Modification of Law 14/2013 for the entrepreneurs and their internationalization, through Law 11/2023, of May 8, on the transposition of European Union Directives on the accessibility of certain products and services, migration of highly qualified, tax and digitization of notarial and registry actions; and by which Law 12/2011, of May 27, on civil liability for nuclear damage or damage caused by radioactive materials is modified.
The following articles of Law 14/2013 are modified, which we summarize as follows:
Article 71. Residence authorization for highly qualified professionals.
- These authorizations may be presented by the company or by the foreign professional whose incorporation is required, in whose Large Companies and Strategic Groups Unit will notify the company of the receipt of the application.
- 2 modalities are added, EU-Blue Card and Highly Qualified Professional:
- Residence authorization for highly qualified professionals holders of a EU-Blue Card:
- Higher education of a minimum duration of three years and equivalent to a University Degree is required or accrediting a minimum of five years of professional experience that is relevant to the profession.
- In the case of information and communication technology professionals and managers, the minimum length of professional experience required will be three years integrated into the seven years prior to the application for the EU-Blue Card.
- National residence authorization for highly qualified professionals:
- It is required to have a qualification comparable to that of Higher Technician or professional experience of at least three years that can be comparable to said qualification.
– Validity: 3 years, or equal to the duration of the contract plus an additional period of three months in the event that the duration of the contract is less than three years, and the validity of the authorization cannot exceed more than three years.
Article 71 bis. Highly qualified professionals holders of a Blue-EU Card.
For the granting of a Blue-EU Card, it will be necessary to meet the following requirements:
- Accredit possession of the established qualification and, in the case of the exercise of regulated professions, accredit its homologation.
- Submit a valid employment contract or a firm offer of highly qualified employment for a period of at least six months.
- The conditions established in the employment contract must comply with those established by current regulations and the applicable collective agreement. The gross annual salary must not be less than a reference threshold that will be defined by regulation, after consultation with the social partners in accordance with current regulations, and that will be a minimum of 1.0 times and a maximum of 1.6 times. average annual gross salary.
The lower salary threshold will be 80% of the threshold established in the previous paragraph, provided that it is not less than 1.0 times the average gross salary, in any of the following cases:
- For those professions in which there is a particular need for third-country national workers and who belong to groups 1 and 2 of the International Standard Classification of Occupations.
- For third-country nationals who have obtained the qualification established in article 71.2 a) a maximum of three years before submitting the EU-Blue Card
In the event that the person who has been granted a Blue-EU Card requires a visa to enter Spain, the consular authorities of the country where they will be will grant the corresponding visa without any additional requirement being required.
The renewal of the EU-Blue Card will be revoked or denied:
- When the foreigner is no longer in possession of a valid employment contract for a highly qualified job and accumulates a period of unemployment of more than three months having been the holder of the Blue-EU Card for less than two years.
- Or accumulate a period of unemployment of more than six months having been a holder of the Blue-EU Card for at least two years.
- The Blue-EU Card will also be revoked when its holder has moved to a Member State of the European Union other than Spain and has obtained a Blue-EU Card in this Member State.
When the circumstances provided for in the previous paragraph for the withdrawal or non-renewal of the Blue-EU Card occur, the interested party will be granted a period of three months to search for a new job, or six months in the event that the interested party has been holder of a Blue-EU Card for at least two years.
When the holder of a Blue-EU Card issued by a Member State of the European Union travels to Spain in order to carry out a professional activity for a period of ninety days in any period of 180 days, no authorization will be needed.
The person who has resided for at least twelve months in a Member State of the European Union other than Spain as holder of a Blue-EU Card, or six months in the event that they have resided in more than one Member State as holder of a Blue-EU Card, will have the right to enter, reside and work in Spain, for which you must apply for a Blue-EU Card in Spain. The request may be submitted by the worker or employee to the competent authorities while the holder of the Blue-EU Card is residing in the territory of the first Member State. In the event that the holder of the Blue-EU Card issued by a Member State of the European Union other than Spain is already in Spanish territory, the application must be submitted before the maximum period of one month from your entry into Spain.
The presentation of the application must be accompanied by the EU-Blue Card issued in the first Member State, a valid travel document, an employment contract or firm offer of highly qualified employment for a period of at least six months, evidence that meets the salary threshold referred to in section 2 of this article and, in the case of a regulated profession, the accreditation of recognition of the corresponding qualifications in accordance with the applicable sectoral regulations.
The holder of an EU-Blue Card issued by a Member State of the European Union will be authorized to start working in Spain from the moment of the complete application for the EU-Blue Card in Spain, without prejudice to the meaning of the resolution that is carrying out, after analyzing the specific circumstances and in accordance with the principle of proportionality, in the terms of article 76.
The provisions of the previous section will be applicable, as far as they are concerned, to the family members provided for in article 62.4 who accompany the EU-Blue Card holder or meet with him. In the event that the applications of the family members are not submitted simultaneously to that of the Blue-EU Card holder, they will be submitted within a maximum period of one month from the entry of the family members in Spain.
In the event that the applicant or holder of a Blue-EU Card is in turn a beneficiary of international protection granted by Spain or another member State of the European Union, the following specialties will apply:
- Family members of an EU-Blue Card applicant who is a beneficiary of international protection granted by another Member State of the European Union, may be regrouped under the terms provided in this law.
- The reunification of the relatives of the EU-Blue Card applicant, who in turn has obtained international protection in Spain, will be governed by the provisions of current regulations on international protection.
- In the event that Spain processes the granting, withdrawal or non-renewal of an EU-Blue Card for a person who is a beneficiary of international protection granted by another Member State of the Union, the member State that granted it will be requested to confirm that the affected person continues to be a beneficiary of international protection in said Member State before proceeding, where appropriate, to their expulsion from Spanish territory. In the event that this is the case, in any case the principle of non-refoulement to the country of origin will be preserved.
Article 76. Authorization procedure
A point number 4 is added that reads as follows: The accreditation of compliance with the requirements by the company in the processing of the authorizations provided for in chapters IV and V of this section will be carried out only once, leaving the company registered in the Unit of Large Companies and Strategic Collectives. Said registration will be valid for 3 years, renewable if the requirements are maintained. Any modification of the conditions must be communicated to the Large Companies and Strategic Groups Unit within 30 days. In the event of not communicating said modification, the company will cease to be registered in the Unit.
Twenty additional provision. Instructions with the requirements for visas and residence permits.
It is added that the thresholds of the economic amounts used to assess the economic resources of the applicants will be referenced to the minimum interprofessional salary.
