Spain General Employment Permit (Cuenta Ajena): 2026 Employer Guide

When a job role in Spain falls outside the salary thresholds or specialized criteria of the Highly Qualified Professional (HQP) visa under Law 14/2013, the General Employment Permit (Autorización de Residencia y Trabajo por Cuenta Ajena) serves as the primary route.

What is the General Employment (Cuenta ajena) permit ?

The general employment permit, formally the autorización de residencia y trabajo por cuenta ajena, is Spain's default work and residence authorisation for non-EU nationals in standard employer-sponsored roles. It sits under Spain's general immigration regime governed by RD 1155/2024, in force since May 2025.

Use it when the role does not qualify for the faster routes:

• Salary below the roughly €40,000 floor for the HQP permit or EU Blue Card.
• A position that isn't classed as highly qualified, for example standard operations, support, or administrative roles.
• A hire without the degree or five years of equivalent experience that HQP and Blue Card cases require.

For qualifying roles, our Spain work visa for skilled workers covers the faster HQP and Blue Card options.

The Key Barrier: The Labor Market Test (Situación Nacional de Empleo)

The Situación Nacional de Empleo (SNE) is the part that trips teams up. It exists to protect the domestic workforce, so before hiring from outside the EU you must show no suitable Spanish or EU candidate was available.

In practice, the SNE means:

• Posting the vacancy through SEPE for a hard minimum of 15 days.
• Collecting a negative certificate confirming no suitable candidate applied.
• Attaching that evidence package to your EX-03 filing.

Ideally it takes 3 to 4 weeks. Done wrong, it triggers a rejection and restarts the clock. Shorter advertising, the wrong job portal, or missing candidate documentation are all grounds for refusal. Honestly, most teams underestimate this step; treat it as the critical path, not an afterthought.

When is the Labour Market Test Waived?

If the role appears on the Shortage Occupations List (Catálogo de Ocupaciones de Difícil Cobertura), the test is waived entirely. Certain nationals are also exempt by treaty, including Chilean and Peruvian citizens. Check the list before you post anything, our Spain labour market test employer guide breaks down exactly when you can skip it.

Key Requirements for Employers & Applicants

For the Employer:

• Must be registered with the Spanish Social Security system and up-to-date with all tax and administrative obligations.  
• Must demonstrate sufficient financial resources to maintain the business and cover the contracted salary.  
• Must offer a binding employment contract compliant with the relevant collective bargaining agreement (convenio colectivo). The salary must at least meet the National Minimum Wage (Salario Mínimo Interprofesional - SMI) or the specific sector agreement wage floor.  

For the Applicant:

• Must be a non-EU/EEA/Swiss national.  
• Must hold a clean criminal record for the past 5 years in all countries of residence.  
• Must not be irregularly present in Spanish territory at the time of application (the application must be processed while living outside Spain).  
• Must possess the relevant professional qualifications or proven experience required for the role.  

Step by Step Application Process for Cuenta ajena

The entire application process runs employer-first. Here's the sequence:

1. Run the labour market test (unless exempt) and secure the negative certificate.
2. File Form EX-03 with the provincial Oficina de Extranjería for the work location.
3. Pay the fees: Tasa 790-062 (employer, work authorisation) and Tasa 790-052 (employee, residence).
4. Wait for the authorisation. Legal maximum is three months; silence generally counts as a refusal.
5. Once approved, your employee applies for the entry visa at their home-country consulate within one month.
6. After arrival, the employee books a cita previa for fingerprinting and collects the TIE card.
7. Register the employee with Social Security from their authorised first working day, not before.

The 062 amount is tiered by salary and updates annually, so confirm the live figure on Spain's Sede Electrónica at filing. TIE issuance uses a separate fee (790-012) paid to the National Police.

Cuenta ajena vs HQP vs EU Blue Card: which route fits

Before you file anything, confirm the role can't take a faster route. Choosing cuenta ajena for a role that qualifies for HQP means weeks of avoidable delay and a labour market test you didn't need.

If the role qualifies for HQP or the Blue Card, take it. Cuenta ajena is what you reach for when it doesn't.

For high-volume or sector-specific hiring in construction, agriculture, logistics, or hospitality, the cuenta ajena route works differently again, our Spain blue collar work visa service covers seasonal quotas and the Shortage Occupations List roles that skip the labour market test.

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Compliance risks that cause rejections

Spanish authorities look for reasons to issue a requerimiento (a formal request for more documents) or reject outright. The recurring failure points:

• Wrong tasa code: confusing 790-052 and 790-062. They aren't interchangeable and the mistake triggers immediate rejection.
• Salary below threshold: a contract paying under the SMI or the applicable collective bargaining agreement rate.
• Outstanding corporate debts: unresolved tax (AEAT) or Social Security debts at the exact moment of filing.
• Weak SNE evidence: advertising shorter than 15 days or on a non-approved portal.
• Premature onboarding: letting the employee start before the written authorisation is in hand.

Illegal employment under RD 1155/2024 can cost up to €100,000 per worker. The reality is that a two-week head start is never worth that exposure.

If the hire later moves to another Spanish employer, the same document discipline applies to the modification filing, our change of employer document checklist lays out exactly what to submit and the mistakes that trigger a requerimiento.

How Jobbatical handles cuenta ajena for your team

Running the SNE correctly, selecting the right tasa, and sequencing the TIE appointment is procedurally high-risk for a team doing it for the first time. Jobbatical manages the full cuenta ajena process end to end: eligibility checks, labour market test validation, EX-03 filing, fee handling, and TIE coordination, with compliance tracking across every province.

Aviso legal: Las normas de inmigración cambian con bastante frecuencia; por favor, consulte fuentes oficiales o póngase en contacto con nosotros para obtener la información más reciente antes de tomar cualquier decisión.