Landing at CSIC

The municipal register is the administrative register where all residents of a municipality must be registered. Any person living in Spain is required to register with the municipality, which is a necessary requirement, among others, to access essential services such as schooling or obtaining a health card. 

TIE -more information

Citizens of countries of the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland, whose residence in Spain is longer than 90 days, must apply, in person, to the Foreigners Office of the province where they intend to stay or establish their residence or, failing that, to the police station concerned, for their registration in the Central Register of Foreigners, with the corresponding registration certificate being issued.

-more information

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-Passport, travel document or national identity card or any other proof of identity

-Visa (if necessary), residence and work permit 

-NIE

-TIE 

-Census certificate

-Social security number

-Public or private medical insurance

-Spanish/European health card

-Academic documents (Application for equivalence/Approval)

-Bank account

-Work contract, hosting agreement or invitation letter

-Medical certificate issued in Spain (in case of formalising an employment contract)

-Electronic certificate

-Family documents (birth certificate, marriage...)

-Driving licence or international licence

*Consult with the relevant authorities on the exact moment of their issuance, as some of them may be issued both before and after their arrival in Spain.

The NIE or foreigner's identity number, is assigned to identify those people who relate to Spain because of their economic, professional or social interests (residence, sign up for an opposition, etc.). It has NO expire date, being a sequence of numbers that begins and ends with a capital letter.

Regardless of nationality, all foreigners must apply directly to the General Directorate of the police, or through the foreigners' offices or police stations.

If you are NOT in Spanish territory at the time of the application, you must request it at the Comisaría General de Extranjería y fronteras, through the Spanish consular offices abroad.

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens, may sign the employment contract with their passport, but within 3 months after the start of the contract, they must provide their NIE, obtained through the certificate in the Central Register of foreigners.

The person concerned, will be responsible for notifying the Social Security General Treasury, of the change of identification document (from passport to NIE).

In the case of non-EU citizens who finally join CSIC, the favourable resolution of their residence, permits will result in the award of a NIE.

The TIE is the foreigner's identification card. It is mandatory for foreigners who have been issued a visa or a residence permit in Spain for a period of more than 6 months. It serves to prove the legal situation in the country, and obtaining it requires having the NIE beforehand.

Your request will be made in person at an immigration office or police station, within 1 month of entry into Spain, or since the authorization is granted or becomes effective, respectively. 

Unlike the NIE, you will have to renew the TIE card, depending on your residence permit.

It will not be necessary, in the case of citizens of EU member countries, EEA and Switzerland.   

The electronic certificate is a digital document that will allow you to identify yourself online. It is very useful in Spain, to carry out online procedures safely with the Public Administration and private entities through the Internet, such as electronically signing official documents, presenting yourself for oppositions, consulting the municipal register, filing taxes etc.

You can request it in several different ways, as long as in all of them, you previously have an NIE. Your request can be made in person, or from abroad, following the steps in the following link.

If you are located outside Spain, step 3 of the above link (“Accreditation in person at an identity accreditation office”), you will have to replace it by going in person to a career consular office abroad, of which they are shown in the following link.

Likewise, you also have an option to obtain it with video identification (at an additional cost), and another one using a mobile device.

Finally, the staff already incorporated into the CSIC as a public employee, has the possibility of requesting this certificate with the help of the corresponding service.

The entry into Spanish territory of citizens of the EU, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, will be made with the passport or identity document valid and in force and stating the nationality of the holder, WITHOUT the need to obtain the visa.

Possession of a valid passport or identity card under which entry into Spanish territory, has been effected shall be sufficient and shall not be taken into account for the purposes of residence.

These requirements shall also apply to accompanying family members, who are NOT nationals of one of these States, are in possession of a valid and valid passport, and have fulfilled the entry requirements.

Employees or self-employed persons in Spain, students, those who have sufficient resources and family members, are obliged to apply personally to the Aliens Office of the province where they intend to stay or establish their residence or, failing that, to the corresponding Police Station, for their registration in the Central Register of Foreigners .

