I have been here in Barcelona
since January without a visa or work permit. I want to go home
for a visit in September and am worried about not being able
to return. I plan on taking a Celta course this fall and looking
for work as an english teacher. I'm wondering if you have any
insight into traveling without having your paperwork in order.
I have someone willing to offer me a work contract, but it would
only allow me to look for part-time work and I would have to
pay my social security (around 200/month), something I'm not
in the economic position to do. I have met with a lawyer, but
he didn't provide me with any information I didn't already know.
I was just wondering if you could offer any guidance or insight
into resolving my legal situation and how to deal with the "limbo"
time (to travel or not?). I would greatly appreciate any information
or opinions you could offer on this subject. thank you for your
time .
Here was my (long) reply – Opinion:
Thanks for your interesting questions - As for the travel issue:
I am not an expert, but I think right now you are in Spain as
a visitor - really you can come and leave as you wish - yes,
technically you should have your three month visa, but I don’t
think that they will give you any problem. at any rate,- what’s
the difference if you were travelling around Europe for 6 months
coming back and forth to Spain - it would make no difference,
and now, they don’t even stamp your passport when you travel
throughout Europe - so I don’t think you really have to worry.
It’s very difficult for them to prove given that sometimes they
don’t even stamp you - how do they know that you didn’t go to
France by car or train for 2 months, then back to Barcelona,
etc. Did they stamp your passport in Spain when you came in
January? - I don’t know, and as I said, I’m not an expert. As
far as the work contract, it sounds a bit shady to me. There
are only two choices - 1. to work for a company as their employee
which is called "cuenta ajena" in which the company is responsible
to pay your SS, and you are on their payroll - and 2.- to work
freelance, which is called "Cuenta Propia" or Autonoma, in which
you write them invoices each month, you pay your own Social
Security. However, being Autonoma is a process - you must be
registered as an autonoma - you don’t just start working as
one without any previous steps taken. It’s kind of like getting
a tax ID number in the US. In both cases you can have a contract
with a company, but in either contract, your status should be
stipulated. In the first case they pay your SS and in the second,
you pay it. In the second case, you are also free to work with
other companies and are not bound to just one and you must make
sure that any contract with a company doesn’t say this because
if it does, they are really taking advantage of you. If a company
wants you exclusively they must put you on their payroll or
make you "an offer you can’t refuse". - as I said, you don’t
have to pay your social security unless you become autonoma
– it’s the law - if a company offers you a contract to work
as "cuenta ajena" they are obligated to pay your Social Security
and it is illegal for them to make you pay it - It would be
then your choice if you want to pay it or not and it would be
a deal between you and the company. However in that case, I
would at least bargain with them a bit and make them pay half
and you pay half. Keep in mind, though, that this is a violation
of your rights and is technically illegal - They are not supposed
to make you pay your Social Security as an employee and I don’t
believe that you are supposed to pay it by law, so you would
run the risks. If you have a contract with a company, but you
work as an autonomo (for example, a Contrato mercantil), then
yes, you pay the Social Security, but you only pay Social Security
if you are registered as an autonoma with the Social Security
department and Hacienda -Do not pay the company that hires you
that money if it is stipulated in your contract that you work
as an autonomo - I am autonoma and I pay more or less 225 euros
per month - DIRECTLY TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY DEPARTMENT, not
to any company that hires me. If they hire you as their employee,
then you are not autonoma, and they must pay your Social Security
by law. They often don’t want to do this because it is very
expensive for them. Plus, BEFORE YOU GET YOUR WORK PERMIT, if
you don’t even have your permit yet, you can’t be autonoma,
legally, in which case you would have to work freelance, but
you would not be registered anywhere - that is to say that you
couldn’t pay Social Security fees because you can’t pay Social
Security if you are not registered with the department - and
technically you would be working under the table because you
aren’t on the books at Hacienda either. You would just write
them what they call a "recibi" for the work you have done. Obviously
this is not quite legal because you have no permit, but people
do it. I don’t know if this makes sense to you ... let me give
you an example: Many Spaniards do this for example as well,
if they work in a company, say in marketing, as a regular contracted
worker (cuenta ajena) but, say, they write articles for some
business magazine on the side. They are not going to register
as an Autonomo just for a few articles they write each year
- The company they work for already pays their Social security.
