Relocating a business and employees to Spain: how to move your team

There are three ways to move a team to Spain. If an employee has worked for the company or group for at least three months and is needed on site, it is an intra-company transfer under Law 14/2013. If there is no service in the group, or a Spanish company is hiring, it is the highly qualified professional permit. If no office in Spain is needed and the person works remotely for a company outside it, it is the digital nomad visa.

Posting under Law 45/1999, familiar to European companies, does not work for a company from Russia, the UAE or Kazakhstan: that law covers EU companies. Their employees move through an intra-company transfer. UGE decides within 20 working days, silence means approval, and the company registers with UGE once for three years and then files for employees in batches.

A transferred employee can be taxed under the Beckham regime, 24% instead of the progressive scale. For social security, the 1994 agreement with Russia is in force, while employees from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and the UAE are registered with Spanish Seguridad Social.

Three routes and how to choose

The salary threshold and procedure for a specialist are on the highly qualified professional permit page; remote work is covered in the digital nomad visa guide. Below is the intra-company transfer: it is the route usually chosen when a team moves.

Intra-company transfer: how it works

The transfer is governed by Articles 73–76 of Law 14/2013. Requirements for the employee: a degree or three years’ experience, at least three months’ uninterrupted work for the company or group, a clean criminal record and health insurance. For the company: genuine activity and transfer documents. The EU directive lets countries require up to 12 months’ service; Spain chose the minimum, three months (Directive 2014/66).

• EU transfer (ICT UE): for managers, specialists and trainees transferred by a company outside the EU into its own or its group’s entity in Spain. Up to three years, one year for trainees. The permit gives mobility within the EU.
• National transfer: in all other cases, including to perform a contract; three years or the length of the transfer, with a 2-year renewal.
• Company registration. The company proves genuine activity once and is entered in the UGE register for three years (Article 76.4). After that it can file for employees in batches without proving its activity, each person’s qualification and service again (Article 74). The former «large company» criteria (250 employees, turnover of €50m or more) were removed from the law in 2022.
• Timing. UGE decides within 20 working days, and silence means approval (Article 76); if the deadline has passed, how to request a decision is covered in the article on UGE silence. An employee lawfully in Spain applies from inside the country; one abroad gets a visa within 10 working days after approval.

Why not a posting

Law 45/1999 on the posting of workers covers companies from the EU and the European Economic Area (Ley 45/1999, Article 1.2). The preamble to the new regulation states plainly that transnational provision of services by third-country companies is governed by Law 14/2013 (RD 1155/2024). So a Russian, Kazakh or Emirati company needs an intra-company transfer, not a posting notification.

Do you need a company in Spain

• For an EU transfer, yes: the receiving entity must belong to the same company or group and be established in Spain, as a subsidiary or branch (Article 73.3.a).
• For a national transfer the law does not expressly require a Spanish entity: the company or group may be «established in Spain or in another country». How UGE applies this in practice is worth checking case by case.
• Permanent establishment. If the company regularly does business through a place of work in Spain, or through an employee who signs contracts on its behalf, it creates a taxable presence in Spain (Article 13.1.a of the Non-Resident Income Tax Law). Russian companies have no treaty protection: by Decree No. 585 of 08.08.2023 Russia suspended the permanent establishment article (decree), so the Spanish definition applies.

How to set up a Spanish company or branch and which to choose is covered in the article on entering the Spanish market; an overview of business forms is in the article on business in Spain.

Social security

• Russia. The 1994 social security agreement is in force (BOE, Seguridad Social list). The general rule is insurance in the country of work; a posted employee may stay in the Russian system for a period agreed by the two countries’ authorities (Article 7.1). The agreement sets no fixed period, and whether such agreements are issued today needs checking.
• Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, the UAE, Georgia, Armenia. There are no agreements with Spain, so the employee is registered with Spanish Seguridad Social, which covers foreigners lawfully working in Spain. For the first six months registration is possible on a passport, without an NIE (Article 76.5 of Law 14/2013).