Such application must be submitted within three months of the date of entry into Spain, and a certificate of registration, must be issued immediately, stating the name, nationality and domicile of the registered person, his foreigner's identity number, and the date of registration.

Employment contracts for this type of personnel may be signed with their passport, but within 3 months of the start of the contract, they must provide their NIE, obtained through the aforementioned registration certificate.

The person concerned, will be responsible for notifying the Social Security General Treasury, of the change of identification document (from passport to NIE).

In the case of family members who are nationals of an EU Member State, EEA and Switzerland, they must apply for registration in the Central Register of Aliens by providing:

• Up-to-date and, where appropriate, legalised documentary evidence of the family relationship with the Union citizen.
• Documentation attesting to economic dependence.
• Documentation that proves that the family member who gives him the right, is either an employee or self-employed person, or that he has sufficient means of living and health insurance, or that he is a student, has sufficient means for himself and for the members of his family and health insurance.

They are required to apply in person for a residence card of a family member who is an EU citizen, within three months from the date of entry into Spain at the Aliens Office of the province where the person concerned intends to remain or take up residence or, failing that, at the relevant police station.

They will fill in the attached form in the previous link, along with the following documentation (original and copy). The card will be issued within 3 months of the submission of the application, having a validity of 5 years from that date. 

Citizens of an EU Member State, or of a State party to the EEA Agreement, as well as family members who are NOT nationals of one of those States, and who have resided legally in Spain for a continuous period of 5 years, are entitled to permanent residence.

To do so, the person concerned must obtain the EU citizenship permanent residence certificate. 

In the case of family members, they may obtain a permanent residence card, either in person or by representation in any public register, by contacting the Aliens Office of the province in which they are resident or, failing that, at the relevant police station.

The issue will be made within 3 months of the date of application, having a validity of 10 years and renewing automatically.

Foreign persons, may be in Spain, in situations of stay or residence.

In both cases, proof of identity must be provided by means of a passport, travel document or national identity card, which must be valid for at least 3 months after the intended date of departure from the Schengen area and must have been issued within 10 years of the date of entry.

For certain nationalities, a visa will be required, not being necessary if you have a foreigner's identity card (TIE) or, exceptionally, a return authorization. Here you can consult a list of countries that require or are exempt from tourist or Schengen visas.

Persons whose economic, professional or social interests relate to Spain shall be provided, for the purposes of identification, with a personal, unique and exclusive number, called NIE, which must appear on all documents issued, except visas, and whose processing is resolved within a maximum period of 5 days from their application.

The stay in Spanish territory, is the stay for a maximum period of 90 days per semester, can be extended provided that the purposes are NOT of work or residence, for a period of 90 days or more, depending on whether the entry was made with or without a visa.

However, in the case of research or training, the duration shall be the same as the activity for which the authorisation was granted, up to a maximum of 1 year.

Remember that, if your stay is longer than 6 months, you have to apply at the immigration office or police station for the TIE card within 1 month of your entry into Spain or since they grant you the authorization.

This type of authorization valid throughout the national territory, must be presented both in the case of an employment contract, and in the case of relations with the CSIC through collaboration agreements, invitation letters and scholarships.

The favourable resolution of the residence permit, will result in the granting of a NIE. Once the permit comes into force, it will be valid for a maximum of 3 years and may be renewed for a further 2 years.

*The steps to obtain it are:

1)Talk to the management of your CSIC center to send the documentation/requirements to the corresponding HR service.

2)HR sends it to the UGE, which will resolve the file in an average time of 20 working days.

3) Once the research residence permit has been issued, you must apply for a visa, in the case of the CSIC, a scientist, at the Spanish   embassy or consular post of the country where you reside. An example of the documents required to apply for a research visa is   attached below.

It will be important for the application for this permit to take into account whether the research project will be carried out only in Spain (national researcher)or you will need mobility through the EU (EU researcher).

