What’s new about the new Immigration Law?
Last Tuesday, August 16, 2022, the new reformed Immigration Law came into force. The law, among other topics, tries to facilitate the incorporation of foreigners into the national labor market, adds a new form of educational arraigo, offers greater ease of obtaining residence and work permits and facilitates employment for foreign students.
Here we will analyse each of the main changes for further understanding.
The “difficult occupations to fill” Employment Catalogue Reform
One of the most controversial aspects of the previous Immigration Law was the ever so inflexible and minimal amount of jobs covered in the Employment Catalogue of jobs that were difficult to cover, in such a way that in very few cases foreigners could benefit from said catalogue.
With the reform, they are to add more professions to the catalogue to offer a broader and more flexible selection of possible opportunities. In addition, the catalogue will be updated every three months and will be adapted to each specific geographical area. The idea is to have an accurate representation of the need of workers in Spanish companies, which until now, they have not been.
This will mean more options for foreigners who wish to work in Spain.
Educational Arraigo
Up until now, there were three different Arraigo residency authorisations designed for foreigners in irregular situations. With the addition of the new Educational Arraigo, a residence permit valid for 12 months may be granted to expats who have lived in Spain continuously for two or more years and they promise to undertake a regulated training for employment or any of the trainings specified in the law, such as occupational training provided by the State Public Employment Service.
At the end of the first year, in order to stay and apply for their work authorisation, they need to demonstrate that there is a company willing to hire them with a valid work contract. This is why applicants who focus on being trained in one of the sectors the make up the new Employment catalogue, will find more ease to find a job after their training is complete, since there will be more demand for workers in those sectors.
Self-employed work authorisation: promotion of self-employment
Foreigners who wish to work as autónomos or free lance workers also benefit from the new reform, as the requirements to apply for the self-employment working permit in Spain will now be reduced and made more flexible.
Specifically, two of the major benefits being there is no longer the need to prove they will generate new jobs beyond their own and the amount of financing considered to be “enough” to sustain your project will also be reduced.
Extension of the number of hours that foreigners with a student visa may work
Before the reform, foreigners with a student visa could not work more than 20 hours a week while they were studying. Now, those 20 hours will be increased to 30 hours per week.
Likewise, students are allowed to work in any part of Spain with the sole requirement being it does not affect their studies in any way.
Compatibility between work permits and extension of the validity of renewed permits
Thanks to the new Law, after renewing your cuenta propia self-employed work authorisation or your cuenta ajena work authorisation, you will be eligible to work for either yourself or a company and vice versa. For example, if you initially applied for a work authorisation to work for a company and after renewing you decide you would like to work for yourself instead, there is no need to formally apply for the compatibility or modification request to the other type of work authorisation.
In addition, when you renew your residency authorisation, the new permit will be valid for four years instead of two years, unless you qualify for permanent residency (after legally living here for a continued period of five years or double the time for students).
Nieto Jones: your immigration lawyers
At Nieto Jones we are experts with extensive experience in immigration law. Contacts us by phone 610632963 or by email contact@nietojones.com. We will be happy to review your case, offer you the best advice and help you fulfill your dream of coming to live and work in Spain.
