Residence and work permits
The University offers free assistance to foreign students and scholars through the Oficina de Relaciones Internacionales . Once you are in Spain you can contact them for advice on any issue concerning your legal status in Spain.
Important things to know when planning to stay
Homologación
For tenure considerations in Spain , all bachelor and doctoral degrees awarded by non-Spanish universities must be homologized by the Spanish government to the corresponding degrees awarded by Spanish universities. This process is called Homologaci ón and is a lengthy bureaucratic procedure. In order to speed up the process, we recommend you to get informed of the requirements to homologize your degree before you come to Spain. You can find all the information you need to start this process in this page of the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia.
If your PhD. degree was awarded by a U.S. institution you should ask for the following documents in the US before you come to Spain :
A certificate from the university with the following information: your personal data, your degree (Ph.D. in economics, for example), and the date the degree was awarded.
The transcripts of your grades including the number of hours of each course.
If your thesis does not include the names of the members of your committee, you need to ask for a certificate with this information.
These documents must be authenticated with the Hague Convention Apostille. To obtain "the apostille" one needs to send the documents to the office of the State Department which corresponds to the state where the university is located. The website of the NYS office explains everything about the Apostille. In particular, it says:
“Education documents (transcripts, diplomas or certificates) must be obtained from an official of the school, college or university who must certify that the document is an official record or a true copy of the original document. The official's signature must be notarized by a notary public. The document must then be presented to the County Clerk 's Office in the county where the notary public is qualified to certify the signature of the notary public. The document can then be presented to the Department of State for authentication.”
Residence and work permits
E.U. citizens are not required to obtain a residence or work permit. All you need in order to be able to work in Spain is a valid passport.
Non-E.U. citizens are required to obtain a residence permit (Permiso de residencia y reconocimiento de la excepción a la necesidad de obtener permiso de trabajo) to work in Spain. You can request a residence permit in any Spanish consulate. To request a residence permit you need the following documents: a valid passport, three photographs, a certificate of good health, your criminal record, and a job offer from the University of Alicante. The University of Alicante will send the job offer on your behalf to the Spanish Ministry of Interior, which will send it in turn to the consulate. When your residence permit has been approved you have to go back to the Spanish consulate and request a Visa to travel to Spain. Once you are in Spain , it might take some time before you receive your residence card. Until you receive your residence card you are not suppose to leave Spain , even if your request for a residence permit has been approved, unless you have an official permit to reenter Spain. This permit is called Autorización de Regreso. We recommend you to request an Autorización de Regreso as soon as you arrive in Spain. You can request an Autorización de Regreso in the Immigration Office of Alicante. This permit is valid for three months and can be used multiple times. Keep in mind that you will not be granted another Autorización de Regreso until the last one you were granted has expired. Therefore, when you return to Spain after a trip you should not allow the immigration officer to keep your Autorización de Regreso even if he/she insists.
Non-E.U. students need to obtain a special residence permit for students. Please note that you cannot work in Spain with this permit. If you want to start working (for instance, if you are hired by this or another Spanish university), having a student permit won’t save you any of the steps in the previous paragraph.
Once you are living in Spain
Número de Identificación de Extranjeros (NIE)
The NIE is an identification number granted by the Spanish government to foreigners living in Spain. Once you are assigned a NIE, this number will serve you for all official administrative proceedings. It is also helpful to have a NIE for other, non official, affairs like opening a bank account or renting movies. The Spanish government automatically assigns all non-E.U. citizens a NIE when their residence permit is approved.
E.U. citizens are not required to have a NIE and will not be assigned one unless they request it. We recommend all E.U. citizens to request a NIE. Without a NIE you will not be considered a permanent resident by the Spanish tax authority. This means that you will have to request a NIF (fiscal identification number) to file your taxes and will have to file taxes once every three months instead of once a year.
Empadronamiento
This is needed for granting public Health Assistance
Some addresses
Immigration Office Adress (Oficina de Extranjeros): Calle Ebanistería, 6. (5) Tel. (34) 965 01 94 55.
The University Office for Internacional Relations (Oficina de Relaciones Internacionales): Apartado de Correos 99, 03080, Alicante (ESPAÑA). Tel: (34) 965 90 37 93. FAX: (34) 965 90 37 94. E-mail: sri@sri.ua.es.