*The application to be submitted in order to formalisethe employment contract must contain, in general terms:

• Updated passport
• Pre-employment contract
• Criminal record certificate (issued by the authorities of the country of origin)
• Descriptive report of the research project

In the case of the documentation to be submitted for collaboration agreements, invitation letter and scholarships, it is the same as in the field of an employment contract, with the following exceptions:

• Collaboration agreement signed between your home centre and CSIC centre or invitation letter
• Letter of invitation expressly accepted by the researcher
• Have a public or private health insurance, with an insurance company authorized to operate in Spain (travel insurance is not valid)
• Proof of sufficient financial means
• Commitment of dedication signed by the Principal Investigator and the person concerned

*If you reside abroad, it is advisable NOT to present the certificate of criminal penalties to the Consulate of Spain, until the application for the residence permit is resolved.

Your host CSIC centre must apply for it, being resolved within 30 days and having the duration established in that contract, in accordance with the labour legislation in force at any given time. If you are more than 6 months old, you will have to apply for the TIE card in person.

This type of request is linked to that of the researcher who justifies it. It may be submitted simultaneously with that of the researcher to whom it is linked or retrospectively, together with the following documents:

• Updated passport
• Certificate of family bond, translated into Spanish, legalized and with a maximum age of 3 months
• Criminal record certificate

The homologation of a higher education degree obtained abroad, grants it official validity in Spain, from the date of issuance of the corresponding credential, having the same academic and professional effects as the Spanish title with which it is approved.

Equivalence is a simpler procedure, which implies acceptance for academic purposes, that the training passed to obtain the foreign degree of degree, master or doctorate, is comparable to that required in Spain, as well as to the degrees corresponding to a specific area and field.

The main difference is that homologation entails professional and academic effects, while equivalence is only academic. Performing either of these two procedures is essential both in securities issued within the EU, EEA or Switzerland, as well as in those from third countries.

Here you can find out which regulated professions require homologation.  If you want to know more information, go to the section where to apply for homologation or equivalence.

The formalization of an employment contract in the CSIC through its employment exchange requires having made the request for homologation or equivalence, except in the internship contracts in which it will be necessary to have already grantedeither.

*It is advisable that you apply for academic equivalence, as it is a simpler and sufficient procedure for the aforementioned contractual formalisation, or for the submission of an opposition.

To obtain this equivalence at Master (M3) or Degree (M2) level, you must follow the procedure of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU).

On the other hand, if you want to apply for homologation at the same levels (M3 and M2), you must also go to the MICIU, specifically to the following link.

If you need the recognition of equivalence of your doctoral degree, the body responsible for issuing it will be any Spanish public or private university on the following list, provided that they have in their teaching programmes a doctoral degree comparable to the one they intend to recognise.

Each of them has its own specific process, being generally the required documents, very similar to each other.

Some of the documents to be submitted will require an official translation into Spanish. In the previous link, you have a list by countries, so you can select the one that best suits your case!

*In order to apply through the CSIC exchange for professional groups M1 and E2 (non-university training), only the homologation shall be valid. In this case, you will have to go to the procedure of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training.

Foreign public documents capable of producing effects in Spain, except for exceptions contemplated in some international conventions or EU regulations, must be legalized and translated into Spanish. 

Legalization is an administrative act granting validity to a foreign public document which is intended to have effects, in this case in Spain. Normally, it does not have an expiration date, but if the document issued has a limited duration, legalization will also have it. 

The body in charge of carrying out the legalisation will be the Spanish consular office in the country issuing the document, always bearing in mind that in the case of countries signing the Hague Convention legalisation will NOT be followed, but the apostille procedure, before the the competent authorities of the country issuing the document.

*Not legalisation or apostille is required for academic documents issued by EU Member States, signatories to the EEA Agreement or Switzerland.

