The highly qualified professional visa lets a company in Spain hire you for a skilled job and bring your family on the same file. Since the June 2026 update, the job has to pay at least €41,356.36 gross a year. The Large Companies and Strategic Groups Unit (UGE) processes the file and the decision is due within 20 working days. If there is no answer by then, the permit counts as granted.
You will see it searched as the highly skilled worker visa, the skilled worker visa or the PAC (profesional altamente cualificado). All of those names lead to article 71 of Law 14/2013, and that article has two versions: a national permit and the EU Blue Card. Choosing the wrong one is where we see most avoidable refusals, so this page is built around that choice.
Who can get the highly qualified worker visa
The national permit covers a job that needs a higher education qualification, starting at advanced vocational level (level 1 of the Spanish framework for higher education, MECES), or at least three years of professional experience that can be treated as equivalent. The EU Blue Card asks for more on paper: a degree of at least three years, the level of a bachelor’s (EQF level 6), or five years of relevant experience. For IT managers and professionals the experience route drops to three years within the last seven.
Nobody has to prove that the job could not be filled in Spain. The labour market test does not apply to permits under this part of Law 14/2013 (additional provision 5), which is what makes this route so much faster than an ordinary work visa.
Highly qualified professional salary threshold in 2026
Salary decides more files than any other requirement. The figure is tied to the INE wage survey (Encuesta Anual de Estructura Salarial). Order PJC/44/2026 sets the Blue Card floor at 1.4 times the average gross annual earnings per worker, and the UGE applies the same figure to the national permit. On 28 May 2026 the INE published the 2024 average, €29,540.26, and the thresholds moved up with it. The new figures apply to applications filed from 28 June 2026.
| Route | Minimum gross salary a year | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| National highly qualified professional permit | €41,356.36 | Every case. There is no reduced threshold |
| EU Blue Card, general | €41,356.36 | Standard case |
| EU Blue Card, reduced | €33,085.09 | Shortage occupations in groups 1 and 2 of the CNO-2011 that are on the hard-to-fill list, or a qualification obtained in the three years before you apply |
Source: UGE note on salary thresholds for highly qualified professionals, June 2026 · Order PJC/44/2026 (BOE, 30 Jan 2026)
Many sites still quote €39,269.92. That was the Blue Card figure from the end of January 2026 until the June update, calculated on the 2023 survey. You will also see €54,142 or €55,000 for managers and €40,077 for other roles. Those figures belong to older criteria and none of them applies now: since the June 2026 update, the national permit has one threshold of €41,356.36, whatever your role. Older guides also mention a lower salary for professionals under 30. That discount came from an earlier UGE criterion and it is not in the June 2026 update: being young no longer lowers the threshold on its own.
We build every file on the fixed salary written in the contract. An earlier UGE criterion left variable pay out of the calculation, and we would not risk a family’s move on a bonus clause. A part-time contract still has to pay 100% of the annual threshold (UGE criteria, June 2025).
Highly qualified professional permit vs EU Blue Card
| National permit (PAC) | EU Blue Card | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | Law 14/2013, art. 71.2.b | Law 14/2013, arts. 71.2.a and 71 bis |
| Qualification | Higher education from advanced vocational level, or 3 years of equivalent experience | Degree of at least 3 years (EQF 6), or 5 years of experience (3 of the last 7 in IT) |
| Minimum salary 2026 | €41,356.36 | €41,356.36, or €33,085.09 in the reduced cases |
| Contract | Contract or job offer for a highly qualified role | Contract or firm offer for at least 6 months |
| Other EU countries | Valid in Spain only | Business trips of up to 90 days in any 180 inside the EU, and a faster move to another country’s Blue Card after 12 months, under that country’s procedure |
| If you lose your job | You keep your residence while you receive the unemployment benefit you are entitled to (UGE criteria, June 2025). To renew, the conditions of the permit must still be met | 3 months to find a new job, 6 months once you have held the card for 2 years |
| Validity and decision | Up to 3 years, UGE decides in 20 working days | Same |
Source: BOE consolidated text of Law 14/2013 (arts. 71, 71 bis and 76), Sep 2026 · Directive (EU) 2021/1883
Which one we usually file
If the salary clears €41,356.36 and you hold a bachelor’s degree, we normally file the Blue Card. You get mobility inside the EU and a written grace period if the job ends, and nothing in the process is slower. The national permit is the right tool when your qualification sits below a bachelor’s or your case rests on three years of experience.
The difficult zone is an offer between €33,085.09 and €41,356.36. The national permit is closed there. Under Law 14/2013 the only option left is the Blue Card at the reduced threshold, which works if you finished your degree in the last three years or the job is on the shortage list. Our full guide to the EU Blue Card in Spain covers the card on its own.
Requirements for the highly skilled worker visa
- A contract or job offer from a company in Spain for a highly qualified role, at or above the 2026 salary threshold and in line with Spanish employment law and the collective agreement for the sector.
- The qualification or experience your route asks for. For the Blue Card, a regulated profession (doctor, architect, lawyer) needs its Spanish recognition before you apply.
- Being over 18 and not in Spain irregularly.
- No criminal record in Spain or in the countries where you lived during the last two years, plus a signed statement covering the last five.
- Public health cover or private health insurance with an insurer authorised in Spain.
