An employer letter should establish the real employment relationship and explicitly support remote work from Spain. A generic letter saying you may “work from anywhere” can leave important questions unanswered. The letter also needs to fit your contract, the employer’s corporate evidence and the proposed social security arrangement.
This guide is for employees of foreign companies, including US W-2 employees and UK payroll employees. Freelancers need evidence of their professional relationships rather than an employee letter copied into a client contract. For a complete assessment, use our digital nomad visa legal service.
What the employer letter is intended to prove
Spain’s international teleworker regime requires evidence of the relevant employment or professional relationship for at least the three months before applying. The foreign company or group must have real, continuous activity for at least one year. The work must be compatible with remote performance through computer, telecommunications or similar means.
For an employee, the employer must permit the remote-work arrangement. The letter should make that permission understandable in the context of Spain, rather than leave the reviewer to infer it from a general flexible-working policy.
These requirements come from Law 14/2013 and the applicable official application instructions. They are not merely preferences of a private adviser. Passing one requirement does not compensate for failing another.
A practical employer-letter checklist
- Employer identity: the legal company name, registered location and relevant contact details.
- Employee identity: your full name, matching the passport, and the role you actually hold.
- Relationship history: when the employment began and confirmation that it remains in force.
- Remote-work permission: explicit approval to perform the relevant duties remotely from Spain.
- Nature of the role: why the duties can be performed through the permitted remote means.
- Conditions of the arrangement: the relevant period and terms, consistent with the contract.
- Pay evidence: accurate remuneration information, supported by payroll and financial records. Houston’s published employee checklist expressly asks for income alongside seniority and consent to work online; follow the competent authority’s presentation requirements.
- Signatory: an identifiable person authorised to make the employer’s confirmation.
This is a preparation checklist, not an official form or a guarantee of acceptance. The precise certification, signature, translation and supporting-document requirements depend on where and how you apply. Confirm them before asking the employer to finalise the letter.
Do not make the letter contradict the employment contract
If the contract specifies office-based work in another country, a letter allowing work from Spain should be supported by a coherent amendment or arrangement where needed. If your contract is fixed-term, the letter should not imply indefinite employment. If the employer changed after a group transfer, explain the legal entities and relationship history.
Names, job titles, start dates, salary and employer identity should agree across the letter, contract, payslips and bank evidence. Small discrepancies are not necessarily fatal, but unexplained contradictions make the file harder to assess.
If the letter has been written for convenience rather than to describe the real arrangement, fix the arrangement first. An application should not promise conditions that the employer has not actually approved.
Why HR permission and payroll approval are different
A manager may approve a location change without the company being ready for the legal consequences of Spain-based work. Ask who has reviewed payroll, social security, employment obligations and any corporate tax implications. Immigration permission does not resolve those obligations for the employer.
Private health insurance is not a replacement for required social security compliance. An overseas payslip showing deductions does not by itself establish that the worker may remain covered by the overseas system while working from Spain.
Read our US and UK social security guide before treating a letter from HR as the final green light. Some otherwise promising applications need employer-side work before they are ready to file.
Company evidence: the letter is not a substitute
The requirement for real, continuous business activity for at least one year must be supported by appropriate evidence. Corporate registration may establish incorporation, but the reviewer also needs the evidence requested for genuine activity. A recently incorporated entity cannot simply borrow the trading history of another company without a legally supported explanation.
Check what corporate extracts, certificates or other documents the current application instructions require, and how those documents should be authenticated and translated. Do not assume a website printout or LinkedIn page replaces official corporate documentation.
If you work for a multinational group, identify the actual employer on your contract and payroll. The brand name used publicly may not be the legal employer. The letter and supporting evidence should describe the correct entity.
US employees: W-2 status is a starting fact, not a visa category
A W-2 helps describe your US employment and tax reporting, but it does not prove permission to work from Spain or establish the social security law that applies after relocation. Provide the underlying relationship evidence and have the employer assess the cross-border arrangement.
Do not switch to a 1099 arrangement solely because an online guide says freelancers have easier paperwork. The substance of the relationship matters for employment classification, tax and immigration. A contractor label cannot safely replace a real employee relationship without a proper review.
The employer should understand the difference between approving a short overseas work period and agreeing to ongoing residence in Spain. The duration and genuine circumstances affect the compliance analysis.
UK employees: check the actual Spain-based arrangement
A UK employment contract and payroll history can support the relationship evidence. They do not automatically entitle you to keep UK social security coverage for all work done from Spain. Where a certificate of coverage is sought, the competent authority must determine whether the situation qualifies.
Ask whether the company has reviewed the applicable UK–EU social security coordination provisions, the relevant certificate and any Spanish registration obligations. A letter should not assert that coverage is valid unless the supporting arrangement and evidence justify that statement.
Income and professional qualifications need separate proof
The employer letter is not the whole financial file. The main applicant’s digital nomad threshold is based on 200% of SMI; family additions use 75% for the first accompanying family member and 25% for each further one under the official criteria. Use the current applicable benchmark and official calculation, not an old monthly figure.
Salary statements, contract terms and evidence of payment should tell a consistent story. Variable bonuses, commissions, stock awards and currency conversion need careful treatment rather than a casual projection. The authority may request further evidence.
The qualification requirement is also separate: the law includes qualifying degrees or professional training and an alternative based on at least three years of professional experience. An employer’s praise of your competence is not automatically enough to demonstrate the required history.
Before filing: run a consistency review
- Confirm the real employing entity and continuous relationship history.
- Obtain explicit Spain-based remote-work permission from an authorised signatory.
- Match the letter against the contract, payroll and payments.
- Check corporate evidence and proof of actual business activity.
- Resolve social security and healthcare documentation.
- Confirm the current financial threshold, family evidence and professional qualifications.
- Follow the submission route’s authentication, translation and identity requirements.
Applying at a consulate for a visa and applying from lawful presence in Spain for a residence authorisation are different procedures. The supporting employment story should remain consistent, but the form, jurisdiction and procedural requirements may differ. Neither route removes the substantive eligibility conditions.
Give HR a factual brief before asking for a signature
Prepare a one-page factual brief identifying the employee, legal employer, employment start date, actual duties, pay and intended Spain-based arrangement. Attach the contract provisions or amendment that support those facts. HR should not have to invent a narrative from a visa checklist, and the employee should not draft assertions that the company has never reviewed.
Identify who can approve the location change and who can sign on behalf of the employer. A line manager may know the work but lack authority to commit the company to a cross-border arrangement. Payroll or legal staff may need to review different questions. The signed letter should reflect an approved arrangement, not merely a manager's informal enthusiasm for the move.
Ask HR to flag uncertain facts rather than fill gaps with guesses. A disputed start date, entity change or salary description should be resolved before the letter is finalised. Supporting evidence can explain legitimate complexity, but a simple statement that is false is not made acceptable by putting it on company letterhead.
Illustrative wording for remote-work permission
The following is a discussion example, not an official template: “The company confirms that the employee's duties can be performed remotely using computer and telecommunications systems and authorises the employee to perform those duties from Spain under the agreed employment conditions.” It should only be used if it accurately describes the role and the company's approval.
The final letter should identify the employee and legal employer and give the relevant dates and conditions. If permission is limited to a defined period, state that period honestly. If an amendment is required, cross-reference it. Do not add a claim that all Spanish employment, tax or social security obligations have been resolved unless the employer has actually obtained the necessary review and supporting evidence.
A useful letter answers the immigration evidence question without promising matters outside the signatory's knowledge. It does not guarantee approval, certify a foreign authority's future decision or create an exception to Spanish law. The current official instructions remain the reference for required content, authentication and supporting documents.
Explain the duties, not just the job title
A title such as consultant, manager or engineer says little about whether the duties are genuinely remote. Describe the relevant functions in plain language: preparing analysis, developing software, providing online support or delivering services through digital systems. Avoid copying a general job advertisement if the actual role has changed.
Where the role includes visits, physical operations or other on-site tasks, explain how these interact with the proposed remote arrangement. Do not assert that a role is fully remote while leaving regular in-person duties unexplained. A private flexible-working policy may support the story, but it does not replace evidence that this employee's actual duties can be performed in the permitted way.
