The internship visa technically falls under the category of student visa. (Please refer to our “You want to study” section for all the details).
However, there are few details which are unique to the student visa for the purpose of an internship:
- You are allowed to work on a student visa in Spain, but since the main goal of your stay in Spain is to study, any work you do is regulated with this purpose in mind.
- You have the ability to work part-time when school is in session, or full-time during school breaks for less than three months. However, this type of work falls into two categories: internships (prácticas) and working under a special student work visa (called an Autorización Excepcional de Trabajo).
- You can work at an eligible internship (paid or unpaid), but it must be part of your university studies and supervised by your university. Also, you must be under 30 years old and the internship cannot be longer than a year. For this type of internship, you don’t require any special permission, as everything is already regulated by an agreement between the university and the employer.
- The second scenario is to obtain a special student work visa (Autorización Excepcional de Trabajo). Once a company has agreed to hire you, your future employer must apply for it on your behalf and you cannot work for up to three months while it is being processed. The other scenario is that you have an employer willing to hire you and you want to transition to a regular work and residence visa while still in Spain, but you must have studied legally in Spain for a minimum of three years and having earned passing grades. Otherwise, you must return to your home country to have the visa processed as would any other normal work and residence visa.
For further information on internship visas, please refer to the following sites:
