Preparatory steps

Short Term Stays (less than 3 months)

Depending on your citizenship, you might be able to live in Spain without a short-term visa. Please check this list.

However, you will always need a permit if you intend to work during that period, even if you can enter Spain without a visa.

Long Term Stays (more than 3 months)

If you plan to stay longer than three months, you must have a residence and work permit in order to reside and work in Spain.

The UPC will initiate the application process. We will submit the application form at the UNIDAD DE GRANDES EMPRESAS (UGE) – Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones in Madrid. Click here.

PLEASE NOTE: This permit may also be requested if you are already legally in Spain.

• The decision should be taken within 20 days after the application is made at UGE.
• Once a favorable decision is issued, we will send it to you by email.
• You will then need to apply for an entry visa at your nearest Spanish Consulate.
• If you are already residing in Spain, please check with us, as we may need to apply for a new permit.

Accompanying Family

Accompanying family members also need a residence permit to reside in Spain. This permit will allow them to work and/or study in Spain.

A residence permit can be granted to:
✅ Your spouse, registered partner, or cohabiting partner.
✅ Your children under 18 years old who are still living with you.
✅ Children over 18 who are financially dependent on you (proof of financial dependence will be required).

Important Notes:

• Your family members will be granted a permit for the same period of time as yours.
• They can apply for this at any time during the validity of the researcher’s permit.

You are always welcome to contact the International Welcome Centre at mobilitat.pdi@upc.edu if you have any questions on these issues.

The UPC will initiate the application process for your residence and work permit (also your famility members if the researcher ask us so) and, based on the employment conditions and on your residence at the moment of the application, decide on the most eligible scheme for you.

You are always welcome to contact the International Welcome Centre at mobilitat.pdi@upc.edu if you have any questions on these issues.

A guest is an unpaid researcher without an employment contract from the UPC. If you have been invited to conduct research at the UPC, we will submit the application for your residence and work permit on your behalf, as well as for your family if you request it.

The UPC will initiate the application process by submitting the application form to the UNIDAD DE GRANDES EMPRESAS (UGE) in Madrid.

The decision should be made within 20 days after the application is submitted to the UGE. Once a favorable decision is issued, we will send it to you by email, and you will need to apply for an entry visa at the Spanish Consulate or the designated agency.

If you are already residing in Spain, please check with us, as we may need to apply for a new permit.

Required Documents

Among other documents, you will need:

• A letter of invitation from a UPC professor.
• Spanish health insurance covering your entire stay in Spain.
• Proof that you can financially support yourself during your stay.

You are always welcome to contact the International Welcome Centre at mobilitat.pdi@upc.edu if you have any questions on these issues.

You might already have a permit to study in Spain or to work in a different university or company. If this is your situation there are diferent scenarios:

If you hold a student permit, you are allowed to work in Spain up to 30 hours per week. So, if your contract is for less than that, you will be fine but, please note that you will only be allowed to work until the expiration of your permit as a student, even if your contract is longer than that. In that case, your will have to renew your permit as a student or, before your permit has expired, apply for a researcher permit under Law 14/2013. The welcome center can apply for this permit on your behalf.

If you hold a research permit with another university or company, we will have to apply for a new permit. However, as you will be already líving in Spain the procedure is very simple (takes around 2/3 weeks) and you won’t need a visa.

If you hold a “cuenta ajena permit” with another company, please contact us but probably you will be able to work with us without need of applying for a new permit.

You are always welcome to contact the International Welcome Centre at mobilitat.pdi@upc.edu if you have any questions on these issues.

If you already have a valid permit in a EU country (also Switzerland or citizens form the EEA) we have two options to obtain your work permit:

1. You can enter Spain without a VISA and we can apply for your permit here. This shortens the procedure significantly but you will have to bring with you a non-criminal record of the places you have been living in the past two years properly legalized and translated into Spanish by a recognized sworn translator from the Spanish Ministry (we will send you the link where you can find this information). We will also need prove you have enter Spain (normally the boarding card is enough) along with some other documents easy to obtain.
2. If you cannot leave the European country where you are living or you just prefer, we can follow the normal procedure. We submit the residence and work permit here and once we have the resolution we will send it to you so that you can ask for the visa to enter Spain at the Spanish Consulate of the country you are living. This whole procedure takes 2/3 months.

 The same applies for your family.

You are always welcome to contact the International Welcome Centre at mobilitat.pdi@upc.edu if you have any questions on these issues.

We can recommend you three reliable housing platforms that will help you:

• BCU HOUSING
• UNIPLACES
• HOUSINGANYWHERE

If you would prefer to find accommodation in a residence, you will find information about them at RESA.

Here you will find information about residences in the different UPC campus.

IMPORTANT: UPC also wants to warn you about an increasing number of alleged housing agencies that require PREVIOUS payment to furnish you a list of available apartments. Many of these agencies are not reliable and, after receiving the payment, they do not offer the stated services.

You are always welcome to contact the International Welcome Centre at mobilitat.pdi@upc.edu if you have any questions on these issues.

In accordance with Spanish legislation, if you are hired by any company or institution you will have to contribute to the Spanish Social Security system, which will cover you and your family health care needs during the time he remains providing his services at this University. Complete healthcare is a right of any worker in Spain as stated in Spanish legislation:

Royal Decree 1192/2012, of August 3, which regulates the status of insured person and beneficiary for the purposes of healthcare in Spain, charged to public funds, through the National Health System. This is also provided by the Spanish Royal Decree-Law 7/2018, of July 27, on universal access to the National Health System.

Some Consulates ask for prove of a Health Insurance to issue your visa. If this is the case, please, contact us since we will provide you with a letter that will state the previous information. You do not need to get a private Health Insurance if you are hired by us.

 However, if you are a guest researcher, you won’t be covered by the Health Public System. In this case you need to get a Health Insurance to cover you and your family membres (if they acompany you) recognized by the Spanish Government. The Spanish universities have reached an agreement with a company called  ONCAMPUS and normally they offer better prices and cover all the conditions the government demands, yet you are free to contact another Spanish Companies. 

You are always welcome to contact the International Welcome Centre at mobilitat.pdi@upc.edu if you have any questions on these issues.

In order to get the residence and work permit, you need to submit some documents granted by your country or maybe the countries were you have been living (marriage and birth certificates, non-criminal record certificate, etc.). For a document to be valid in a country other than the country where it was issued, it must be properly legalised and, if it is written in another language, it must also be translated with a sworn translation.

 The form of legalisation will depend on whether or not the issuing country has signed the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961, an international agreement regulating public document certification between States. You can consult the signatory countries.

• If the public document issuer country is a signatory.

The document will be recognised if it has the Hague apostille. The apostille is a stamp or note on the document, or an extension, certifying its authenticity. The competent authority issuing the document must add the apostille. Therefore, you must request a Hague apostille on those documents in the issuing country before coming to Barcelona.

• If the public document issuer country is not a signatory.

The legalisation process will be completed through diplomatic channels. You must go to the Spanish embassy or consulate with jurisdiction in the country where the document was issued. They will provide you with the legalisation signature and security label.

As we have mentioned, for a foreign document to be valid here it must be properly legalized and translated into Spanish, if it is written in a foreign language. Important: the translation has to be done by a sworn translator recognized by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs otherwise it won’t be accepted. You can check in this link. 

You are always welcome to contact the International Welcome Centre at mobilitat.pdi@upc.edu if you have any questions on these issues.