In this forth case study, I want to tell you about an application for a Golden Visa for Highly Qualified Professionals.
This residence and work permit is regulated in Law 14/2013, which introduced the Golden Visas. It is available to people who are hired as a highly qualified professional by an employer in Spain.
The requirements are:
The position requires for a highly qualified professional.
The candidate has the corresponding qualifications (title from an official university).
The position comes with a competitive salary.
The process requires for the employer to apply for the work permit. If the candidate is still in their home country, once the employer receives a positive resolution regarding the work permit, they then apply for the corresponding visa at the Spanish Consulate in charge of their case before coming to Spain. In case the candidate is already in Spain, the employer applies directly for both the residence and the work permit for the candidate.
The application for the work and residence permit can be presented online and have to be resolved within 20 working days. In case of a visa application in the applicant's home country, the Consulate has to respond within 10 working days.
THE CASE
The case I want to tell you about was that of a Mexican citizen who was hired by a Swedish company with a subsidiary in Spain. He contacted us directly, telling us that his employer is willing to do anything necessary to get him his work and residence permit.
We first made sure that the position, qualifications and offered salary complied with the requirements for this type of privileged visa and residence permit. In general, as per the latest instructions, applications with salaries below 60.000 €/year were denied directly.
The Employer
First, the employer had to have a Spanish representation registered with Spanish Social Security in order to provide the required work contract and to apply for the employee's work permit.
Once that was done, their administrator could sign the application, accrediting being the company's representative by presenting the corresponding public deed.
The Employee
Then, we focussed on the employee and made sure that they complied with all the general requirements. For example, the clean criminal record and their personal economic means.
The Position
The most important part of these applications is the description of the position that is offered and a detailed explanation by the employer of why this is the ideal candidate for the position based on their qualifications and experience.
In this case, the employee was a software engineer and held a Bachelor and a Master degree to that effect from an important official University of the US.
Once we had all the documents gathered, certified, legalised and translated, where necessary, we proceeded to present the application for the work permit online.
After obtaining the work permit
Within 20 working days after presenting the application online in the name of the employer, we received the favourable resolution.
The next step was for the employee to apply for his corresponding national visa (type D) at the Consulate General at the Embassy in Mexico City, his place of residence.
He was granted said permit with 10 working days and could pick it up.
After entering Spain
Once the employee had entered Spain, they had to get registered at their new address and obtain their "empadronamiento", the registration certificate from the census at the Town Hall. Then, they got registered with social security and finally attended their appointment at the Police Station to request their Residence Card.