The employee’s tax: the Beckham regime

A move ordered by the employer with a letter of transfer is expressly listed among the grounds for the Beckham regime (Article 93.1 of the Personal Income Tax Law). The condition is not having been a Spanish tax resident for the previous five years. The rate is 24% on employment income up to €600,000 and 47% above that; the regime applies in the year of the move and the next five years. Family members, the spouse and children under 25, can join the regime if their combined base is lower than the employee’s.

If the owner of a foreign company moves along with the team, check separately where its place of effective management will end up: a company run from Spain may be treated by the tax authority as Spanish. This is covered, using Cypriot companies as the example, in our guide to moving from Cyprus to Spain.

• Filing deadline. Modelo 149 is filed within six months of starting work as registered with Spanish Seguridad Social; if the employee stayed in Russian social security, from the date shown in the document confirming it (Article 116 of the IRPF Regulation).
• Who withholds tax. If the salary is paid by a related foreign company, the Spanish company or establishment where the employee works must withhold (Articles 76.2.a and 114.3 of the Regulation).

From what income the regime pays off can be worked out with the calculator in the article on the Beckham Law.

The employee’s family

A spouse or partner, children including dependent adults, and dependent parents get residence together with the employee or later (Article 62.4 of Law 14/2013); applications filed together are decided together. The spouse’s right to work is not written into the law expressly, but UGE’s transfer leaflet says the permit is valid for work for family members too (UGE leaflet). The labour market situation is not checked. Who counts as family and how to prove it is covered in the article on the digital nomad’s family: the family circle under Law 14/2013 is the same.

What to budget for a team move

• UGE fees for each employee and each family member, then the TIE card fee.
• Apostille and sworn translation of degrees, criminal record certificates and company documents.
• Private health insurance until registration with Seguridad Social; policy requirements are in the article on health insurance.
• Spanish social security contributions if there is no social security agreement.
• Advice on permanent establishment and company tax before the move, not after the first audit.

Common mistakes

• Registering employees from Russia as posted workers under Law 45/1999, which is for EU companies.
• Transferring an employee with less than three months at the company: they need the highly qualified permit, not a transfer.
• Choosing an EU transfer without a Spanish group entity.
• Missing the six months for Modelo 149 and losing the Beckham regime.
• Ignoring the permanent establishment risk when a manager who signs contracts works from Spain.

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Frequently asked questions

How do you move a company’s employees to Spain?

Through an intra-company transfer under Law 14/2013 if the employee has worked for the company or group for at least three months. With no such service, or if a Spanish company hires, through the highly qualified professional permit; if no office is needed, through the digital nomad visa.

How long does UGE take to decide an employee transfer?

20 working days; if there is no decision, the permit is deemed granted by silence. An employee abroad gets a visa within 10 working days of approval.

Can a posting from Russia to Spain be arranged?

Posting law 45/1999 is designed for EU companies. Employees of a Russian company move through an intra-company transfer under Law 14/2013.

Do you need a Spanish company to transfer an employee?

For an EU transfer, yes, a subsidiary or branch in Spain. For a national transfer the law does not expressly require one, but the permanent establishment risk has to be considered.

Does the Beckham regime apply to a transferred employee?

Yes: a move ordered by the employer with a letter of transfer is expressly listed in the law. Modelo 149 must be filed within six months of starting work.

Do Spanish social security contributions have to be paid?

For Russia the 1994 agreement applies: a posted employee may stay in the Russian system for an agreed period. There are no agreements with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan or the UAE, so the employee is registered with Spanish Seguridad Social.

Sources

• Ley 14/2013: Articles 62.4, 71, 73, 74, 74 bis, 75.5, 76; Directive 2014/66/EU; UGE transfer leaflet
• Ley 45/1999; RD 1155/2024, preamble; Non-Resident Income Tax Law, Article 13; Decree No. 585 of 08.08.2023
• Spain–Russia social security agreement, 1994; Seguridad Social: international agreements; LIRPF, Article 93; RIRPF, Articles 76, 114, 116