- Enough money for you and your family while you live in Spain. A salary at the threshold normally covers this.
- Not being listed as someone to refuse entry in the Schengen area, and paying the government fee.
These general conditions are in article 62.3 of Law 14/2013. The consulate then asks for its own paperwork: a passport valid for at least a year with two blank pages and issued within the last ten years, the permit from the UGE, a colour photo, the national visa form, proof that you live in its consular area, and criminal record certificates no older than six months, apostilled or legalised and translated into Spanish by a sworn translator.
How the application works, step by step
- Filing with the UGE. The company files online, or you do. If you file, the UGE tells the company it has your application (art. 71.1).
- The decision. The UGE has 20 working days from electronic filing. If it has not decided by then, the permit is granted by administrative silence. A refusal can be challenged with an administrative appeal (recurso de alzada) (art. 76.1).
- The visa, if you are abroad. You take the permit to the Spanish consulate for your area. Law 14/2013 gives it 10 working days to decide (art. 75.5). The clock stops if it asks for more documents, and an interview adds time. Consulates usually ask you to collect the visa within a month of the decision. For a Blue Card the consulate cannot add requirements of its own (art. 71 bis 2).
- If you are already in Spain legally, for example as a student, you apply from Spain and your current stay is extended until the UGE decides (art. 76.1).
- After you arrive. The permit lasts more than six months, so you apply for your foreigner identity card, the TIE (art. 76.2). If you do not have an NIE yet, your passport is enough to register with Social Security during the first six months (art. 76.5).
A consular refusal can be appealed to the same consulate within one month, or taken to the High Court of Justice of Madrid within two months. In practice most delays come from documents: an apostille missing from a criminal record certificate, or a degree that needs recognition and was never sent for it.
Bringing your spouse, partner, children and parents
Your spouse or unmarried partner, your children under 18, adult children who depend on you financially and have not formed a family of their own, and parents in your care can apply with you or later (art. 62.4). If you file together, their permits are decided together with yours, inside the same 20 working days. Each of them has to meet the general conditions of article 62.3 that apply to them, such as health cover and, for adults, a clean criminal record, plus documents proving the relationship, legalised or apostilled and translated.
This is much faster than the ordinary family reunification route, where you usually have to live in Spain for a year before you can bring anyone.
Renewal and permanent residence
The first permit lasts three years. If the contract is shorter, it lasts the contract plus three months, never more than three years. During the 60 days before it expires you can renew for two years at a time, as long as the conditions that got you the permit still hold (art. 71.3). An application filed in the 90 days after expiry still keeps you covered, although it can lead to a fine (art. 76.3).
After five years you can apply for long-term residence. Our guide to permanent residence in Spain explains what that changes for you and your family.
Tax: the Beckham Law
A move like this usually qualifies for the special regime for workers moving to Spain, the Beckham Law: a flat 24% on employment income up to €600,000, for the year you arrive and the following five (article 93 of the Personal Income Tax Law). You must not have been tax resident in Spain in the previous five years.
It is not automatic. It is a separate application to the tax office, and it has to be filed within six months of the start date shown on your Spanish Social Security registration. Miss that date and the option is gone. We can put one of our own tax advisors on it while the immigration file is running.
If this permit is not your route
If your employer is moving you from its office outside the EU to its business in Spain, the intra-company transfer permit of article 73 fits better. Researchers hired by a university or research centre have their own permit under article 72. For a job below the salary threshold, the Spain work visa with a standard permit is the route, and if you plan to work for yourself, the self-employed visa.
Not everyone arrives with a contract already signed. Spain issues a job seeker visa only in limited cases, mainly for children and grandchildren of Spanish nationals and for occupations set each year. If you would rather live in Spain without a job contract, the non-lucrative residency route asks for enough income or savings instead of an employer.
Questions about the highly qualified professional visa
What is the minimum salary for the highly qualified professional visa in Spain?
€41,356.36 gross a year for the national permit, with no reduced option. The EU Blue Card uses the same general figure and drops to €33,085.09 for recent graduates and for shortage occupations. These are the figures of the June 2026 UGE update.
How long does the highly qualified professional visa take?
The UGE has 20 working days from electronic filing, and if it does not answer, the permit is granted by silence. If you are abroad, add the consular visa: the law gives the consulate 10 working days, and it takes longer if it asks for more papers or calls you to an interview.
Is the highly skilled worker visa the same as the EU Blue Card?
They come from the same article of Law 14/2013 but they are two different permits. The Blue Card asks for a degree of at least three years or five years of experience and gives you mobility inside the EU. The national permit accepts a lower qualification or three years of experience and is valid in Spain only.
Can I apply from inside Spain?
Yes, if you are in Spain legally, for example on a student stay. Filing extends your current status until the UGE decides, and you do not need to go back for a visa.
Can my family come with me?
Yes. Your spouse or partner, children under 18, dependent adult children and dependent parents can apply with you, and if you file together the permits are decided together.
Does it lead to permanent residence?
Yes. You renew every two years while the conditions still hold, and after five years you can apply for long-term residence.
Hiring or being hired from abroad?
Our team files highly qualified permits with the UGE for companies and for the professionals they hire, and we run the family permits and the Beckham application alongside. Send us the offer and your qualification, and we will tell you which of the two routes to file and what the file will need. Contact our legal team.