From a student visa to a work permit as a doctor in Spain

What is the modification from study stay to residence and work?

It is the procedure in the Immigration Regulation (RD 1155/2024, in force since 20-05-2025) that turns your study, training or specialised health training stay (estancia por estudios) into a residence and work authorisation without leaving Spain or applying for a new visa at the consulate. The Immigration Office (Oficina de Extranjería) of your province decides it.

One distinction confuses many residents: during the MIR you do not hold residence, you hold a stay (the special regime of Law 44/2003 on health professions). So when you finish the specialty you do not renew anything: you change regime. That is also why MIR years do not count towards citizenship by residence, while the years under the new authorisation do.

The three tracks remain separate. Degree recognition (homologación) is decided by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities; the specialist title by the Ministry of Health; registration (colegiación) by the provincial Medical or Nursing College; and immigration papers by the Immigration Office. This guide covers the last track, which Booka handles for you.

Who qualifies? MIR, bachelor's, master's and specialised health training

Anyone who has successfully completed, in Spain and on a study stay, a higher degree, vocational training, training leading to a professional qualification or specialised health training. RD 1155/2024 expressly names the MIR, EIR, FIR and the other health specialties, and removes the 3-year prior stay requirement of the old RD 557/2011.

• A resident finishing the MIR, EIR, PIR, FIR or any specialised health training: expressly covered.
• A doctor or nurse finishing an official master's, a PhD or a bachelor's at a Spanish university: covered if the degree is higher education.
• Final-year trainees: you file within the 2 months before your stay expires or you obtain the title, not earlier.
• Excluded: language courses, adult compulsory education, holders of a development cooperation grant, and anyone whose first stay was requested after 20-05-2024 solely for non-work internships or volunteering (Instruction SEM 3/2025).

If your case does not fit, there is still a route: the hospital can apply directly for an initial residence and work authorisation as an employee, subject to the national employment situation test unless your occupation is in the quarterly shortage occupation list, which in the first quarter of 2026 did not include doctors or nurses.

When do you file? The window of 2 months before and 3 months after

You file during the 2 months before your stay expires (or before you obtain the title) and up to 3 months afterwards, under Management Criterion 1/2025 implementing article 191 of RD 1155/2024. Filing within that window extends your previous stay until the Immigration Office decides, so you are never in an irregular situation while you wait.

After those 3 months the modification is no longer available and the exit is different: an initial authorisation requested by the employer or, after 2 continuous years in Spain, an arraigo. That is why the end date of your residency or degree is the first piece of data Bookahospi asks for.

Can I work while it is being decided? The provisional authorisation

Yes. From the moment the Immigration Office admits your application you are granted provisional authorisation to work in the modality you requested, as an employee or self-employed (article 190 of RD 1155/2024). The hospital can register you with Social Security on that provisional authorisation and the contract starts running.

Before admission there is no such authorisation. Working in that interval, or with an expired stay and nothing filed, is working without authorisation and can harm your file. The practical rule is to file within the window and wait for the admission notice, which is usually a matter of days from registration depending on the office.

If your resident contract has not ended yet, you keep working as a resident: the specialised health training stay allows the work inherent to the post without a separate work authorisation. The change of regime is only needed for the contract that follows.

Requirements and steps of the modification, with who does each one

You can apply for three modalities: residence and work as an employee (the usual one with a hospital or clinic contract), residence and self-employed work (private practice) and residence with exemption from work authorisation. For doctors and nurses it is almost always the employee route, because registration and Social Security enrolment depend on that contract.

1. 1

   Diagnosis of your case and your deadline

   Bookahospi checks with you that your stay and degree fit article 191 and fixes the exact window of 2 months before and 3 after. Timing: 48 hours from when you send your TIE and completion certificate.

2. 2

   Offer or contract from the hospital

   The hospital or clinic signs the contract or firm offer stating the category (specialist physician, nurse). The employer does this; Booka tells them the format the Immigration Office accepts. Ideally 2 months before the stay expires.