The account should be consistent across the letter, contract and any supporting organisational evidence. If the authority requests clarification, the employer should be able to explain the arrangement without changing the essential facts. This preparation is especially valuable where the company has never supported an international remote-work application before.
Group transfers, new employers and outsourced payroll
A corporate group can involve several legal entities. Record which entity employed you during the relevant period, which one employs you now and whether a transfer or restructuring occurred. A group brand on a payslip or website may not identify the contractual employer. Provide an evidence trail rather than assuming that all entities are interchangeable.
Where the arrangement changed recently, obtain advice on the relationship-history requirement and the evidence of continuity. Do not backdate a letter or silently use the start date from an unrelated employer. The legal relevance of group history depends on the facts and applicable criteria; a generic template cannot decide that issue.
Outsourced payroll also needs explanation. A payroll processor is not necessarily the legal employer, whereas an employer-of-record arrangement may change the employer itself. If a Spanish entity becomes the legal employer, assess the implications for the international teleworker route before signing. Paying a foreign client does not automatically make a Spanish employment relationship eligible.
Create a supporting-document map
Map each statement in the letter to the evidence supporting it. Employment start and continuity may be supported by the contract and relevant records. Remuneration should agree with pay documents and receipts. The employer's identity and business history need the appropriate corporate evidence. Remote-work permission should agree with the approved terms.
Keep this map separate from the letter so it can serve as an internal quality check. It is not a new statutory form. If a statement lacks supporting evidence, ask whether the evidence can be obtained or whether the statement needs clarification. Do not fill the application with unrelated corporate material simply because it is easy to download.
Before commissioning authentication, identify the document type and issuing country. A private employer letter and a public corporate extract do not necessarily follow the same authentication route. Check signature, certification, translation and copy requirements with the competent authority. Avoid the costly assumption that every page can be apostilled in the same way.
Keep salary calculations and permit duration coherent
If the employer describes compensation, distinguish base salary, variable bonus, commission and equity. State the currency and pay interval accurately. A gross annual figure, a net monthly payslip and a bank receipt may all differ legitimately, but the application should explain those differences. Do not treat a discretionary bonus as guaranteed recurring pay without evidence.
The financial test uses the applicable official benchmark and calculation. A wage figure expressed in fourteen payments should not be compared casually with twelve monthly receipts. The employer's task is to confirm the real compensation; the visa preparation must then assess that evidence under the financial criteria. A letter asserting that the employee earns enough is not a substitute for the underlying calculation.
The planned work period also matters. The law distinguishes a consular visa of up to one year from a residence authorisation of up to three years, with shorter periods where the work arrangement is shorter. These are maxima, not a promise of the full duration. The letter should not imply a three-year commitment if the employer has authorised only a short assignment.
A final review meeting with the employer
Before signing, ask HR to confirm four things: the letter is factually correct; Spain-based work is approved; the employment terms match the supporting records; and the responsible people understand the unresolved compliance questions. Keep the signed version and any approved amendment together so that later changes can be identified.
If the employer cannot approve the arrangement or supply the necessary evidence, treat that as a real issue to resolve. Do not create a separate letter that bypasses the employer's decision. A successful preparation process may involve clarifying terms or obtaining specialist advice before filing. It should never depend on presenting an arrangement that the company would deny if asked.
For Spanish filing evidence, consult the UGE principal-applicant documentation and UGE international teleworker FAQs. If a document link changes, use the teleworker portal to locate its current version.
For the remaining application requirements, use the complete digital nomad visa guide. The present article concentrates on employee evidence, not a substitute application checklist.
Official sources and next steps
The UGE international teleworker portal publishes the Spanish application guidance and links to its documentation and FAQs. Use those current instructions when reviewing employment, social security and healthcare evidence.
The core rules are in Law 14/2013, articles 74 bis and following. The Houston consulate’s telework visa guidance explains the employee and self-employed distinctions and application evidence for its district. Always use the instructions for your competent authority.
Ask Carway Migrate to review your proposed employer evidence before signatures, apostilles and translations are commissioned. We can identify the questions to resolve with HR; this general guide is not an official template or a guarantee of approval.