In any procedure of homologation or equivalence of documents related to academic degrees of Degree, Master or Doctorate, the application for legalization must be initiated by the interested person, accompanied by the corresponding documentation, and completing the following steps:

• Diplomatic legalization by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the foreign country issuing the documentation.
• Once the first step has been completed, it must be legalised before the Spanish consular office in that foreign country.

Keep in mind that if the country issuing your title is a signatory to Hague Convention what you will have to do is only apostill it before the competent authorities of that country, being a simpler procedure.

*Not legalization or apostille is required for academic documents issued by EU Member States, signatories to the EEA Agreement or Switzerland.

In the event that the documents need to be translated, there are the following 3 ways:

*MAEUEC: Ministry of Foreign Affairs European Union and Cooperation

*Obtaining the R3 certificate (established researcher), means in Spain a recognition of excellence and quality, allowing the exemption or compensation of evidence, in access to stable public employment positions as a full scientist and permanent staff, in Public Research Organizations.

It is granted to those who obtain a favorable evaluation by the State Research Agency, after the first 2 years of postdoctoral contract.

If you are interested in knowing all the national, European or regional research development opportunities to come to Spain, I recommend downloading the following guide.

The following table shows an example of some options in the above-mentioned guide, along with new ones. They can be a good opportunity to join the CSIC. 

*For technical research staff, there are PTA grants.

In Public Research Organisations (including CSIC), research, technical and management staff can become 3 types of public employees: career civil servants, interim civil servants and staff (fixed, permanent and temporary).

A research career development option may be to apply for public employment positions for these bodies, convened annually by the government of Spain.

They are published in the Official State Gazette (BOE), and the calls for applications, can be accessed through the corresponding section of the CSIC website.

The general requirements for submitting an opposition are as follows:

• Nationality
• Capacity: Functional capacity to perform tasks
• Age: Be at least 16 years of age and not exceed the maximum age of compulsory retirement
• Enabling: Not having been separated by disciplinary proceedings from any of the Public Administrations, not belonging to the same body or scale to which he is presented and not being disqualified from public office by judicial decision
• Qualification: Possess the required degree in the specific bases of the call

In the following sections, you can see in more detail, the different scales of public research organisations, and how to access them.

Finally, in compliance with the obligation to submit electronically the instances of participation, if you are abroad, you can submit your application through the corresponding Spanish diplomatic or consular representations.

The scientific or research staff scales can be defined as those whose activities are specific to a specific profession.

To participate in these selection processes, you must meet the following requirements:

• General requirements as outlined in the basic information section above
• Possession of the doctoral degree, with the homologation or equivalence already granted in the case of foreigners, on the day of completion of the submission of applications
• Meet at least one of the following nationality requirements:

1) Spanish nationality.

2) Nationals of other Member States of the European Union.

3) Third-country nationals who are members of the family of Spaniards or nationals of other Member States of the European Union under the terms established by the specific regulations in this area.

4) Foreigners who are regularly in Spanish territory.

5) Foreign persons included in the scope of the International Treaties concluded by the European Union and ratified by Spain to which the free movement of workers applies, in accordance with the provisions of Article 57.1 of the consolidated text of the Law on the Basic Statute of Public Employees

Access will be open to all persons covered by the different forms of employment contract (except pre-doctoral), the selective system being the merit competition, based on the assessment of the personal curriculum.

If you want to know more about these calls, click on the link above and look for the one that interests you!

Staff at technical scales also carry out activities specific to a specific profession or subject.

To participate in these selection processes, you must meet the following requirements:

• General requirements as outlined in the section on basic information
• Meet at least one of the nationality requirements indicated under the heading “Scales of research staff” (NOT applicable in these cases requirement d))
• Have the specific qualification indicated in the call, already approved or equivalent in case of foreigners on the day of completion of submission of applications.

In the following images, you can appreciate the different existing technical scales, as well as the various access possibilities:

If you want to know more about these calls, click on the link above and look for the one that interests you!

 *Likewise, by internal promotion, you will be able to access from the scale of specialized superior technician, to the scale of titular scientific personnel.