How are Spain's highly qualified worker visa and the EU blue card different?

While the highly qualified professionals visa and the EU blue card may not be the most common ways for non-EU citizens to move to Spain, they are options for those with a high level of qualifications and skills who manage to secure a job offer from a Spanish company.

These days the most common visas for third country nationals to come and live in Spain are the non-lucrative visa, which doesn’t allow you to work or the digital nomad visa, which means you must already have a remote job or be self-employed and already work with clients abroad.

There is, however, a bit of confusion between the highly qualified professionals visa and the EU blue card because essentially, they both require high level skill levels and job offers from companies in Spain.

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The visa for highly qualified professionals is a residence permit granted to non-EU citizens to carry out a job as an employee in Spain in a high-skill position such as that of a member of a senior management team. Spanish law doesn’t specify exactly what a highly qualified worker is, however, so it may depend on the discretion of the person in charge of granting the visa, as well as the company offering you the position.

The EU Blue Card on the other hand is a residence and work permit that allows you to live and work legally throughout the European Union. Nevertheless, it will be tied to a job offer you receive in Spain. It’s ideal for those who may want to spend extended amounts of time in other EU countries.

With this card you can take trips of up to 3 months to other EU states for professional activities or long-term trips, after 12 months of residence in a Member State.

It is not to be confused with the EU long-term residence permit, which is slightly different again.

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The general requirements for both are:

• Having no criminal record in Spain and in the countries where you have resided during the last five years.
• Not being forbidden to enter Spain or being listed as liable to be refused entry in other countries Spain has agreements with.
• Have a job offer from a company in Spain.

Both the highly qualified work visa and the EU blue card are initially granted for a period of three years.

You can renew both of them for a further two years provided you still meet the conditions you initially came on and your company are happy to keep you on. After a total of five years living in Spain on both visas, you can apply for a long-term residence permit.

Qualifications

For the highly qualified visa you need to have higher education, but for the EU blue card it must specifically be a university qualification. For example, you could have done advanced vocational training for the high-skilled visa, but for the EU blue card it must be either a Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD from a recognised university.

The highly qualified visa requires you to have at least three years of professional experience, while for the EU blue card, you must have at least five.

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Salary thresholds

To be granted either of them you need to meet certain salary thresholds. In 2025, if you are under 30 years old you must be earning at least €30,058 gross per year and €40,077 gross per year if you’re over 30.

At a director or manager level you must be earning at least €54,142 gross per year or €40,607 if you’re under 30.

Both visas allow you to bring family members with you, whether that’s a spouse, an unmarried partner or children. If you want to bring elderly parents with you then it’s likely you’ll have to prove that they’re financially independent on you.

It’s important to remember that you won’t apply for either visa yourself, it will be up to the company who offers you the job to apply for it for you. You should hear back for both within a period of 20 years.