Legal procedure
This guide should make it easier for you to employ a migrant for a care service job. The project team has developed this step-by-step guide as a catalog of questions that you may ask when employing a migrant care worker, specially focusing non-EU citizens, who are legal or illegally staying in Spain, with or without officially recognized certificates in the care sector.
It depends on the specific situation of the migrant, which procedure and which documentation you have to apply for, obtain or hand in. Please find more specific details on the documentations and the relevant authority in the Spanish version of this guide.
This guide was developed in 2020. Laws and procedures may undergo changes in the future so it is important to review some steps of the guide and verify the procedures with the responsible authority.
INDEX
- Does the migrant belong to an EU country?
- How to obtain the Certificate of Registration as a European Citizen (NIE)?
- The migrant you wish to employ is not an EU citizen. Does the person have a residence permit?
- In order to obtain residence permit, what type of entrenchment should be applied for?In order to obtain residence permit, what type of entrenchment should be applied for?
- How to apply for the residence permit for reasons of entrenchments?
- How to apply for a work permit
- What type of documents does the person need to be allowed to legally work in the care sector?
- How to apply for the validation of a foreign professional certificate?
- How and where to legalize the certified documents (titles, diploma etc.)?
- What is the deadline to resolve and notify the validation of the certificates?
1. Does the migrant belong to an EU country?
Yes
The migrant is a citizen of a Member State of the European Union or of another State that signed the Agreement on the E.E.E. The person is going to reside in Spain for a period of more than three months. The person must request her/his registration in the Central Register of Foreign Nationals in order to obtain the EU Certificate, which accredits the migrant as a citizen of the EU legally residing in Spain. In the case of family members: apply for the “Residence card of a family member of a Union citizen”
How to register with the Central Register of Foreign Nationals?
See step 2: Obtaining the Certificate of Registration as a European Citizen (NIE)
No
The migrant is a non-EU foreigner; s/he must have a work permit and a Residence Card.
See step 3: The migrant you wish to employ is not an EU citizen. What type of documents does the person need to be allowed to work legally in Spain?
2. How to obtain the Certificate of Registration as a European Citizen (NIE)?
The person needs to fulfill one of the following conditions:
2.1 The person is employed based on a job contract in Spain.
2.2 The person works as a freelancer in Spain.
2.3 The person disposes of a public or private health insurance.
2.4 If the person does not carry out any lucrative activity, s/he needs to demonstrate that s/he has sufficient economic resources.
2.5 If the person is a student, s/he needs to be enrolled in a public or private educational center, must dispose of a health insurance and sufficient economic resources. If the person participates in the Erasmus+ programme, none of these documents is needed..
2.6 Fill in the documentation that must be submitted to request this Certificate and present the document together with the copy of the person’s passport at the immigration office or the police station.
3. The migrant you wish to employ is not an EU citizen. Does the person have a residence permit?
The person needs to obtain a work and a residence permit to be allowed to work legally in Spain.
3.1 Yes, the person has permanent residence.
You do not need a work permit.
3.2 Yes, the person has temporary residence permit.
You need to apply for a work permit. See step 6.
3.3 No, the person has been staying irregularly in Spain.
The person can obtain residence permit by reasons of entrenchment. See step 4.
4. In order to obtain residence permit, what type of entrenchment should be applied for?
There are three types of entrenchments:
- FAMILY ENTRENCHMENT
- WORK ENTRENCHMENT
- SOCIAL ENTRENCHMENT
4.1 RESIDENCE PERMIT for FAMILY ENTRENCHMENT/FAMILY TIES
The person needs to demonstrate the family bond with the father, mother or child who has Spanish nationality.
IMPORTANT: when documents from other countries are provided, they must be translated into Spanish or the co-official language of the territory where the application is submitted.
4.2 RESIDENCE PERMIT for REASONS OF WORK
The person has been living in Spain for 2 years and has worked in an informal way.
The following documents are requested:
- Certificate of registration from the city hall
- Documentation of the existence of labor relations
- Financial resources.
4.3 RESIDENCE PERMIT for SOCIAL REASONS, if the person has been living in Spain for 3 years and has found a job offer.
The following documents are requested:
- Certificate of registration from the town hall
- Pre-employment contract or job offer with a commitment of at least one year
- Report stating the social integration of the applicant issued by the City Council
5. How to apply for the residence permit for reasons of entrenchments?
5.1. The person needs to fill out the following document:
https://www.boe.es/notificaciones/
5.2 The person has to present the document at the immigration office
5.3 The granting of the residence permit is accompanied by a work authorization
6. How to apply for a work permit
6.1 The person has to present an employment contract signed by the worker and the employer
6.2. The hiring employer must be correctly registered in the Social Security system
7. What type of documents does the person need to be allowed to legally work in the care sector?
To work in the social and healthcare sector, it will be mandatory to have an official qualification that certifies professional skills issued by a European administration. If the migrant person has no officially certified qualifications, s/he must apply for the validation of her/his certificates and her/his professional experiences.
8. How to apply for the validation of a foreign professional certificate?
8.1 print out the application form
8.2 obtain the registration certificate of city hall
8.3 obtain proof of work experience documents in the care sector sealed and signed by the entity in which the person worked. (certificates, titles, and experience documents must be translated into Spanish or the co-official language)
8.4 obtain copy of passport
8.5 obtain certified photocopy of title, diploma or official certificate that the title has been issued. Officially translated documentation must be previously legalized
8.6 obtain certified, legalized and officially translated photocopy of the academic record with specification of grades and time load of the subjects
9. How and where to legalize the certified documents (titles, diploma etc.)?
In countries that have signed the Hague Convention (e.g. Honduras, Nicaragua, Colombia, Morocco), the legalization of documents begins with the recognition of their signatures by the academic authority of the country that issued them, and concludes with the Apostille of The Hague issued by the competent authorities of the country, that is, by a simplified method of legalizing documents in order to verify their authenticity. The academic documents issued in the rest of the countries have to be legalized through diplomatic channels in the following organizations and in the order indicated:
9.1 Legalization by the Ministry of Education of the country of origin
9.2 Legalization by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country where the documents were issued
9.3 Legalization by diplomatic or consular representation of Spain in the issuing country.
10. What is the deadline to resolve and notify the validation of the certificates?
The deadline to resolve and notify the resolution of the certificate or the title three months from the reception of the same.