Here’s a piece of info I’m quoting from http://www.spainexpat.com/spain/information/visas_in_spain_for_work_or_holiday/

If you?re a non-EU citizen, and you want to stay in Spain for more than 30 days (90 days for some nationalities), you need a visa.  If you want to live in Spain, the process is this: First get a visa from the Spanish Embassy or Consulate closest to your home.  When you arrive in Spain, you work on getting residency . After you get that, you can begin work on getting citizenship.

My questions are:

1. First get a visa—what kind of visa should I get? I suppose a tourist visa wouldn’t allow me to look for a job in Spain or am I mistaken? Do I have to get a business visa? Actually, how many different type of visa are there?

2. What does it mean to “work on getting residency”? Normally, what kinda of people are given residency? People who have found a job after arriving in Spain? (The pre-requisite is that, of course, I am allowed to look for a job with the visa obtained to enter Spain.)

Thanks,
Owen

Where are you from?

Citizenship is Chinese, and resident of Singapore (meaning I can go through all the paper work in Singapore, which is a lot easier than in China)... How would that matter?

Hi Owen,
The reason it matters is this

If you?re a non-EU citizen, and you want to stay in Spain for more than 30 days (90 days for some nationalities), you need a visa.

I’m not familiar with the situation for Asian passport holders. I also don’t know if, as a resident of Singapore, that means going through the paper work in Singapore or in China. I think that’d depend on your passport, but like I said I don’t have the first clue.

As a Canadian, American, Aussie, etc you don’t need to apply for any visa, it’s already granted at the border. It’s a tourist visa, and of course you’re allowed to look for work on that, it just means returning to your home country to pick it up (inevitable, sorry!).

All the types of visas are the ones mentioned on the page you’ve linked to, plus the work visa, which is linked to at the top of that article.

Hope that helps, sorry I’m not more familiar with the situation for Singaporeans/Chinese!