Highlights:

·      The Spanish Government is planning to extend the job seeker visa validity to 12 months.

·      The extended visa validity will help job seekers in Spain find better jobs and stay there.

·      The new move aims to address the current labor market requirements in Spain.

·      Spain is also planning to grant legal status to over 300,000 undocumented migrants till 2027.

Spain Job Seeker visa will now be valid for a year

The Immigration authorities in Spain are planning to increase the visa validity for job seekers to 12 months from the current three months. The one-year validity will help job seekers find better job opportunities to work and settle in Spain. The Spanish authorities will likely implement the new Spain Job Seeker visa validity changes in 2025.

The change in the job seeker visa is expected to provide foreign nationals more time to find employment and transition to legal residency, and in turn help boost the Spanish economy. This decision was taken to meet the labour market demands as well as to bolster its economy.

A Spain job seeker visa allows job seekers to migrate to the country and look for jobs. Once they get a valid job offer, job seekers are required to undergo certain immigration procedures to stay and work in Spain as legal residents.

Spain to regularize 300,000 migrants every year till 2027

The Spanish Migration Minister, Elma Saiz, recently announced that Spain is planning to provide legal status to around 300,000 migrants each year till the end of 2027, which means Spain will Grant Residency & Work Permits to 900,000 migrants by 2027.

The Spanish labor market is in need of around 250,000 workers to maintain its economy. The new visa rules will be effective from May 2025.  As per the latest changes, the country will streamline the work and residence permit process for migrants in Spain.