Source
r/askspain•
OCmilo

Question about relocation to Spain

Hello! I hope someone can help me here. I'm a Brazillian software developer that currently works for a company in Dubai. They recently opened an office in Madrid and asked me if I wanted to relocate there.

My only problem is that I don't have a college degree, so they don't know if this is possible in Spanish legislation. They are currently working this out with their lawyers but it's been two weeks and I'm a bit anxious.

Does anyone know if this is possible? thank you very much!

Posted Jul 19, 2022, 12:07 AM UTC

315
ARV_BRZ•

Do you understand written spanish? If not, google translate this:

https://extranjeros.inclusion.gob.es/es/informacioninteres/informacionprocedimientos/ciudadanosnocomunitarios/hoja022/index.html

To my understanding, in some cases having 5+ years of work experience can be considered equivalent to a degree.

2
rex-ac•

The rules say:

Poseer la capacitación y, en su caso, la cualificación profesional legalmente exigida para el ejercicio de la profesión.

It shouldn’t be too hard to justify that he has the “capacitation” to work for them, if he already works for them in Dubai.

There are other far more difficult hurdles to overcome, like getting permission in the first place to hire a non-EU national.

1
ARV_BRZ•

But that’s for the company to figure out, I understood OP was mostly worried about the degree, hence my reply.

1
rex-ac•

I just wanted to say that the degree is the least of his problems.

I interpret the rules as "if you want to bring a non-EU national to Spain to work, that person should at least have the capabilities to do the work". So if you bring in someone to be a dentist, he should have studied for that.
If you bring in someone to clean hotelrooms, that person should know how to do that.

2
ARV_BRZ•

I agree with you

1
OCmiloOP•

Thanks for the reply.

I mentioned the college degree because they told me that specifically. What would you say are the hard parts?

1
lifeinspain2547•

Also in tech here without a formal degree. In my case they were looking for 10+ years of experience and needed proof from previous jobs to justify it.

Additionally there was a very large emphasis on my Spanish salary offered.

In the end it was not a problem for me. Best of luck!

2
OCmiloOP•

Interesting, I only have half of this experience, I don't know if it will be enough. but very glad that it worked out for you!

What do you mean emphasis on the salary offered?

1
lifeinspain2547•

In my case my company sought the ‘highly qualified professional’ visa for me. So one of the tests the Spanish government was applying was seeing if the salary being offered in their opinion was indeed representative that of a ‘highly qualified professional’

2
OCmiloOP•

Hello again! what kind of proof were they looking for? I haven't found resources about this

1
ARV_BRZ•

OP, just be patient. I got transferred from Dubai recently. The process was started by the company/lawyers in July ‘21, and I was cleared to move (work visa stamped in my passport) in march ‘22. The spanish consulate in Abu Dhabi is slow, they are the bottleneck. The resolution from Madrid took 1-2 months, but getting the appointment from the consulate was tough. So, in terms of practical advice, don’t expect this process to be quick. Another problem is that UAE has not signed the Apostille Convention, so you need to do attestation/translation instead. Feel free to drop me a PM if you want.

1
OCmiloOP•

Wow! almost a year, I had no idea it could take this long.

I'll probably won't have to deal with the Spanish consulate in the UAE, since I'm in Brazil currently, but you gave me some perspective, thank you.

I'm gonna breathe and see what happens next, and I'll definitely DM you as the process goes on.

1
ARV_BRZ•

Oh, but that might be better actually. The lawyers said that the process would have been much easier done from home (Chile for me). Just hold on tight and stay positive!

1
OCmiloOP•

Yeah, probably. let's see what is possible since I don't quite meet the criteria (not quite 5 years). thank you for all your help!

1