General requirements that are checked as well Obligatorio

Art. 62.3 of Law 14/2013 also requires that you are not unlawfully in Spanish territory, that you are OVER 18, that you are not listed as inadmissible in the territory of countries with which Spain has signed an agreement to that effect, and that you have sufficient financial resources for yourself AND for your family members during your residence. And art. 62.4 states exactly who may come with you — the spouse or person in an analogous emotional relationship, children who are minors or adults who, being economically dependent on the holder, have not formed a family unit of their own, and dependent ascendants. They may apply jointly and simultaneously or subsequently, evidencing the same requirements. Note also art. 61.2 — this section does NOT apply to EU citizens or to those enjoying equivalent free movement rights.

📄 If you lose your job — the deadline almost nobody explains Opcional

Losing your job does not withdraw the card immediately. Art. 71bis.3 grants a period of THREE MONTHS to find new employment, rising to SIX MONTHS if you have held an EU Blue Card for at least two years. It is the fact that decides whether someone loses their residence, and it was not on the page.

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