Ok. Here’s the thing. I’m currently living in Burgos, Spain with a Student Visa. I have a scholarship from the MEC and my student visa will allow me to be in Spain legally from now until September of 2010 at least, perhaps I could extend it for one more year after that. I am from the USA, hold a pedagogy degree in foreign language education, and am a licensed public school teacher in the States. I also have near-native proficiency in Spanish and am considering completing a CELTA course next summer in Madrid to compliment my degree from the US. My obvious career path in Spain would be teaching English or doing some type of translation work.

My “plan” right now is to use the two “free years” of legal time in Spain under the scholarship to look for a more permanent job so that when my time under the scholarship is over, I can apply for “residencia para trabajar por cuenta ajena” and stay in the country legally.

I’m just wondering if it’s realistically going to be possible for me, being American, to find a company/language school willing to hire me and then to get the work permit authorized by the Spanish government. Most people I run into tell me to just work illegally; but this, for me personally, is not an option. I consider myself to be a pretty well-educated person and do not want to be working the rest of my life “under the table” in Spain with no healthcare or retirement benefits when I could be in the USA with those benefits.

This is my third time living in Spain and I like the lifestyle much more than the USA and would rather live here; however, I also like having healthcare and would eventually like my job in Spain to provide for retirement for me. This is why I refuse to stay in Spain to work illegally after the scholarship is over.

Are there any Americans who have managed to start a career in Spain legally? Would my best bet be to speak with an immigration lawyer in Madrid about this?  I figure I have a bit of an advantage in looking for work becuase I can legally stay in Spain for such a long time under my scholarship. Any suggestions/comments that you can make on my situation would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!
-Chris

Hi Chris!  How long have you been here already?  There is a Spanish law that gives permanent residence to those foreigners who can prove they’ve lived in Spain legally or not for 5 years.  The permanent residence includes a work permit. 

My case is a little different since I came here on my dad’s visa and did all my studies in Spain.  But I am an American with a career in my area of study on the Costa del Sol. 

I know plenty of cases of Americans who have come to stay or married a Spaniard and created a life for themselves here legally.  I think you can do it.  If I were you, I’d go ahead and start handing out CV’s. 

Now, about the healthcare and retirement benefits.  You do know that those are covered by Social Security here and hardly ever by your company?  But Spanish social security works 100 times better than US social security. 

Why not skip the whole teaching English thing, which is an already overloaded sector, and study for “oposiciones”?  Go ahead and start getting your US degree convalidated here.  You could become a Spanish public school teacher. 

-Emily

Hi Emily!  Thanks for your post!  Here are some of the answers to your questions:

rubi995 - 04 September 2008 02:12 PM

Hi Chris!  How long have you been here already?  There is a Spanish law that gives permanent residence to those foreigners who can prove they’ve lived in Spain legally or not for 5 years.  The permanent residence includes a work permit.

I have been in Spain just a few days right now…. This is actually my third trip to Spain, and while my last two were several months in length, they were not consecutive trips and wouldn’t count toward the five year thing.  Still, the scholarship could technically allow me to stay in Spain for three years (beginning now) so if I could figure out how to drift through two more years I could probably hit the five year mark… I knew about the permanent residency thing after five years but I did not know it came with a work permit.

rubi995 - 04 September 2008 02:12 PM

Now, about the healthcare and retirement benefits.  You do know that those are covered by Social Security here and hardly ever by your company?  But Spanish social security works 100 times better than US social security.

Yes, I did know that.  In my original post, I just basically meant that I’d like to have the right to healthcare under the Social Security System and some type of pension under the Social Security System (I know I’d probably have to suppliment that with my own savings the way we use IRAs and other investments in the States). 

rubi995 - 04 September 2008 02:12 PM

Why not skip the whole teaching English thing, which is an already overloaded sector, and study for “oposiciones”?  Go ahead and start getting your US degree convalidated here.  You could become a Spanish public school teacher.

I have thought about that as well; however, my US degree is in Spanish/Foreign Language Education and I’m actually only licensed to teach Spanish as a foreign language in the USA… I know there’s not really much need for a Spanish as a foreign language teacher in Spain; however, I have thought about having my degree convalidadted and taking additional courses so I could perhaps teach English in a public school in Spain…. the whole convalidating process has me a bit confused though and I think I would need a little advice from a lawyer or someone who has done it before.

I imagine that it would probably be wise for me to meet with an immigration lawyer to discuss some of my options and figure out how to navigate the bureaucracy that is Spain. (haha)  Could anyone recommend a good one?

Thanks again for your reply… it is good to hear a little encouragement and know that there are Americans who have managed to do what I want to do. 

—Chris