Spain · Work authorisation

Tarjeta azul-UE (EU Blue Card)

Issued by Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos (UGE-CE), Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones. It is checked against conditions rather than scored, so the question is whether you meet each one, not how many points you gather.

Basis

Checklist

Steps

Possible outcomes

Last checked

2026-08-09

Conditions

What this permit
asks of you.

Which desk decides

The authority, exactly

UGE-CE processes the application electronically; the decision itself is issued by the Dirección General de Migraciones (art. 76.1 Ley 14/2013). A person who already holds a Blue Card issued by another EU member state, and who has resided there for the periods art. 71 bis(4) sets, may apply for a Spanish Blue Card instead of starting from the qualification requirement below.

2026 figure

Salary floor

EUR 41,356.36 a year

Art. 71 bis.1.c) Ley 14/2013 sets the floor at 1.4 times the national average annual gross wage the National Statistics Institute (INE) publishes each year (Orden PJC/44/2026). Applying the average wage for 2024 — €29,540.26, which INE published on 28 May 2026 — UGE-CE's own June 2026 update states a general threshold of €41,356.36 and a reduced threshold of €33,085.09 (an 0.8 coefficient). The reduced threshold applies where the job is on a government shortage-occupation list within occupational groups 1 and 2 of the national classification, or where you obtained the required qualification no more than three years before applying for the card. UGE-CE's same June 2026 update states a single €41,356.36 threshold, with no reduced tier, for the separate national route above. The threshold moves whenever INE publishes a new annual figure — confirm the current one before relying on it.

A figure without the year it belongs to and the condition attached to it is how someone rules themselves out of a permit they qualify for. Both are above.

Qualification

What it wants from your degree

A higher-education qualification of at least three years, equivalent to level 2 of Spain's higher-education qualifications framework (MECES) — the same level as a Bachelor's degree — or, failing that, at least five years of knowledge, skills and competencies the employer can show are comparable to that qualification and relevant to the job stated in the contract or firm offer.

The procedure

4 steps,
in the order they happen.

Prepare your documents

Secure a valid employment contract or a firm job offer for at least six months, at or above the salary threshold that applies to your case.
Gather evidence of the qualification requirement above.Where the job is a regulated profession, art. 71 bis.1.a) additionally requires proof of homologación under the sectoral rules for that profession before the card can be granted. Whether your job is regulated, and whether homologación or declaración de equivalencia is the one you need, is answered by the recognition part of this page, not by this route.

Get your qualification assessed

Apply electronically to UGE-CE. If you need a visa to enter Spain, the competent Spanish consular authorities issue it without imposing any further requirement beyond those in Ley 14/2013 and the general visa rules.Applications under this section are decided and notified within 10 business days, unless your case is subject to the prior consultation under art. 22 of the EU Visa Code, in which case that Code's own timeline applies instead.

Register and start working

Once in Spain, apply for the foreigner identity card (TIE) if the authorisation is valid for more than six months.

However it ends

What this application can end in

A Blue Card valid for three years, or for the contract's length plus three months where the contract runs shorter than three years — never longer than three years in total.
A renewal for two further years, requested in the 60 days before expiry, where the conditions that generated the right are maintained; long-term residence becomes available at five years where its own requirements are met.
Revocation or non-renewal where the holder accumulates more than three months of unemployment (having held the card under two years) or more than six months (having held it at least two years) — with a three- or six-month grace period respectively to find new qualified employment.
Refusal, where the salary threshold, the qualification requirement or the other conditions in art. 71 bis are not met, or where the documents submitted are fraudulent, falsified or adulterated.

These are the outcomes the authority publishes, not a ranking of how likely yours is. We do not promise approval, a timeline or a result.

Cost and time

What it costs,
and how long the authority says it takes.

Fees

UGE-CE authorisation fee (tasa, modelo 038): Not published on the pages read for this file — confirm the current amount before applying
National visa (visado tipo D): Set per consulate by nationality — confirm with the mission handling your case

Timeframes

UGE-CE decision: Maximum 20 business days from the complete electronic application (art. 76.1). If not decided within that period, the authorisation is deemed granted by positive administrative silence.

Published processing times, not a prediction about your case.

Both halves together

Guides that use this permit.

Each one takes a profession into Spain and runs the recognition branch and the authorisation branch side by side, including what your country of qualification adds.

Teacher Homologación and Work Visa in Spainhomologación de título extranjero de maestro
Teacher Homologación in Spain from Argentinahomologación de título docente argentino en España

Evidence

Every claim on this page, and where it came from.

5 official pages, each with the jurisdiction it speaks for and the date a human last opened it. The oldest is 2026-08-09, and that is the date this page is only as fresh as.

BOE — Código de Extranjería (edición actualizada a 15 de abril de 2026), § 7 Ley 14/2013: arts. 71, 71 bis, 74 bis–quinquies, 75 and 76ES · checked 2026-08-09
BOE — Orden PJC/44/2026, de 27 de enero, fixing the Tarjeta azul-UE salary-threshold formula (art. 71 bis.1.c) Ley 14/2013)ES · checked 2026-08-09
UGE-CE — Actualización del umbral salarial, junio 2026: Tarjeta azul-UE (general €41,356.36, reduced €33,085.09) and PAC nacional (single €41,356.36)ES · checked 2026-08-09
UGE — "Unit of Large Companies and Strategic Groups (UGE-CE)", about the unitES · checked 2026-08-09
UGE — highly qualified professionals, art. 71 Ley 14/2013 (legal basis and general requirements)ES · checked 2026-08-09

Is this the right permit for you?

That depends on where you qualified.

The planner compares every route Spain opens to your country of qualification, and adds the recognition branch when your profession has one.

Check my path →All Spain permits