The automatic right to work isn't the same for all students
This is a case where an online article's simplification is genuinely misleading. Since the new Reglamento de Extranjería came into force in May 2025, people often write: "students can work up to 30 hours a week automatically, without a separate permit". That's true — but only for students in higher education: university programmes (grado, máster, doctorado), universities' own degrees, higher arts education and higher vocational education.
If you've come for language courses, an academic mobility programme or as a volunteer, you have no automatic right to work. According to the clarifying instruction from the Secretaría de Estado de Migraciones (Instrucción SEM 3/2025), these programmes require a separate "express" permit — in practice you still have to apply for it, just through a fast-track procedure, rather than getting it together with the study visa itself. Which category your programme falls into, and what to do if the wording on your enrolment certificate is ambiguous, is a question where it's easy to get it wrong on your own; in borderline cases it's better to check before you start your first part-time job.
30 hours a week — and what happens if you exceed them
For those who have the automatic right, the limit is 30 hours a week (up from the previous 20), and the work must be compatible with your study timetable. The regulation's wording here is stricter than it might seem: exceeding the limit or working in a way that's incompatible with the purpose of your stay is grounds not just for refusing a renewal but for terminating (extinción) the work permit itself. And because the work permit's validity is tied to the validity of the study estancia, losing one undermines the legality of the other. There's also a geographical limit: you can work within the autonomous community where your stay permit was granted.
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Yes — the regulation explicitly refers to paid activity "employed or self-employed" (por cuenta ajena o propia), and both options fall under the same 30-hour limit and the same requirement to be compatible with your studies. For employment you'll need an employment contract and registration with the social security system (Seguridad Social) from the very start of the job — the activity is only considered legal after this registration, not from the moment you actually start working. For self-employment, a similar registration is required, but under the special scheme for autónomos.
Taxes and social security
A working student needs an NIE, which is also used as a tax number (NIF) — without it you can't legally receive a salary or pay taxes. At the same time, when employed, a student neither pays nor receives unemployment contributions (which makes sense: student status doesn't give you the right to unemployment benefit). Otherwise, the general Spanish tax rules for working foreigners apply — the regulation introduces no special student exemptions from income tax.
What about internships and work placements?
A different logic applies here. Placements that are part of your study plan (prácticas curriculares) are generally compatible with your student status. Non-labour placements outside the study plan (prácticas no laborales), however, are a separate category in the regulation — they may require a separate type of permit rather than the same regime as paid work. If your school or university offers a placement as part of the programme, ask separately whether it's arranged as ordinary work, as a "residence for internships" or as something else — don't automatically apply the "30 hours a week" logic here.
What to check before you start working
- Only higher-education students have the automatic right to work — not language courses, mobility programmes or volunteering.
- The limit is 30 hours a week, and the work must be compatible with your study timetable.
- Exceeding the limit is grounds for terminating the work permit, not just refusing a renewal.
- Self-employment is allowed just like employment — with registration under the relevant social security scheme.
- Study placements without an employment relationship are a separate regime, not the same as ordinary work.
Frequently asked questions
No. The automatic right to work only applies to higher-education students. For language courses, mobility programmes and volunteering you need to apply for a work permit separately — through a fast-track procedure, but not automatically together with the visa.
Formally, exceeding the limit is grounds for terminating the work permit — and through it, a risk to the study visa itself. In practice, a one-off deviation and systematic abuse of the limit are different things, but don't count on "once is fine".
Yes, the regulation allows both employment and self-employment — in both cases the same 30-hour limit and the requirement to be compatible with your studies apply. Self-employment requires separate registration under the relevant social security scheme.
Not necessarily — study placements without an employment relationship are excluded from the general work regime for student visas and may require a separate type of permit. Ask your university or school exactly how the specific placement is arranged.
If something in your situation doesn't fit the general pattern, that's normal — visa cases almost always have nuances. and we'll look at it for free and suggest your next step.