Corporate immigration: foreign workers in Spain.

Given the unstoppable globalization and growing interdependence between the economies of different countries, today it is common for companies not to act only locally, but to develop on a global scale, developing their activities and recruiting their staff throughout of all the world.

Spain is part of this reality, the latest report provided by the Ministry of Labor, Migration and Social Security notes that the number of foreign workers in the last year secured to 2,004,062 foreigners. A figure reached for the first time since November 2008.

It is common for companies established in the country to open the doors to hire or transfer personnel from other subsidiaries located abroad. Of the total of the previous figure, 1,161,967 million workers come from countries outside the European Union, while 842,095 come from EU countries. Spain is a country of infinite opportunities.

In this regard, when dealing with the possible hiring or relocation of workers from abroad to Spain, companies as a first step must evaluate and take into account certain essential and inherent aspects of said processes, since although they are not Simple proper planning and management will greatly facilitate your successful achievement.

However, in a preliminary way it should be noted that the Spanish legislation on migration has among its main guidelines that foreign workers who settle in Spain must have a profile of high qualification, come to perform work in a strategic sector or appropriate to occupy those jobs that can not be efficiently satisfied by the Spanish labor market, this is the first and most important aspect that must be taken into account when displacing or hiring a worker, since it constitutes the most important barrier difficult to be raffled and is one of the main reasons for refusal of applications for residence and work permits.

Excepted from the above, are the citizens of the Member States of the European Union, of countries party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and of the Swiss Confederation, who have the right to reside freely in Spanish territory. , which means that their transfer to Spanish territory does not require the prior obtaining of a residence permit before the Spanish immigration authorities, being able to be hired or displaced without greater requirements.

Having indicated the above, there are other relevant aspects that must be taken into account when facing the possible transfer of employees, in this sense, companies will also have to consider:

• Nationality of the employee and place of residence, as we noted earlier, the holders of certain nationalities enjoy certain privileges at the time of residence and work in Spain, also, the current place of residence of the worker will have implications in fiscal and social security matters.
• Place of contract of the worker, it is important to be clear if the worker will have a contract with the Spanish company or will remain hired abroad, based on this choice will vary both the residence and work authorization to apply as well as the social security scheme to which the worker will be welcomed.
• Estimated time of the duration of the stay in Spain, this is important when determining the social security system that will protect the employee during their stay in Spain.

Likewise, it is important to highlight the migratory processes that have a certain complexity, which implies that, in general, their processing involves a minimum of two to three months, which is why it is advisable to undertake them as soon as possible. This will allow adequately addressing the possible delays and unforeseen events that may arise along the way.

Although the aforementioned does not include all the elements that must be taken into account during the processing of the transfer of the foreign worker to Spain, they do represent the fundamental aspects that must be considered so that the company together with its advisors on immigration issues can begin to work properly. it forms the process of transfer of the foreign worker to Spain, since, as we pointed out above, adequate planning is the pillar on which successful management is constituted.