So, they just write an invoice as a collaboration with the magazine
they write the articles for, including the proper taxes, etc.
It would be stupid of them to register as autonomo because they
would be spending a lot of money just for a few articles that
they write each year, and because they are already accounted
for with the Social Security department given that they are
working as an employee with a company. I find it beneficial
to be autonoma because it allows me the freedom to work in more
than one place and I am not bound to low pay from one academy,
but until I knew I was able to make a certain amount each month,
it wasn’t worth it for me to become autonoma. I have my own
clients and work directly with them - so that’s when being an
autonoma is worth it. Academies usually don’t pay enough to
survive as an autonoma. I can give you some advice about your
permit, but keep in mind that when I did mine, there was another
government in office and things may be different now with the
PSOE - the good thing is that if they are different, I’m sure
it’s for the better: I think that if this job offer is legitimate,
and it can get your papers started then that could be a plus.
You need to make sure of a few things though: The letter of
intent or the contract must be cuenta ajena for your first permit.
At least this is how it was when I applied. They have autonomo
on the application form as an option for your initial permit,
but from what I’m told, they never approve those. So, try and
get the company to hire you (even if you make a deal with them
about your Social Security - which, again, is not legal and
I am not advising it - you take your chances - and any dignified
company should pay your Social Security like any other worker)
Secondly, the contract must say that they will hire you for
a year. They can put a three month trial period on there to
protect them if they want to fire you, but Extranjería must
see a year long contract, simply because they give you the permit
for a year and want to know that you have work for that year.
And Third, they must specify in the letter of intent why you
are the only person for the job - why they need you and not
any other Spaniard - and believe me, although it seems silly,
I think that being a native is not enough because there are
plenty of Spanish, English teachers - so I think you should
find some niche or something to make you more qualified. The
important thing is to get your application turned in with a
job offer. That’s what you need. You will need to go back and
forth from home to Spain to get papers and hand stuff in at
the consulate, etc, so don’t worry about coming and going -
especially once you have everything in motion- you always have
the excuse that you need to travel to hand papers in here or
there. About limbo time ..... "que quieres que te diga" .....
a gal’s gotta eat and a gal’s gotta pay her rent. Private students,
cash ...... ya gotta do what ya gotta do – that’s the way it
is. You can do some collaborations with academies in which you
just write a "recibi" which says, "I have received x amount
from ... for work in collaboration ... etc ..." It is not an
invoice. There are many places and people willing to pay you
in cash. I don’t advise doing things that are not strictly legal,
I’m just saying that if you were to work under the table, you
wouldn’t be the first or the only one. You run the risks that
anyone would run, but I don’t think that they are going to bother
with you unless you are raking in the dough making millions
and not paying taxes, or unless you do something that really
calls the attention of the government. Hope I have shed a little
light on the situation and I reiterate, I am not an expert and
only speak from my own experience - so I can’t guarantee that
my experience will be the same as someone elses. Thanks and
good luck! Victoria
Regarding getting academies to do your work permit:
I've talked to lots of Directors of lots of schools now and most tell
me that they refuse to even consider the issue any more as they've
been stung all too often. They sometimes say that they've done loads
of work to set the paperwork up for several teachers and then they've
seen the consulate reject it for no good reason. (Steve)
Katie's Question: Hi, my name is Katie and I was reading the message you sent to a girl from Santa Barbara named Elizabeth regarding teaching English in Spain. I am in a similar situation and am also a senior in college with a Spanish minor and sociology major. I also spent my junior year abroad in Spain and fell in love with it. I was hoping to go back next year and teach English, much like this other girl. However I am very worried about the work visa and being a non EU citizen. I was wondering if there was anyway, that you know of, to get certified in the U.S. and have a guaranteed position abroad prior to getting over there. My fear is that I will get there and become certified but have no place to work, or would you say that it is fairly easy to find work. Do you have any suggestions? Please help, I am very worried to get over there and find myself without a visa and without work. What should I do? Thank you. Katie
Victoria's answer: Katie,I’m not sure if you
mean certified to teach - a teaching certification - or certified
to work - working papers - anyways - I think what you mean are
the working papers. You can’t expect to come here and just find
a job that gives you a work permit in two days. It’s a long
process. If you could find a job from the US that sends you
here to Spain, then I suppose they would definately take care
of the paperwork for you. I don’t know how or where you could
do this, but you may find some company that needs workers in
Spain. It’s not the normal situation, though. Most people come
here without any job or papers. Most people work under the table
until they can sort things out. Is this legal? no. Do I know
anyone who has bee kicked out of the country for doing this?
