Application for the Highly Qualified Professionals Visa

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Under the general immigration regime, the following family members can be regrouped (minimum of 1 year of residence plus an additional year requested by the sponsor):

The foreign national may regroup the following family members in Spain:

• Their spouse, provided they are not legally or de facto separated and the marriage was not entered into fraudulently. Under no circumstances may more than one spouse be regrouped, even if the foreign national’s personal law allows this type of marriage. A foreign resident married for the second or subsequent time may only regroup the new spouse and their relatives if they prove that the dissolution of previous marriages occurred through a legal procedure that determined the situation of the former spouse and their relatives regarding the shared home, spousal support, and child maintenance.
• The person with whom they maintain a relationship analogous to marriage. For the purposes of this chapter, a relationship analogous to marriage will be considered to exist when:
  • 1.º The relationship is registered in a public registry established for this purpose and has not been canceled; or
  • 2.º The existence of an unregistered relationship, established prior to the sponsor’s residence in Spain, is proven. For these purposes, without prejudice to the possible use of any legally admissible evidence, documents issued by a public authority will take precedence. The provisions relating to the spouse in the second and third paragraphs of letter (a) of the previous section will apply to this case. Marriage and analogous relationships are incompatible for the purposes of this chapter.
• Their children or those of their spouse or partner, including adopted children, provided they are under eighteen years of age at the time of the residence authorization application or have a disability and are objectively unable to meet their own needs due to their health condition. If the children belong to only one of the spouses or partners, it will also be required that they exercise sole parental authority or have been granted custody and are effectively in their care. In the case of adopted children, it must be proven that the adoption decision meets the necessary requirements to be effective in Spain.
• Persons legally represented by the sponsor, when they are under eighteen years of age at the time of the residence authorization application or have a disability and are objectively unable to meet their own needs due to their health condition, provided the legal act granting representative powers is not contrary to Spanish legal principles.

• Their first-degree ascendants, or those of their spouse or partner, when they are dependent, over sixty-five years of age, and there are reasons justifying the need to authorize their residence in Spain. Exceptionally, for humanitarian reasons, ascendants under sixty-five years of age may be regrouped if they meet the other requirements mentioned above. Humanitarian reasons will be considered to exist, among other cases, when the ascendants lived with the sponsor in the country of origin at the time the latter obtained their authorization; when they are incapacitated and guardianship has been granted by the competent authority in the country of origin to the foreign resident or their regrouped spouse or partner; or when they are objectively unable to meet their own needs.

  
  Humanitarian reasons will also be considered when the ascendant of the sponsor, or of their spouse or partner, is the spouse or partner of the other ascendant, provided the latter is over sixty-five years of age. In this case, family reunification residence authorization applications may be submitted jointly, although the exception to the age requirement for the ascendant under sixty-five will depend on the authorization of the other ascendant being granted. If the competent authority has doubts about the existence of another reason for exemption from the requirement, it will consult the Directorate-General for Immigration beforehand.
  Family members will be considered dependent on the sponsor when it is proven that, during at least the last year of their residence in Spain, they have transferred funds or covered expenses for their family member amounting to at least 51% of the annual per capita GDP of the family member’s country of residence, as established by the National Statistics Institute in its indicators on income and economic activity by country and type of indicator.
   

Foreign nationals holding a long-term visa or a residence permit issued by one of the Member States may, under that permit and a valid travel document, move freely for up to three months within any six-month period throughout the territory of the other Member States, provided that:

• They meet the entry conditions set out in points (a), (c), and (e) of Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/399 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 establishing a Union Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code), and
• They are not listed as inadmissible in the national list of the Member State concerned.

The entry conditions are:

• Be in possession of a valid travel document granting the holder the right to cross the border and meeting the following criteria:
  • It remains valid for at least three months after the intended departure date from the territory of the Member States. In justified emergencies, this requirement may be waived.
  • It was issued within the previous ten years.
• Be in possession of documents justifying the purpose and conditions of the intended stay and have sufficient means of subsistence for the duration of the stay and for the return to the country of origin or onward travel to a third country where admission is guaranteed, or be able to legally obtain such means.
• Not be listed as inadmissible in the Schengen Information System (SIS).
• Not pose a threat to public order, internal security, public health, or international relations of any Member State, and in particular, not be listed as inadmissible in the national databases of any Member State for the same reasons.
• It should also be noted that a Member State may impose by law the obligation for third-country nationals to declare their presence in its territory in accordance with Article 22 of the Schengen Convention. Spain has imposed this obligation.

Initial applications for the visa for entrepreneurs are processed at the Spanish consulate in the country of residence by submitting the national visa application form and the required documentation.

Applications for residence authorizations regulated by Law 14/2013 must be submitted through the electronic headquarters of the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, where you can find all the information about electronic processing.

The applicant, depending on the type of authorization, may be:

• For initial authorizations:
  • In the case of investors and entrepreneurs, the foreign national themselves.
  • In the case of highly qualified professionals, researchers, or intra-company transfers, the company or entity requiring the foreign national’s services.
  • For family authorizations:
    • If the application is submitted jointly with that of the main holder, it will be the main holder (in the case of investors and entrepreneurs) or the company or entity (in the case of highly qualified professionals, researchers, or intra-company transfers).
    • If the application is submitted at another time, it may be one of the above or the family member themselves.
• Renewals are submitted by the foreign national holding the authorization (family members apply for the renewal of their own authorization).

Applications may be submitted by the applicant themselves or through a representative.

The national visa application forms can be found on the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, under the section for embassies and consulates. The official form to be submitted is the National Visa Application Form.

During their residence in Spain, the foreign national must have coverage either through public healthcare or private health insurance.

It is not necessary to provide proof of insurance when there is a prospect that the foreign national (and their family members) will be covered by the National Health System, due to registration with Social Security as a result of an employment contract or a professional relationship.

In the case of entrepreneurs, if the activity is not going to start immediately, insurance with limited validity is accepted (for example, travel insurance, which usually has a validity of three months).

In all other cases, the foreign national must have public or private health insurance contracted with an insurance company authorized to operate in Spain, providing coverage equivalent to that of the National Health System and for the duration of their authorization or at least one year, renewable (travel insurance is not valid).

For inquiries about Social Security contributions, you can access the official website.
 

The law does not establish a specific amount or specific documentation. Therefore, you may prove that you have sufficient financial means by any legally admissible means of evidence. For example, with a job offer, pay slips, updated annual average balance of bank accounts, deposits, etc.
 

All documents must be translated into Spanish. In the case of foreign public documents, they must also bear the Hague Apostille or, failing that, have been legalized through diplomatic channels.

You can find more information about document legalization at this link.
 

The assessment of a position as suitable for a highly qualified professional is carried out on an individual basis, taking into account, among other factors, the academic qualifications, professional competence, work experience, job profile, duties to be performed, and remuneration appropriate to the position, paying special attention to the uniqueness of recently graduated or postgraduate individuals as provided in Article 71(c) of Law 14/2013.
 

To prove that a company belongs to a strategic sector, it may request a report from the Directorate-General for Trade and Investment (under the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness) to certify this status for the purposes of Law 14/2013 and submit it along with its application.
 

Other forms of proof of holding a degree are accepted, different from the diploma itself, for example:

• If it is a Spanish degree, a certificate from the educational institution stating that the studies have been completed, the corresponding fees have been paid, and the diploma is pending issuance.
• If it is a foreign degree, a certificate from the relevant university authority, duly translated and apostilled/legalized (as a public document).