3. 3

   File: degree, passport, TIE and criminal record

   Booka gathers the specialty or degree completion certificate, valid passport, TIE and, if the office requires it, an apostilled criminal record certificate with sworn translation (≤ 3 months old). You only provide originals. Timing: 1 to 2 weeks.

4. 4

   Payment of fee 790 code 052

   Between 10.94 and 16.40 € depending on the type of modification (Order PJC/617/2025). Booka generates the form and you pay it online the same day.

5. 5

   Filing with the Immigration Office

   Booka files the application electronically under your representation within the window. From that moment your previous stay is extended until the decision.

6. 6

   Admission and provisional work authorisation

   The Immigration Office notifies admission; with it you hold provisional authorisation to work (art. 190). The hospital registers you with Social Security. Usual timing: days from registration, depending on the office.

7. 7

   Decision within the legal 3-month deadline

   The Immigration Office decides within a legal deadline of 3 months from registration; approval depends on its decision and busy offices may exceed it. Booka tracks the file and answers any requests.

8. 8

   TIE card and professional registration

   Within a month of approval you apply for the TIE at the Police station (790-012 fee: 16.08 €). With the new TIE you complete or update your registration with the provincial College, which requires an apostilled certificate of good standing less than 3 months old.

How long does it take and how much does the study-to-work modification cost?

The legal decision deadline is 3 months from the day the application enters the register of the competent body. Approval depends on the Immigration Office's decision and in provinces with heavy caseloads the deadline may be exceeded; meanwhile, the provisional authorisation lets you work and your previous stay remains extended.

• Fee 790 code 052 for modification of status: between 10.94 and 16.40 € depending on the type of modification (Order PJC/617/2025, according to Taxdown and Parainmigrantes, 2025).
• Fee 790 code 012 for the first TIE card: 16.08 €.
• If the hospital instead applies for an initial employee authorisation, it also pays the employer's fee 790 code 062: 203.84 € for a salary under 2 times the minimum wage and 407.71 € at or above it, according to Legal Fournier and Parainmigrantes, 2025.
• Booka's service prices are shown on its page and are separate from these official fees.

The specific validity of the authorisation granted after the modification is set by the decision itself, according to the modality requested. What is verified is that employee residence and work is renewed for 4 years (article 72 of RD 1155/2024) and that the renewal also allows self-employed work.

What comes next? TIE, registration, EU Blue Card and citizenship

Once granted, you move from stay to residence, with three practical consequences: the new TIE within 1 month, registration with the College using your final resident documents, and the start of the clock for citizenship by residence, which for nationals of Ibero-American countries is 2 years of legal and continuous residence (article 22 of the Civil Code).

If your salary exceeds the threshold, the hospital may opt for the EU Blue Card (Law 11/2023) instead of the ordinary employee permit. In 2026 the general threshold is 41,356.36 € gross per year and the reduced one 33,085.09 € for those who obtained their degree in the previous 3 years, according to ARC Legal, 09-06-2026, applying Order PJC/44/2026. A specialist newly qualified in Spain usually meets the second condition.

This guide is general information, last legal review on 04-10-2026 (RD 1155/2024 and RD 316/2026), and does not replace legal advice on your file.

By country of origin

What changes if you come from Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico, Peru or Cuba?

The change of status is filed in Spain, not at the consulate. What still depends on your country is the criminal record certificate if the Immigration Office asks for an updated one: you will need to obtain it remotely and have it apostilled (or legalised, if you are Cuban).

• All are Ibero-American countries: Spanish citizenship after 2 years of legal residence (art. 22 of the Civil Code) and exemption from the DELE exam as Spanish speakers.
• Documents must be filed less than 3 months old and with a sworn translation if not in Spanish.

Consular addresses and districts: exteriores.gob.es. Apostille authorities: Hague Conference (hcch.net).