no. It’s a chance that you take. Whatever you choose to do,
make sure that you come with enough money saved up to last around
4 months - just to get your feet on the ground and find work.
It is fairly easy to find work here as an English teacher, because
there are many people who need to learn. There is a big market.
That’s not really the hard part. The hard part is getting your
papers - which is a long process and requires patience. So,
to answer your question - what should you do - That has to be
up to you. Do I think you can find work here? Yes, in a big
city, especially - no problem. The work visa is another question,
and I have yet to find out a way to get it quick – it’s just
a long process, as I said before. Are you going to be here for
a long time, or just a short period? That may influence your
decision. If you’re here for only a few months or a year – it’s
not really even worth going through the process. A lot of students
give private classes here while they are studying. Nobody seems
to bother with English teachers struggling to survive or students.
So, you could probably work giving private classes without a
problem. You have to decide on your own if you want to do that
or if you want a more permanent situation here. Things aren’t
easy – don’t expect to just come here and have everything pan
out just like that. Things are a bit different here and it’s
a process (even finding a job and that’s why I say to save up
enough for some months to cover your back). But I understand
your passion for Spain and am a living example of someone who
has done it here - but not without some suffering and a lot
of hard work. Good luck! (Victoria)
Going to the Spanish consulate in the States:
I would like to have a general idea of what I should expect when
I visit the Spanish consulate in the States (I live in Houston,
TX to be exact). My second question is, should I go there before
or after I get my TEFL certfication? Also, are they going to be
willing to help me off the bat or am I going to have to be persisent,
border-line obnoxious? I know that obtaining a work visa is difficult.
Basically, my plan is to get certified, hope that leads to an interesting job lead or
hope that the Spanish consulate can (and will) lead me in a good direction
or find a job teaching English through a school over here. I already
have five months teaching in Madrid and am anxious to return, however
this time with pay and a visa.
Steve: I came over here with a Visa I got
because I was married to a Spaniard. I haven't had to go through any
other red tape than that. As for the second one, as far as I know,
you have to have a job offer from an academy and paperwork stating
that they need an English teacher and can't find a Spaniard to do
the job (or something like that). Then, you take this to the consulate
in the U.S. I've asked several people that deal with this sort of
thing who tell me that the consulate can turn down your application
even after you've got an honest-to-goodness job offer. In any case,
the school or academy that offers you the job has to know what to
do with this as they will likely have done it before. That's a good
place to start. As for how to handle state workers, I don't think
that getting obnoxious will get you anywhere with Spanish civil servants.
They have all the power and authority to sink or "lose" your application,
if they like, and if they decide to do so, you will have no feasible
legal recourse. So I recommend you smile and eat humble pie. As for
your plans to work here, I would say you must be "certifiable" already,
:wink: so you'll likely find good company (we're all certified). Good
luck!
Work Permits Spain:
Work Permits - Spain
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