A contract or firm offer of at least six months, plus a higher-education qualification of three years or more — or five years of comparable experience. Spain's large-companies unit decides in 20 working days, and if it does not answer in time the application counts as approved. A lower salary applies if you earned your qualification in the last three years. Every number on this page is the authority's own sentence, with the page it came from and the day we read it. This page is for people who need a permit to work in Spain. This page describes the rules; it does not decide on you.
PR
What this route asks for
€33,085.09/year— lower amount for a qualification from the last 3 years €41,356.36/year— standard amount (1.4× the Spanish average wage)
Read from the authority's own page on , with the sentence it came from below.
Check your own situation
Where do you stand on this route? The questions are answered on this device only — nothing is sent anywhere. You get each rule against what you declared, the gap if there is one, and which single change would open more routes.
Every number below is quoted from an official page, and a daily check re-reads every source. On this route — quoted and dated · scored — 3 conditions this interview did not ask and 3 conditions in our own words, not the authority's. Every rule that decides this route is a question you answer; the unit that handles the application is listed with the rules below and never asked, and two things the source adds — the shortage-occupation list behind the lower salary, and Spain's shorter experience route for some professions — are not checked here. The five years of experience it accepts instead of a degree have no window, so your answer about the last seven years stands in for them.
The rules of this route
A non-EU passport
Who this is for
Citizens of the EU, of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, and of Switzerland, can live and work in Germany, France, Spain and the Netherlands under free movement — the routes on this site are for other passports. Check registration rules after arrival (e.g. Anmeldung in Germany).
As an EU national you generally don't need a work permit to work anywhere in the EU. · europa.eu · TFEU (the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) art. 45 (free movement of workers) — Your Europe · · English, from europa.eu.Official page ↗
A job offer
Condition
This route asks for a job offer.
un contrato de trabajo válido o una oferta firme de empleo de alta cualificación para un período de al menos seis meses · boe.es · Ley 14/2013, art. 71 bis.1.b) · · Spanish, from boe.es.Official page ↗
A university degree or 5+ years of related experience in the last seven
Condition
Any of these: a university degree or 5+ years of related experience in the last seven.
una cualificación derivada de una formación de enseñanza superior de duración mínima de tres años y equivalente al menos al Nivel 2 del Marco Español de Cualificaciones para la Educación Superior · boe.es · Ley 14/2013, art. 71.2 a) · · Spanish, from boe.es.Official page ↗
acrediten un mínimo de cinco años de conocimientos, capacidades y competencias avalados por una experiencia profesional que pueda considerarse equiparable a dicha cualificación · boe.es · Ley 14/2013, art. 71.2 a) · · Spanish, from boe.es.Official page ↗
Yearly salary
Threshold · 2026
Any of these: at least €41,356.36/year or a qualification from the last 3 years and at least €33,085.09/year.
€33,085.09/yearthis route — lower amount for a qualification from the last 3 years
€41,356.36/yearthis route — standard amount (1.4× the Spanish average wage)
Nuevos umbrales salariales Tarjeta Azul. - Umbral general: 41.356,36 € · inclusion.gob.es · standard amount (1.4× the Spanish average wage) · Ley 14/2013 art. 71 bis + Orden PJC/44/2026 (1,4× ganancia media INE) · · Spanish, from inclusion.gob.es. The source writes 41.356,36 where this page writes 41,356.36 — the same number.Official page ↗
- Umbral reducido: 33.085,09 € · inclusion.gob.es · lower amount for a qualification from the last 3 years · Ley 14/2013 art. 71 bis + Orden PJC/44/2026 (umbral reducido) · · Spanish, from inclusion.gob.es. The source writes 33.085,09 where this page writes 33,085.09 — the same number.Official page ↗
Also required — not checked here
The application must be handled by Spain's large-companies unit (UGE), and it is the Directorate-General for Migration that grants it
La tramitación de las autorizaciones de residencia previstas en esta sección se efectuará por la Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos, a través de medios telemáticos y su concesión corresponderá a la Dirección General de Migraciones. · boe.es · Ley 14/2013, art. 76.1 · · Spanish, from boe.es.Official page ↗
The official page also says
The lower salary can also apply to shortage occupations that fall in the managerial and professional groups of Spain’s occupation classification (CNO-2011 groups 1 and 2) — we do not check that list.
¿Cuándo se aplica el umbral reducido? El umbral reducido podrá aplicarse en los siguientes supuestos: - Ocupaciones de difícil cobertura incluidas en los grupos 1 y 2 de la CNO-2011, conforme a la normativa vigente. · inclusion.gob.es · Ley 14/2013 art. 71 bis + Orden PJC/44/2026 (supuestos del umbral reducido), as the UGE (Spain's large-companies unit) umbral-salarial PDF states them, edición Junio 2026. · · Spanish, from inclusion.gob.es.Official page ↗
The lower salary also applies to people from outside the EU who earned the qualification the route asks for in the three years before they applied.
- Personas nacionales de terceros países que hayan obtenido la cualificación requerida en los tres años previos a la solicitud de la Tarjeta Azul-UE. · inclusion.gob.es · Ley 14/2013 art. 71 bis + Orden PJC/44/2026 (supuestos del umbral reducido), as the UGE umbral-salarial PDF states them, edición Junio 2026. · · Spanish, from inclusion.gob.es.Official page ↗
Our reading, not the authority's words
Spain's law gives IT professionals and managers a shorter experience route of their own. We do not model it, so this card judges you on the general rule.
Whether the lower salary is limited to qualifications from particular institutions is a question the ministry’s sheet does not answer: it names no institution anywhere. We apply the lower salary with no such limit, the wording the law itself uses.
Our question asks about the last seven years; article 71.2 a) names no window for its five, so five or more there meets the rule, and experience older than seven years — which the law also counts — is not something this card can see.